the man the west hopes will lead ukraine out of disaster is president petro poroshenko.said the summer could bring an upsurge in violence. >> i believe they are preparing an offensive. i think -- we do not give them any tiny chance for provocation. >> do you trust vladimir putin? >> trust? no. no. >> how do you negotiate when you do not trust? >> i don't have any options about what to do. i don't think the results will happen by military means. >> you will not get it back militarily? >> no. >> i met ordinary ukrainians affected by the conflict. at this former collective farm i spoke to this woman whose son was drafted into the army and killed last summer. >> we, the poor have to fight. what are the rich doing? even the leadership, especially those in parliament, i do not think they care about us. they do not live like us with all of their cars, apartments, and mansion. >> it is a disaster. not only for the mother, but a disaster for the whole country. a disaster for every family who lost -- 1800 soldiers. every family. we lost almost 7000 civilians. it is not a question

president poroshenko has i pointed a governor in the odessa region. he has a reputation of being fiercely pro western. we have this report. >> protesters gathered >> president poroshenko has called the new governor. he has long been a local supporter of the country's move. and he's an implaccable foe of vladimir putin. he also may be part of poroshenko's drive to root out local corruption. >> we must all work together under this new ukrainian president to build a new ukraine. without a new ukraine there won't be a future for the region or for our town. everything is being decided now. a lot of it in odessa itself. >> as president of georgia until until 2013 he scored his country away from the moscow's sphere of influence towards closer ties with europe. in 2008 they fought a war of control over of the breakaway region. saturday's surprise appointment assume ukrainian citizenship while he faces criminal charges in his native georgia. the russians are stirring up tensions. the military exercises taking place on ukraine's borders that have kiev and the w

simon mcgregor wood reports. >> president poroshenko called his new governor of odessa a great friend of ukraine. the former president of georgia has been advising the president in kiev for several months already, and has long been a vocal supporter of the country's move to the west. he's also a foe of vladimir putin. his appointment is a clear sign of defiance to moscow and may also be part of president poroshenko's continuing drive to root out local corruption. we must all work together under this new ukrainian president to build a new ukraine without a new ukraine there will be no future either for the region or for our town. everything is being decide now. a lot in odessa itself. >> as president of georgia until until 2013, he steered his country away from moscow's sphere of influence towards closer ties with europe. in 2008 they fought a war over control of a breakaway region. saturday's surprise appointment assume his ukrainian citizenship as he faces criminal charge in his native georgia. the russians are also stirring up tensions. these are military exercises taking place on u

president petro poroshenko is accused of not doing enough, despite the pledge to ending corruption. andrew simmons has the details. >> in the distance, there's shelling. and tanks are close to the front line. two blatant breaches of the minsk ceasefire. it is another average day of these ukrainian volunteers in their standoff against pro-russian separatists regular armies conventional warfare are terms that would hardly best describe so many forces from opposite sides. there's very little conventional about it. put simply, if it wasn't for funding from a billionaire oligarch the nepra 1 unit may never have existed. the battalion's commanders experiencing the glitz of rich living. they are here to receive bravery awards. but they are not medals. they are an exclusive collection of swiss watches said to be worth more than $30,000 u.s. each. presented by ukrainian mp who was an advisor to igor and president petro poroshenko accuse him of running his own private army. kolymiski ordered overall control of the country. president is also an oligarch with a big company selling chocolates an

president petro poroshenko accused him of running his own private army. it followed extraordinary scenes when he ordered minltses ministers in overall chrome of the company. his advisory says the president is also an oligarch selling chocolates. >> judge does his business still work in russia. if we speak about the struggle with oligarchs it shouldn't be about the individuals it should be about the whole system. >> reporter: it's a system where all ukraine's oligarchs have their own television system this one not surprisingly begins to him. >> the bureaucracy they can capitalize on it. they can use the state companies to enrich themselves by getting all the income, the revenues from all those companies. so we just need to break these ties. >> back near the so-called ceasefire line they continue troop rotations. with the possibility of war resuming it's a big distraction from the wrongs in ukraine's political system. andrew simmons, al jazeera in eastern ukraine. >> people in ireland are celebrating over the result of the same sex marriage vote. tim friend

. >> president poroshenko called him a friend of ukraine. he's also a foe of vladimir putin. his appointment is a clear sign of defiance to moscow and may also be part of president poroshenko's drive to root out local corruption. >> we must build a new ukraine. there will be no future for the region or four our town. everything is being decided now as a lot of it is odessa itself. >> as president of georgia until until 2013, he would move georgia away from moscow towards closer ties with europe. in 2008 they fought a war. saturday's surprise appointment assumes ukrainian citizenship while he faces criminal charges in his native georgia. the russians are stirring up tensions. these are the latest military exercises taking place on ukraine's borders which have kiev and the west fearful that russia will initiate another round of fighting in the ukraine ukraine. sporadic clashes continue. this hospital was hit on friday. the minsk agreement, which was meant to end the fighting and separate forces still has not been fully implemented. ukrainians accuse the russians of continue to

watch how the ukrainian press reacted to their president petro poroshenko, when he took a photo with u.s. army trainers. [speaking foreign language] >> question. defense secretary carter testified this week that russian separatists, with putin's backing, are preparing a new offensive in eastern ukraine. is the u.s. military training aid too little and too late? tom rogan? >> no. it's not too little, too late. i think it's unfortunately late. but look, there are american troops on the ground. i wish there were more. i worry it sends a message of disinterest to putin but look it is good that we're on the ground in western ukraine. we're taking calibrated steps. i think the key to stopping president putin is actually to enforce the european union, if you can, to put a transactions lockout, a financial lockout of russian business. but, again, president putin is trying to carve out that space and get -- >> let's make it clear. ukraine is in his sphere of influence. the u.s. does not want to get into a proxy war in that area. i think it will only go just so far. he's not going to cross any

poroshenko criticized the pro-russian separatists for not sticking to a proposed prisoner swap. israeli president has wrapped up his three-day visit to germany with a trip up north to the city of heal. brian: israel's submarines were built and where he will be laid before the court fetes. -- before navy corvettes. reporter: these germans don't discovery could carry cruise missiles. -- german built summaries could carry cruise missiles. germany'nortport city. after visiting the shipyard with statefficials israeli president stressed the importance of germany and israel defense partnership. president: we have been assured understanding and that in the family of nations in which we belong, no nation should and cannot stand alone. can see how you are helping us as well. reporter: german weapon sales are not without controversy. they have been a firm part of the country's cooperations since decorates -- since decades. brian: we're going to a short break, don't go away. anchor: in pakistan at least 43 people have died. gunmen oh testament boarded a bus and opened fire. brian: this is t

president petro poroshenko can chalk up one victory -- his country is on the brink of bankruptcy but will get 1.8 billion euros in financial aid from the eu. british prime minister david cameron used riga to push his own agenda. on the margins of the summit, he tried to drum up support for changes in migration and welfare. an election pledge of his. cameron: all i'll say is they will be ups and downs. one day some things are possible. one thing throughout all of this will be constant, and that's my determination to deliver for the british people. >> cameron has little to show for his efforts so far. the focus remained on what's next for eastern europe. >> back now to saudi arabia where an activist blogger is still in prison despite worldwide calls for peace. his canadian-based wife is currently in berlin to campaign for his release. >> weekend, week out, supporters call for his release in front the saudi arabia and embassy in berlin. this friday, his wife is also present. she's very grateful for all the support. >> thank you. i know that it's not enough, but all i can say is thank yo

. >> ukrainian president petro poroshenko said it's important that the eu keep its a door open to accept more countries like ukraine in the future. >> but the german chancellor, angela merkel, stressed that the eastern partnership program is not a tool for eu enlargement. >> that meeting is taking place today and tomorrow, but heightened tensions over the crisis in ukraine and russia's role are causing some real tensions. >> the european union launched the eastern partnership in 2009. it aims to deepen cooperation between the eu and six former soviet states. ukraine, belarus georgia armenia, moldova, and azerbaijan . but the initiative has not gone as smoothly as planned. based last eastern partnership summit was held in 2013, and it triggered a political crisis in ukraine that remains unresolved today. that's down to one key player -- russia. and its efforts to hold on to influence in the post-soviet space. moscow has responded by putting together its own trade bloc -- the eurasian economic union. two members of the eastern partnership have joined so far -- belarus and armenia. ukraine

. >> ukrainian president petro poroshenko used the occasion to remember those killed in the country's current conflict. according to the united nations nearly 7,000 ukrainian civilians died during this conflict. ukraine was part of the soviet union, during world war two. >> 70th anniversary is being promoted 50 crÈme li as part of glory and sacrifice. as rory challands reports. >> in 1941, age just 16, galina enlisted as a night witch what germans call the soif air soviet air forces ail female. every year when victory day comes, fewer and fewer of her comrades appear. she is a rarity, victory over the nazis has assumed almost sacred importance. >> translator: we celebrate this anniversary like never before. if you compare the photo of last year with today we have many more people who have turned up this year. children grandchildren great grandchildren with portraits of their relatives. they remember love and honor. >> reporter: victory day celebrations have been held all over moscow this week. even in the skies above it. on wednesday helicopter enthusiasts toed patriotic flags through

meanwhile, ukrainian president petro poroshenko just laid a wreath there. pro-russian rebels in donetsk was there also. matthew chance is there. matthew, tell us what the mood there in moscow. >> reporter: it was a very forward procession, very solemn as well. it's one of the biggest victory parades to mark the victory day in some time. 15,000 troops, 200 military vehicles including some of moscow's vast military technology. it was a pretty impressive air show as well. pretty big military play, new military being unveiled there for the first time. but what we didn't see any, of course, any western leaders is because of the alleged support of pro-russian rebels in the western and eastern part of that country seeming inappropriate to send their heads of states or leaders to this event. that wasn't the point of view taken by one of the country, notably, the chinese president was there. so was the president of india. so a lot of countries taking an opposing point of view to that. it was quite interesting to see how symbolic this was. especially symbolic of the

obama is mush in the eyes of putin poroshenko and china and all of them.ountries that are not far away. >> vietnam, philippines. we have some problems with the chinese. >> you should be selling weapons and planes to the vietnamese because we had to arm our allies and strengthen support. >> you know what we had done with vietnam, we gave permission to have a nuclear program. the very thing we don't want the iranians to have we're helping vietnam build. >> but what these islands -- philippines, vietnam, japan, they all have legitimate claims. >> instead of international body you know arbitrating and dealing with this the chinese are moving forward. these are choke points. think of this. the choke points on some of the most major commercial -- >> economically the chinese are setting up their own asian development bank to finance the region again, excluding us. we want you to do a transpacific deal to bring in our allies for trade. we can't get that through. whether you're for or against the deal harris we're in a situation where the chinese, as john said the

meanwhile, ukrainian president petro poroshenko has signed new legislation praising ukrainian nationalist groups with links to the nazi holocaust as freedom fighters. the new law honors a number of groups which aided the nazis including the ukrainian insurgent army, which is also accused of murdering up to 100,000 polish civilians during world war ii. on monday, the united states signed a second $1 billion loan guarantee to help ukraine fight russian-backed rebels and boost its economy. in a blow to consumer advocates, the world trade organization has struck down u.s. labels on meat products indicating where an animal was raised and slaughtered, saying they put canadian and mexican products at a disadvantage. the case was brought against the u.s. government by canada and mexico on behalf of their meat industries alleging violations of nafta, the north american free trade agreement. the ruling validates the concern brought by critics of another free trade deal, the transpacific partnership, or tpp, who say it would undermine food safety and environmental rules to benefit corporations. in a

today i hear people talking about president poroshenko trying to hold ukraine together in the face of russian aggression, with 9,000 russian troops inside ukraine, 55,000 on the borer. it's 21st century warfare with three levels of uavs, massive jamming, tanks we don't have any comparable equipment for. our armored -- antiarmor equipment doesn't go through their armor, and we need a real wakeup call to get us back to 21st century warfare where the russians are today. i hear people talk about this as, we have to give vladimir putin a way out. he is such a nice man, and he really just got trapped into this by the evil people behind him and if he doesn't look really tough, maybe he'll be overthrown. no. vladimir putin is right today and russia is right where someone like adolph hitler was in 1936. hitler re-opened the ryan -- -- a reoccupied the reinland and if britain and france had followed the dictates of the versailles treaty he wouldn't have gotten air with and it -- away with it and maybe world war ii would have averted. putin crossed the greatest red line in post world war ii inte

poroshenko was a billionaire when he was elected last year. now not so mauuch.ocolate empire. he now has a fortune of $4720 million. russia was his biggest export armarket. mars is breaking with big food companies and supporting regulators' calls for new labeling requirements on sugar content. mars is backing calls to limit sugar in their diets. olivia: more on the stunning election results out of the u.k. david cameron sweeping to victory, a crushing win to keep the prime minister's job for another five years. let's bring in francine lacqua. and our friend danny -- a professor at dartmouth college and a former policymaker at the bank of the. fran, -- the bank of england. two days ago, we were trying to figure out what would happen if we had a hung parliament. here comes david cameron sweeping to a majority. francine: it seems incredible what we have been through in the last 24 hours. i would make two arguments. first of all, because the polls were so close, because the tories and labour were neck in neck, it is not on conceivable that this is one of the reasons

. >> another victory for alexander poroshenko in belarus.y it wasn't free or fair. >> in opposition has sought to challenge him with bloody consequences. presidential elections are just months away and we are in the country of belarus to gauge the mood. people and politicians here are anxious. >> what happened in ukraine has strengthened president's lukashenko's position in the country. >> could belarus be the next crimea? the eastern european nation of belarus became a country 25 years ago when the soviet union collapsed. it is wedge between the european union and a resurgent russia. for centuries, it has been a frontier between its larger and more powerful neighbors. belarus is russia's closest ally today, but over the last year, it has become concerned about its big brother. ♪ >> belarus is about as close as you can get to russia. it is hard for people to get their head around. belarus still feels like the soviet union. not much has changed over the last quarter-century. that right there is a monument to the founder of the kgb. this acros

today i hear people talking about president poroshenko trying to hold ukraine together in the face of russian aggression, with 9,000 russian troops inside ukraine, 55,000 on the border. it's 21st century warfare with three levels of uavs, massive jamming, tanks we don't have any comparable equipment for. antiarmor equipment doesn't go through their armor, and we need a real wakeup call to get us back to 21st century warfare where the russians are today. i hear people talk about this as, we have to give vladimir putin a way out. he is such a nice man, and he really just got trapped into this by the evil people behind him and if he doesn't look really tough, maybe he'll be overthrown. no. vladimir putin is right today and russia is right where someone like adolph hitler was in 1936. hitler reoccupied the rhineland and if britain and france had followed the dictates of the versailles treaty he wouldn't have gotten away with it and maybe world war ii would have averted. putin crossed the greatest red line in post world war ii international diplomatics. he has invaded another country and a

president poroshenko's right to speak about the necessity and urgency to ukraine to act on the four d's -- the regularization, d bureaucratic as asian -- it is hard to even say the phrase -- the oligarch as asian -- de oligarchization, and decentralization. 268, ukraine needs use the new loss in the books to combat corruption on all levels. i speak with them on average once a week. if you're ever did out over the last year. -- if you average it out over the last year. to pass laws, not have to in fact implement the laws that the past. ukraine needs to use all the tools at its disposal to limit the ability of oligarchs to abuse their market position or exert pressure on government officials. by the way, there is a long history of that. we all know since the revolution, it has never been on the level in terms of the influence of oligarchs and corruption. but they are trying. they need to keep working towards decentralization to ensure the local government is really representative and accountable. and above all, it needs to keep listening to its people and to ukraine civil society. every t