wide variety of reasons but one issue nights many of them they are against the return of lot of mir putin to the presidency do these protests truly reflect public opinion or protests now simply a ritual for the sake of protest. and. started. to cross thought the time of protests in russia i'm joined by my guest here in moscow erich krauss he's an independent asset manager fred ware he's the correspondent for the christian science monitor and dimitri bobbitt she's an independent political analysts all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect i mean you can jump in anytime you want eric i know you went to the demonstration today i was there as well and what was your impressions did it change anything did it mean anything. my impression was it seemed to be pretty carnival like it was pretty friendly there were probably twenty twenty five thousand people there was a huge police presence presence or it struck me as they were being one but it was it was very peaceful i was afraid that because the same demonstrators are coming out month after month after month that to get some attention they we

>> i think it showed extent putin has.utin has said that russia's a large ethnic nation with a complicated federal system and should avoid radical reform. he also said he will adopt a movement that wake up the nation, break up society and give a shock to last year's society on the economy. putin said opposition has forces that will destroy the country's society rather than someone to hold discussion with. >> what will freedom in russia look like under another putin presidency? >> last year under putin's previous president was referred to as managed democracy. i think putin will stick to this motto as president again. the new protest law has clearly shown that putin is not aiming to bypass russian society by promoting freedom. he believes strong control is needed over any freedom that can bring cause. dmitry medvedev, former russian president, held talks with opposition leaders, but putin has shown no intention of lending an ear to the opposition or discontent of ordinary russians. politics warn that putin's legislation wil

this is putin we're talking about. have you ever seen putin not look icy? (laughter) this is him two months ago at his inauguration! (laughter) that's a great day for putin. this is him two weeks later at his surprise birthday party. (laughter) this is putin playing with kittens. (laughter) this is him personally ordering the death of a reporter. same face! this is vladimir putin full of child like wonder at the first snow of winter. (laughter) first snow of winter which, in russia, i believe, comes a week after the last snow of the previous winter. so the peres has spent hours dissecting the body language. probably just about time for... >> are we making too much of a big deal? >> jon: there you go. (laughter) the 1213 hand wringer from rockefeller plaza. that's your lamestream liberal media for you. wall-to-wall coverage of something that they're not sure if it really matters. that's why you can see the genius of fox news, they know this is enormously important. >> vladimir putin looks at our leaders and he sees weakness. >> at one point the president's c

i wouldn't agree that they are just united on their antipathy to vladimir putin i think that there is a broad range of grievances you might you might call them middle class grievances against the bureaucratic. unaccountability against corruption and the lack of full fledged rule of law in russia that kind of kind of animate them all but this obviously will is a first step and it will articulate into more things a theme is talking about educational reform we have this utility reforms we have a lot of things coming down the track and you might well see people following this example with more single issue kind of concerns and you will see a gradual normalization of russian society through this kind of action is to be i think welcomed and what do you think about that eric i mean i've been know most all the demonstrations to end and i see it's a disparate ok you know you can get under whatever umbrella you want and i'd like to point out to my viewers some of those umbrellas are really quite nasty i mean there's some really gross nationalist there but i saw today they were wearing who could

here in germany and they understand that for mr putin they can do business with russia and as long as he's in power they will face stability on the russian market and they simply see no alternative to him and can't imagine any real turn to for him in the next six years there's another through school of thought that a lot of. i would say moralists. liberals here in germany who would rather like to conduct policy oriented and focused solely on values towards russia and to they think the drug is departing from democracy they think that russia is turning towards tele tarion system and they didn't welcome putting it all so so so the reaction was mixed but german chancellor angela merkel she pressed putin to allow democratic diversity ike wants to develop in russia how serious is this issue on democracy in miracles policy towards putin had a very difficult to understand. german see value oriented policy viz every reality politic which is also always traditional in germany germany eastern policy mrs america said. two or three weeks ago. that crane is a dictatorship she very much criticized w

blood into putin's travel plans have received a lot of media attention lately after. meeting in america and went to. germany. contra to visit. president germany has long been brushed. and one of the biggest markets last year russia germany is worth a record. countries are also working together. which would deliver russia. its first line was launched. welcome to the show thank you very much for being with us well first of all how was it seen here in germany that mr putin chose as his first destination in europe first foreign nation outside the space. schools of thought in germany concern and russia one is very into the ethic about russia this is a business community and the enthusiastically of course welcomed mr putin here in germany and they understand that through mr putin they can do business with russia and as long as he's in power they will face stability on the russian market and they simply see no alternative to him and can't imagine any real alternative for him in the next six years there's another through school of thought that of i would say moralists. libera

people are tired of putin. people want him to step down. >> warner: large scale protests began last december after putin's united russia party won parliamentary elections marred by fraud. they continued as putin, then prime minister, pursued his return to the russian presidency in march. in an interview with the newshour during the campaign, opposition leader alexei predicted a protracted struggle with putin even after the election. >> 100,000 people in the streets of moscow. of course he can try to foil the process by force. >> warner: are you prepared to lead those protests as far as they need to go? >> absolutely. warner: putin won the march election with 63% of the vote. without widespread allegations of fraud. but last month the day before he was inaugurated, police and protestors battled again in moscow. today's rally was peaceful but some protestors said there might be worse to come. for more on this, and where the putin-protestor standoff is headed, we turn to adrian karatnycky, a senior fellow at the a

what happens next is that president putin travels to paris to meet with francois hollande.e has also been hoping, much more vehement, hoping to persuade president putin to come on line for political action against the assad regime. i would not give that a chance after what we have seen today. >> thank you. >> ireland has said yes in the referendum on the european union's fiscal pact. counting is still underway, but early results showed the majority of voters back the new treaty and the budget rules. the yes camp had been worried by the low turnout, run 50%. ireland received a bailout in 2010 and is the only eu country putting the budget pact up to a referendum. for more on the referendum, let's go live to a correspondent in doublet. not much of a surprise and the results that we are hearing about. the no camp was saying that there was not a choice, that people were being scared into saying yes. >> people were concerned about the possibility of not being able to access the new european bailout funds from the esm which is supposed to go into operation in july of this year. be

in fact preps putin blew him off on that trip to camp david a couple weeks ago. this will be body language time. >> very interesting. the first meeting is when putin was prime minister in july 2009. tough meeting. president obama opened it with an offhand comment about american relations and putin gave him an hour-long harangue. gwen: harangue watch. thanks, everybody. the confrontation has to end here but we will pick up where we left off online on the "washington week" webcast extra. you can find that at pbs.org/"washington week," along with my blog about civility or lack thereof in the public square. keep up with daily developments with me online and on air all week at the f.b.s. "newshour." happy father's day and we will see you again next week on "washington week." good night. >> funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875 we have been there for hour clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years from insurance to investment management, from real e

thousands of russians in defy a government crackdown to take part in protests against president vladimir putin>> more fighting in syria as the u.n. side said damascus for torturing and killing children that linked to the opposition. >> and the czech republic keep their hopes alive after a win against degrees at euro 2012. -- against greece had euro 2012. ♪ >> welcome. we begin in moscow were tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating against president vladimir putin. the rally defied the government's tough new laws on unauthorized protests with those participating subject to very harsh fines. >> it was the first major demonstration since putin's inauguration last month. the russian government said a total of 12,000 officers from the police and interior ministry were deployed in the capital. >> chants of russia without putin echoed through downtown moscow. but these people came out not just to oppose the president, but also to show that they're not afraid to take to the streets. the demonstrators seemed to be spurred on by putin's hard line. >> the truth is our weapon, and the kremlin

they to t a opensdy was asian putin have with ahmendinejad who attend as observer. putin trying to cou by united states and countries over syria and other >>> thes agr allownd humaneptical will to of said that s worldogram seven s. workers arrive at s is a evident in the coming weeks and beeasured not in rhetoric, no actionground. >> t say 1 re ineed of ass food and medicine a human rights syria re continuingcks. 56 peoplin the countrdays. >>>nts will meet up they are taking mit with t leaders four central trying to terrorism secessionist check. of t hu home the top priority of change later this putin isd to urge members to in opposing defense plans deploy in europe. of warships n for joint drill. region conc >> reporter: the ship destroyery nearesday morning. the crew will the simulated >> translator: theeepen exchanges between two countries. drill held with china's they hore strong is held in with an inease between thetry'sforces. >> andrd to greater interoperability and a practices that india are country wary china's east and seas. tothree-day with u.s. australia

president vladimir putin and hu jintao held a summit meeting in beijing. their show of unity is frustrating western powers looking for ways to increase the pressure on the syrian government. nhk world reports. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin is in beijing where he held talks with chinese president hu jintao. this was his first visit to china since returning to the presidency in may. putin told hu that the two countries share common interest in many fields, including international affairs, the economy and technologies. putin also said ties between russia and china have developed to the highest level ever, and he wants to develop them even further. hu said he wants to step up the two countries' strategic partnership, including military and energy fields. the two leaders also discussed syria. they said the international community should support mediation by former u.n. chief kofi annan and seek a political solution. the summit of the shanghai corporation organization opens on wednesday in beijing. the body was formed by russia, china and other a

i think what's what president putin said was very importantly as we all know it's important that some reforms are going to be done in the in russia that's russia needs a lot of investments investments also from them for the oil companies. it's also important that legal frameworks fiscal frameworks to i've had a pretty to promote these investments and they are necessary so what we are all looking forward to is how all the plans that are now being announced in these days are going to turn into reality president putin has promised quite a number of economic overhaul speaking at the st petersburg international economic forum spotlight. has the details of the then to double the russian davos this time takes place amid food prices which means no deficit freed by jet for russia this year the country has for years been trying to top with its commodity dependence now when you step in this direction has been announced by vladimir putin a new group stop linking the russian budget to oil prices. to move the country still further away from total reliance on oil revenues putin is planning to boost

vladimir putin thinks he can fool with the system. there is a disconnect. >> and that is the protests. thanks very much for coming in. >> my pleasure. >> a quick look at some other news, russian football players have clashed with police. this to a place as russian fans marched towards the national stadium just before the match against poland. the two countries share a difficult history, and many in poland believed the match should not be allowed. an australian woman has won a 32-year fight to prove that her baby daughter was killed by a wild dog. she said it had been carried off from a camp site by a wild dunk. the mother was convicted of murder but was then released when some of the babies' clothing was found in the den of a dunk nearby. clothingf the baby's was found in a dingo den. and the bodies of two women have been found, 20 people in hospital with injuries. gay marriage, it is an issue sparking debate on both sides of the atlantic, and today, it is the church of england that warns that proposals to legalize gay marriage could

vladimir putin is achieving? i am not just talking about bethlehem today, but yesterday, as well? >> he clearly wants to say to his electorate at home that he is a global player. it was very interesting to see the huge russian press corps that came along for this visit. i think russia is clearly very much engaged in the situation in syria. it also has considerable leverage on what this going on in iran. the fact that mr. putin is here and then will head on to jordan for talks later today, he wants to say he is in the region and he wants russia to be a power here. >> thank you very much. thank you. time now for the business news. jamie is with me. let's start with news corp. we are getting the idea that the company might be split. publishing on one side and television and film business on the other side. >> this idea came from "the wall street journal." it is part of news corp. it is part of the publishing section. it does not contribute a huge amount of profits -- something like 18% of operating profits. on the o

has been announced by vladimir putin and you would stop going to the russian vijay to oil prices are going to move the country still further away from total reliance on oil revenues putin is planning to boost private investment. we must increase investment into the economy to the level of twenty seven percent of g.d.p. by twenty eighteen this is a realistic goal given the fact that now this level stands at twenty. addressing foreign investors putin promised them liberal reforms and participation in privatization of government assets also spoke of giving impetus to the development of russia's stock market sure. i would like to pay special attention to another decision i'm talking about the establishment of a consortium between the russian direct investment fund and a number of international investment funds the consortium will invest in russian companies planning stock placements on the merged my six r.t.s. exchange regular putin how the separate meeting with the heads of major companies and he said he welcomed foreign investment in the oil and gas sector in turn he asked for the oppo

russian energy resources and maybe president putin can comment on this as well. sixty you would all be in. i'm not sure whether. i'm a target for criticism or a reason for dependency as far as energy is concerned russia is a reliable partner we have seen this for decades we have seen that many large german companies have a long term contract with russia and the north stream pipeline has evolved from in the german russian project into russian you would be in project money and ever more companies and countries in europe who are joining this project we have just hosted. a twenty three summit of people to state cooperation and. we have completed the situation with energy supplies to what we had some five years ago and nowadays the situation is fundamentally different there is that much less to no criticism. or europe has many other opportunities for receiving gas is that for example there is also norway which is also part of the of the both take counsel and once again we believe russia is a reliable partner. my answer will be completely a deep politicized i would lik

earlier this month putin designed legislation designed to squash demonstrations. anybody who violates the new laws must pay a fine as much as $9,000, the average yearly salary for a russian. people who organize protests could be up for fines of about $30,000. the new laws also forbid demonstrators from wearing masks to kon seem their identity. but instead of discurabling protesters the president has them marching again. >> reporter: on the 12th of junes, russia's opposition forces staged their first demonstration since the enactment against government rallies. she was distributing white ribbons at the site of the demonstration. she's among those who are calling for a change in russian politics to ensure fairness in political affairs and in elections. the white ribbon is a symbol of their campaign as the color of white is thought to represent purity. >> translator: many people want change, this country. there's no other choice. >> reporter: she's a housewife in her 40s. she used to have little interest in politics but last year she became active. lower house electi

mystified about vladimir putin.been a striking figure obviously in russian politics but he seems to be very, very tough customer for president obama. what is your read on vladimir putin? >> let's talk about politics and just what positions he has taken. that's important. i think in this period of time when russia's government and the administration have relations have reset and for instance, the problem of syria affair, talking about international affairs but simultaneously, we have internal problems because putin from my perspective, my party supporters, is not legitimate president. >> why is he not a legitimate president? >> bought both elections, were not legitimate, were not free because only selective candidates could participate, selected by putin. not fair because even those who were allowed to participate had no equal access to media and other instruments of interacting with people and also the elections were not credible because massive falsification took place. that's why more than 50% of the population do

but we do have putin. and putin seems, at least to us watching from here, to have brought the soviet union back at least in terms of government to the kremlin days where other parties are smothered, the press is smothered. now we see what's going on in the middle east. all these protests. you're in moscow. people have been turning television on there and seeing in the middle east protesters in the streets against their corrupt governments with that same kind of dictatorial powers. what are the people in russia thinking when they see what's going on in the middle east about their own situation? and i'd like you all to comment after steve does. >> well, i can only report what my wife, katrina, and i saw and heard in moscow. everybody was talking about it. it was being shown on the television. but there are 150 million russians, thereabout. and they reacted very differently. the very small contingent who call themselves real democrats openly said, we wish that would happen here. and they say the reason it doe

well bill president putin and president obama are meeting for the first time the russian leader took office in may much of the meeting was behind close is going to happen behind closed doors as you would expect but from what we know they are going to discuss syria so far the rhetoric between russia and the u.s. has been very tense on that matter moscow and washington accuse each other of still king violence but both russia and the u.s. agree on kofi annan is six point peace plan which was designed to enable the syrians to choose their own future eventually but they see very differently as to how to reach that goal aside from that there are some bilateral issues on the table such as the u.s. missile defense shield in europe russia still has no guarantees that it won't be aimed at russia at some point in the u.s. refuses to give those guarantees and arguably with the elections coming up in the u.s. moscow and washington won't be able to move forward on that but there's a positive agenda as while the u.s. and russia are committed to boosting trade because right now it's a seemingly low