on february 5th, russia and china blocked a u.n. security council resolution that would have endorsed an arab league plan for assad in syria to step down. it would have supported a demand that syrian troops withdraw from towns and start transitioning to democracy. this is just the latest incident in which russia has for its own reasons intervened in a way that has destabilizes the world and helps iran in this instance, which is the main beneficiary of the continued regime of president assad to stay in power. but i want to highlight this issue. this has to do with how president assad is getting arms with which to kill innocent syrian citizens, some 8,000 of them according to reports from the united nations. it's not only a question of russians exporting arms to syria to kill innocent civilians, it's also the fact that the department of defense, the united states department of defense has a contract with that same russian arms exporter. and i sent a letter, mr. chairman, to secretary of defense mr. panetta along with 16 colleagues, a

russia remains on the u.s. trade representatives' special 301 priority watch list for ip violations. what makes us think it will live up to its commitments after being allowed to join wto? yes, we should have access to a wto dispute settlement process. if we grant russia pntr. but what has that gotten news our trade relationship with china? 12 years ago, congress repealed jackson vannic and authorized npntr for china, and how did that work out? the u.s. reports to china annually on compliance with wto commitments. the most recent report is 127 pages long. filled with problems. the u.s. has used the formal dispute settlement process to address these issues only in a handful of cases. one case has remained open since 2007. even in the rare cases that we get justice, it's not speedy justice. despite all the structures of the wto, china cheats and continues to get away with it. if this is what we get from china which ranks 75th on the the countries on transparency international corruption perceptions index, what ca

russia's next president. of the russian tycoon the newcomer to the political stage has seven point eight percent that is around five million people go to him the liberal democratic leader also a prominent complainer in russia and he said only one complaint ever since the collapse of the soviet union at six point two percent with four million voters that is and last but not least again on the leader of the just russia party of the head of the upper house of the russian parliament at eight point three point eight percent excuse me that is two point seven million people voting in his favor now certainly it's clear to everyone now that will become russia's president for a third time in twelve years and last night he spoke to a crowd of his supporters of more than one hundred thousand people meters from where i'm standing here in front of the kremlin and. certainly was very emotional about the fact that he has managed to get this victory in the first round of voting . brazing the people who supported him and expre

at the same time, i believe russia very much, many in russia, not all. many in russia do want to address all the concerns we've been talking about. for example, more independent -- for a more independent judiciary, several ways. one is to have a transcript, have a transcript of proceedings, judicial proceedings. there are no transcripts these days. second, to default trial by jury, not by the judge. third, transparency, open judicial proceedings. not closed judicial proceedings. i asked president medvedev about those three points, and he -- i won't say he disagreed. i said do you agree with the premise of my question, that these changes are critically necessary for russia to dance? and he said, yes, he agrees with the premise of my question. and to add to that too all the points the human rights groups have said in russia namely, repeal of jackson vanic helps us address our human rights causes, doesn't hurt us, it helps us. because otherwise sometimes others will grant pntr as leverage, as a foil, attack the united states, to help themselves, you know, p

, why russia joined the wto?russia wants to join the wto because it wants to be part of the world community and it will help russia's economy and the statue if it's part of wto. the pressure is already going to be part of the wto irrespective of what the united states does here. so the question is, once russia joins the wto, to help ourselves by granting ptnr or do we hurt ourselves by not granting ptnr? ?t the same time, many russians, at the same time, many russians, not all come in many in russia do want to address all the concerns we were talking about. for example, a more independent judiciary. i've spent a lot of times -- not a lot, sometime in russia talking about the need for more independent judiciary in several ways. one is to have a transcript of proceedings. there are no transcripts these days. second, to have trial by jury, not private judge. dirt, transparency, open judicial proceedings, not close judicial proceedings. get all that together and that will very much hope. i asked president medvedev ab

well thanks so much technology innovation all the list of elements around russia we've got the future covered. to. lead glowing welcome to on the money with the business of russia is business i'm here all about being elected for a third six year term as russian president vladimir putin returns to power in a very different country than only four years ago candidate but where are they mostly populist platform can be elected politician deliver the goods and keep the economy growing as well as the interest of foreign investors. to discuss the economic and financial environment in russia but what i mean putin will face as he turns office i'm joined by it is likely to vote he is the chief economist at deutsche bank and given chicago he is the chief economist for russia and c.i.s. at renaissance capital we also have been heiress he is the editor in chief of business new europe as well as come monday he is the chief strategist and a critic but first let's have a look at how russia's new president may transform the country's economy. in four years time russia is expected to break into the rank

in russia. this is a basic right that is not protected. one of our witnesses will discuss royalties, which is not directly covered by wto agreements. i submit the administration is missing a point on the repeal of jacksonvanik. while immigration may no longer be an issue, the blatant disregard for human rights and human lot is as bit as relevant today as it was decades ago. human rights cannot be divorced from the discussion of the economic relationship with russia, particularly since some of the most egregious cases of abuse involves citizens exercising economic and commercial rights. consider the case of the young lawyer who was imprisoned, tortured, and died in prison because he sought to expose economic corruption at the highest levels of russian government. set -- several of us have joined senator ben cardin to sign legislation that sends a clear message that those who committed this violence will not have access to the financial network of the united states. mr. chairman, i would like to s

in this new emerging multiple or organization russia according to the script was still secure russia was not supposed to be some sort of take this was supposed to be a vassal states like a kind of use said to be wrong for the washington interests an effect russia got closer to china the brics came up they start to get integrated to get russia start to be more forceful among the central asian stance as well forging a little ready for this strategic partnership with germany faggoty if you're germany vestal and russia and russia selling basically natural resources to germany and of course from the point of view of washington this is absolutely a horrible story but there's nothing they can do about it. they ask about it without say the headlines of the next thing they say. wealth of british style. is not on the title. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with much cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our keep. busy evening. to. sit. down live the official t.m.p. cation show on the phone

in four years time russia is expected to break into the ranks of the top five economies in the world with annual g.d.p. growth reaching up to seven percent however that's contingent on a thriving and innovative business sector the dimmer putin who is set to return to the post of russia's president this may winning more than sixty three percent of the votes has valves to make this vision of economic transformation areality the foundations of this economic policy have their roots in the shop for hours and world oil prices. says that coincided with the dimmer putin's first presidential term however moves to stimulate private business and lessen the economy's dependence on commodities especially oil and gas became a challenge in two thousand and four current state of russian economy is the same as it used to be one year ago five years ago basically economy's very good pendant while. on commodities and their price. basically we don't see any significant developments in the transformation of the economy the words higher value added in the eight is since two thousand and four there's certai

companies doing business in russia. russia as committed attention on reported agricultural equipment from 15% to 5%. however it is likely that russia would not extend the lower tariff rates to u.s.-made products until it's granted untr. u.s. companies like john deere would be at a competitive disadvantage relative to our foreign competitors, and we would have no recourse to the wto -- many of the products we sell in russia utilize components closely connected to jobs in our facilities in the american midwest. second, pntr will strengthen commercial ties between the two countries. pntr will -- ajude indication process for trade disputes and also will promote transparency. third granting pntr will directly benefit u.s. workers, manufacturers, service providers and agricultural promoters helping to maintain good jobs here in the united states. russia's large and growing economy, coupled with pntr. russia is already one of the world's largest markets with nearly $2 trillion economy. john deere has had a presence in russia f

now there's a whole section dedicated to russia's election on our website r.t. dot com where we've got the most informative analysis and views on the poll for the country's top drop drastically reforms stability what future do russians really want a definite do what evolution the latest opinion poll. what qualities must an ideal president possess sincerity intelligence experience in politics by looking on r.t. dot com. poll media comment in the e.u. has been mostly critical of decision to run for the presidency and we can now talk to our europe correspondent. he's been gauging the mood in brussels or well what are your opinions same tests and how that has been named the weather. well for much of the european press. putin winning the presidential elections is a foregone conclusion as far as they're concerned whoever they have been very critical about his decision to run in the first place having already served two presidential firms and now he's trying minister but beyond that they're also they've also been very critical of galbi entire system of russia the flaws

criticism is that russia is not democratic but what the problem is it's not so much that russia is not democratic it's a managed democracy system whereby you've got a transition and the debate that we should be having that we're not even beginning is the west is looking and saying russia's political system is rubbish and discounting the people with discounts including it's not you know they should have the same system as which is full and open so moccasin but i think you know state that attitude is maybe naive or at least it's not what happened here what we're talking about is a transition if we accept this economic need for economic transition at a time what it is arguing is the need for a political transition to. this is not turkmenistan where the president just returned with ninety seven percent of the vote one hundred percent duma. and it's not ukraine either which is but then you know there's the ukrainian it experiment where they did it for political. chaos and it's chaos and war over. which is clearly going to steal the country but i can also bring the elections there and i thin

in the relationship between between russia and the united states and russia and nato and now let's you know the quote here's what put in reality about neglecting some major principles theorize ations coexistence. major principles necessary for any usable civilization would indeed be usable security to a state the unacceptability of excessive use of force and the unconditional observance of the basic standards of international law the neglect of a neo pleased to introduce can only be just to do is ation of international relations it is through this prison but we do see some aspects of us that need to construct that contradict a logical modern development relying instead on the stereotypes of law based mentality. jeffrey here we have again i have transcribed question once again he again mentions the us and its allies as sort of a destabilizing force that neglect the middle aged principles of our civilized relationship so well that doesn't worry washington ok rhetoric what does it all mean the end of a bad medvedev resect well i'm not sure whether the reset really took hold in the first p

has for the world today given what do you think about that and russia is not russia is not playing by the rules go ahead gilbert jump in i want to put a date on the phenomenon that we just called out from a date is february two thousand and seven and that was the the speech live good interview to the president through the munich security conference i remember it well. what he said of the policies which verd largely are repeated in his february twenty seventh. paper. in a changing world. so there is a considerable consistency there is also enormous consistency in the u.s. led response to it which is the information war that i mentioned a few minutes ago it's precisely contesting the world or us dominated new order that is led by one man cleverly mcclinton and so the the western response is very personalized ok and he turned from time magazine man of the year to through sar putin in a matter of months he hates it you know it's very interesting i mean i always find western media looks at it russia is being very simplistic here but if you listen to the opposition's a lot they have some in

for hostility towards russia so this idea that somehow or another russia is a concern for americans it just doesn't add up at all with a very small sliver of people asked about romney's comments president made it advise them to stop reverting to olden days hollywood spirit types and take a look at the calendar. and you can all u.s. presidential candidates to make a reasonable statement if you didn't do them any harm to do so. it's the year twenty. nine hundred seventy s. anymore the current leaders of the two countries may have long delayed the cold war to aggress but first some is just too good to lead. boy to return to those cold war simple days. russia is not the only foreign policy bandwagon the republican presidential hopefuls are capitalizing on the list also includes china he ran syria each candidate except ron paul trying to sound tougher than the other the strategists they put forward warming arming isolating threatening i want to beat china i want to go to war with china these guys are ranchers and at the end of it as and and looking for ways to do it to want to harness of

pntr with russia is simply put a benefit to the united states rather than an accommodation to russia. there is a strong business case for congressional approval of pntr, i urge the congress to quickly -- u.s. companies their workers and shareholders receive the benefits from the outset of russia's long-awaited wto membership. i'll be pleased to respond to any questions that the committee may have. >> thank you. >> chairman baucus, senator kyle and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on a subject that i feel is of critical importance, the opportunity to grow the u.s. economy and u.s. jobs by establishing u.s. trade relations with russia. i'm a u.s. citizen born and raised in new york, i joined ge in 1991 and for the past 13 years have been living and working in russia. for the peace six years, i have served as chairman of the chairman of commerce in russia. so i've been in a unique position to witness firsthand the dramatic changes russia has undergone in such a short period of time almost 1.2 million in u.s. origin ofrds in russia, up

this election should become russia's most transparent voting ever since the collapse of the soviet union hundreds of thousands of observers as well as light webcams are monitoring every single police station across the country join me live for all the details from outside the kremlin in just one minute. and in other news this week china calls for an immediate cease fire in syria warns against the use of humanitarian aid as a pretext to interfere in the country's internal affairs. and the e.u. states sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts in place to save the single currency. this is our tease with the news you welcome to the program but first the russians are going to the polls to choose their next president thousands of observers are monitoring the vote and thousands of newly installed web cameras are trained on the ballot boxes across the country. yes polling stations across all of russia's nine time zones have opened with us now to talk to us he's let's say air show scale let's see how has the turnout been so far. well the turnout so far

major western powers and i think russia really couldn't see it in you. to the right only preserves in world in the world scene which is to act as a world power which it always has been acceptable confused for a while and i think the ladies and secondly there has to be a balance that will help our lives global power so that as i say the world is not overrun as we are seeing i don't see very united states and european unity because that sounds rather childish but i insist by the global power elite embedded inside these countries and they have to be stopped. well russia's efforts to maintain balance in world affairs as one of the strands of discussion are to make sure crosstalk. the u.s. is pushing very hard to try and use hard power to how the world needs its agenda whereas russia instead it's working with people with other countries and there is a dialogue maybe it's not the empire showed people it's a multilateral. situation now where russia is working with other countries this is the way to build your allies and to have influence i think russia is much

if russia believes the fence is not needed but it doesn't pose a theoretical frappe russia. my guess is that the russian government will say ok if you want to spend your national treasure this will help you so it solves the political problem and it provides a much more capable defense than with the united states currently building in goods of them all so much cheaper. the professor believes that the purpose of nato is radar in europe is to track the movements of russian strategic weapons and to monitor russia's new military technologies. the real target could be russia but certainly it makes the people of europe less safe it draws them in in fact as a geo strategic quine by great powers as they maneuver and use the missile defense shield not as a way to defend your not as a way to defend anybody in fact but they provide a first strike our potential capability against the adversary. this is how we are going to train ourselves in order to be ready for any situation . if. these people crossing a field of kelp have serious worries about the global situation. they feel that as lo

fifth, russia and the united states should intensify work to ensure that russia's costs, tax administration, and judiciary are freer of corruption. sixth, russia and the united states should cooperate to expand the scope for civil society organizations such as transparency international to monitor, investigate, and report on suspected incidents of corruption. i believe the executive branch in the congress can be and should be partners in this work. i would urge the executive branch to present to congress a plan to implement all of these measures to strengthen the rule of law. i would urge the congress to exert active and continuing oversight to make sure it implements the plan vigorously and makes progress for business in putting it into place, all three sides of the rule of law triangle -- the trade side, the investment side, and the institutional integrity side. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. larson. some american businessmen tell me they don't want to do business in russia, don't even try because of corruption. it's just not worth it. in fact, i think i saw a study somewhere wher

russia in a changing world. so there is a considerable consistency there and it's also enormous consistency in the u.s. led response to it which is the information war that i mentioned a few minutes ago it's precisely contesting the moral pole the world over us dominated new order that is led by one man by the reporter and so the the western response is very personalized ok and he turned from time magazine man of the year to through. you know matter of months you know it's very interesting i mean i always find western media looks it rush is being very simplistic here but if you listen to the opposition's a lot they have some interesting ideas about political reform here and the political elite here is responded to i mean there is a dialogue going on here but you don't hear that in western media because it makes it more complicated doesn't it well i don't think that the western governments are interested in developing development of democracy in russia but what is really a horrible thing is that the west immediat

russia has nine time zones. one three elections process the stork for example and far east the transmission was put on that process. will be played only on nine pm by moscow time so so so so it's well it won't contradict the law because because you're not allowed to show the results of the last polling station in your list i see. if somebody wants to wants to. disrupt the work of those webcams here if i enter the polling stations and somehow tamper with the webcam and try to stick cheering about it on whatever is it a criminal offense then of course it's hooligans. because in the so you use local brewery very quickly this system is already part of the election process and it's protected by a long and all the police policemen science to. controls . another question maybe insensitive political questions but still will these recordings later be available to the media will they be available. to act as evidence in courts for example how well our opinions are it will for example currently. juge can. a new video materi

russia relations with the new old. president putin they mentioned this chemistry that existed between presidents obama and medvedev and prime minister future president putin has kind of a hawk whose response to certain u.s. policies has been blunt sharp and at times unpleasant for washington and they raise questions about the reset it's going foreign journalist actually asked prime minister putin about the future and the results of the reset what he said was basically that reset doesn't mean russia has to give up its national interest or not be able to express its use on some core so international easy issue but despite the differences as the prime minister said the reset has worked and if that's true dramatically advanced economic ties between the countries in the first place and he's determined to continue that policy i was archies down it's as you can reporting for us there from washington now one of the architects of russia's foreign policy is constantino of he says putin's international agenda will be to promote a

people will be the new presidents of russia. all right peter all of our live for us from central moscow thanks very much for that update. we're going to bring you now some live video that we're seeing from another part of central moscow where there is a pro putin rally taking place now this is going to be the second day that supporters have gathered in a large numbers this is in money square near where our alexei was giving his earlier report and now we're going to have more from our correspondent who is are among the crowd that's going to be in a few moments. but first though investors keep you know the line up for russia's next government let's see how they're reacting by heading over to the r t business desk where corrina melican is standing by. well russian stock markets manage to look reassured as the preelection rushes over and however shares are seeing modest gains some investors say that they expect a period of consolidation after the markets went up more than twenty percent since the start of the year but i don't say in

in cold war one boss is sweeping america's republican senators into body no concessions for russia got a t.v. with missiles will be able to play soft obama was overheard assuring to be cheaper better more flexibility on arms control and. more the u.s. and russia don't see eye to eye on washington's missile defense plans in europe but as we heard next both countries must combine efforts to prevent a greater danger the spread of nuclear weapons. ambassador richard burton goes he did the first start treaty the strategic arms reduction treaty with the soviet union that was years ago is now a new start but according to some including yourself progress has stalled thank you for sitting down with us i want to begin with that start was science a new start was signed in april twenty ten you yourself have said that progress has stalled how much does the u.s. plans to install missile defense there and russians opposition to it have to do with well i think it's a factor i mean there are a number of reasons that i think the process is slow down i mean with this has been a political year obviously a

can make a big difference in preventing the perception of russia and of corruption in russia over the next few years. all right well thank you very much for joining us live from london there sorry we had to be brief thank you for your input this hour we're going to go straight to our spot my program and we'll have more for you at the top of the hour stay with our team. some of the bonus. to. follow in welcome across dark i'm peter all about the return of lot of mere putin to the russian presidency how did the campaign change russian politics how will russia transform over the next six years and has a new dialogue started within society about the country's future. cross-talk a new period in russian politics i'm joined by john laughlin in paris used to rector of studies at the institute of democracy and cooperation in london we have mary to share ski she is the chief editorial writer and columnist at the independent and here in the studio with me is ben eris he is editor in chief of business new europe all right cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want but

for demanding no concessions for russia which wants guarantees u.s. missiles will be a display that's after obama was overheard assuring to meet him a good deal of more flexibility on arms control the extremes. they'd share with the latest sports news now. hello welcome to the latest sports looking at the headlines. european dreams are better details bones team selection leads chelsea towards the champions league semifinals with a one nil first leg victory then sea-tac. while talk or maria sharapova remains on course for her first miami time for easing past the hour of trying now to reach the semifinals. and riders in the storm a day after from the cradle and overcome the elements to win the first ever in the circle smiling to be a race in siberia. the first of champions league football and chelsea manager roberto di matteo says his ball selection policy was vindicated after the blues took a big step towards the semifinals with a one zero win i've been thinking in portugal or the italian left senior stars did a drug that frank lampard and michael essi

your special coverage of russia's presidential election here on our t.v. continues we will be bringing you updates in the hours ahead but for now it's a debate time and a special election edition of our t's crossed. live . in the spirit. below in welcome to a special edition of cross talk i'm peter lavelle decision two thousand and twelve russians have gone to the polls and chosen a new president how is this campaign change politics in russia what does it say about the voters and what does the future hold for the political opposition. led. to the slim. ok to cross-talk first results of the election i'm joined by eric wahlberg in toronto he's an author and journalist and writes about russian affairs and weekly in cairo in brussels we have gilbert doctorow he's an independent scholar and author of great post cold war american thinkers on international relations also here in the studio with me is yon hell of a he is a managing partner of the law firm hell of a klein and who served and author of all his art on democratic competition all right gentlemen crossta

a compliant russia russia is dependent on not only i.m.f. so the fact that there could have been. issues of electoral fraud in sunday's presidential elections in russia. is not really it's not really the problem for many western statesmen because no political system in the world electoral system in the world is perfect let's forget let's not forget in the two thousand presidential elections in america large parts of the african american community in florida which prevents it from voting so no electoral system is perfect but the fear the concern in the west is that russia under vladimir putin and for the forseeable future not be that weak russia but the world saw in the ninety nine cities what western media has been largely critical of putin's decision we see in that time and time again his decision to stand for president and his election campaign now he's been elected and the focus has been on the protests how long is this attitude going to continue . well i mean the protesters in moscow and some in other parts of russia they are insightful

across not the upcoming presidential election here in russia i'm joined by going to be bob a chair in the studio with me he's an independent political analyst in madrid we go to eric kraus he's an independent asset manager and author of the strategy monthly truth and beauty and in london we cross to jonathan steele he is the international affairs commentator for the guardian and all right gentlemen crossed out rules in effect and that means you can jump in anytime you want also i'd like three remind our panel and my viewers that because of the russian election law we cannot speak specifically about polling numbers as of the twenty seventh to sunday the day of the election so we won't be using a lot of numbers here in this program ok eric kraus if i go to you first in madrid reading western media about this election it seems like the russian voter is very unique dimensional do you think there's a typical russian voter and if there is a typical one how would you describe that voter. well i would say the typical russian voters are going to use mathematical averages is what i'm going to v

russia relations but despite certain differences but both russian and u.s. leaders agree that the reset has worked with with regards to russia joining the world trade organization for example or cooperation in of ghana's but one of the points of mitt romney's foreign policy agenda you can find it on his website he has a section dedicated to russia is to as we said the reason. that with russia speaking of romney he is known as a bit of a flip flopper someone who says something but doesn't necessarily mean it then goes out and backtracked on what he said he would actually do their source of tons of jokes fleet week your people from a rival can call him a target. he tries to pander to his audience telling them what he thinks they want to hear that he turns out that it was not what they wanted to hear and then he comes under fire for. being a flip flop but it looks like he is winning the republican nomination america will soon face a choice between romney and president obama there are a lot of people who disapprove of president obama's policies but most experts

for some to find the problems positions and aspirations of modern russia. presidential election two thousand and twelve r.t. . would be soon which prices. move. from plans to. start time team don't come. to kick. start. to. come across i'm going to go through my job we're talking about the march fourth presidential election in russia. you can. still see. ok jonathan one of the things i kind of like i mean i don't like to mimic our richard nixon because that's not my political flavoring but i mean he did talk about the the silent majority and they can and the rise of conservatism in the united states and it seems to me that when we when we look at these protests that are a televised on russian television and you can get to watch plenty of it on you tube if you want is actually energized the silent majority because you know if you live outside of moscow and st petersburg the amenities are not is great or you're right you can be on the internet that's fine ok you can be anywhere to be on the internet but the same time the amenities and i think a lot of people

russia has nine time zones. once the election process stopped for example in far east the transmission rules put on that power little sound. will be played only on nine pm by most contract so so so so it's well it won't contradict the law because because you're not allowed to show the results of the last polling station. well if somebody wants to once to. disrupt the work of those webcams here if i enter the polling stations and somehow tackle the webcam and try to stick cheering i want or whatever is a criminal offense but of course it's hooligans. because in so few years local brewery seems very quickly this system is already part of the election process and it's protected by law and all the police the politicians are instructed to. have. to control. another question maybe instead censor political questions but still will these recordings later be available to the media will they be available. to act as evidence in courts for example how well our opinions of it will for example currently jujutsu can. be any. v

can make a big difference by improving the perception of russia and of corruption in russia over the next few years. but lots of different reaction in and outside of russia some happy outpouring of support to stalin predictions at the end of russert relieved by his certainly having it say today even more so i understand that lacson day tim kirby is following the latest online chatter for r t ten. how you do it while i sit a little while ago i was talking about twitter back to you know that to maybe tomorrow morning we'll start to see some videos on you tube and well guess what they're already here i think in old man terms yeah you can see here that we have the videos where the plane there's protesters there's police this clashes who knows what's going on you know if you look at this video you can sort of look at it both ways the protesters move towards the police but then the police are there with their big scary uniforms on what i have been sort of looking over all these tweets and all this kind reminds you of people have a religious debate they should because of the debate with the

red cross in doing battle city following a un security council call for humanitarian aid bound by russia and china. is prepared to see what he fiscal pact aimed at keeping member states deficits within the limits which critics say will cost patients their sovereignty when it comes to budgetary policies are going on the cobbles of law could get expand with serbia now being formally granted candidates in status. and russia's prime minister and presidential candidate whatever putin says the rise in opposition activities has energized his government to respond to changing public mood leading for media the election front runner refused to back new parliamentary elections however if your sunday school. and prime minister putin is a man who is the center of discussion our debate show cross-talk focusing today on the presidential election and a man who is the frontrunner. they can. only welcome across the time people go boating for the future in two days' time russians will go to the polls to elect their next president what is the nature of russia's political system how has it changed over time

for personifying the problems positions and aspirations of modern russia. presidential election two thousand and twelve r.t. . so we've got him a person is the favorite for this presidential race the figure that we've just seen sixty one point seven percent is even higher than the public opinion poll suggested from three different centers the father mosco opinion polling foundation f.o. am and the sea on which gave him around sixty percent he got sixty one point seven percent and this is of course despite as i mentioned the wave of protests that we've seen over the past three months following the parliamentary elections with a lot of people thousands of people taking to the streets suggesting that russia needs a change in its political scene a change of leadership and the year the fact that blessing of putin has managed to adapt in his electoral campaign to this changing environment become more open to opposition also reducing the. minimum barrier for political parties in the future to come into the lower house of russian parliament from seven percent to fi

before we look at russia now but also i think you know when we're looking at. the the money has been flowing out we could see some of that money coming back but i think again the policies regarding the investment climate is going to be key if you mention money going out there capital flowing out of russia reached about seventeen billion u.s. dollars last month alone welcome to change u.s. president to keep money circulating inside the country. well again metric anomic ability will be key i think that some of the monitors thrown out because of uncertainty will return. i think also we need to look at the tax tax issue that has been talked about raising income tax and b. eighty two that materialize we can probably expect the could have a sort of negative impact on tax collection as higher taxes normally means that people would go back to tax evasion but the macroeconomic situation relapse we actually did number one issue russia's economy is healthier than that in say crisis hit you for example the social economic benefits for people unlike your sterrett you see in

a compliant russia russia that is dependent on the on the i.m.f. so the fact that they could have been. issues of electoral fraud in sunday's presidential elections in blusher. is not really it's not really the problem for many western slates men because no political system in the world electoral system in the world is perfect but the fear and the concern in the west is that russia under vladimir putin and for the forseeable future will not be the weak russia that the world saw in the ninety nine cities. while the presidential election is a serious issue there is always room for some fun as you can see next. take a secret look at how much time you know moments at a polling station filmed by way of cameras intended to monitor the voting process but which captured a lot more besides that. senator john mccain has called for airstrikes and a military campaign against syria the first u.s. lawmaker to do so the statement comes as international pressure on president assad increases with more sanctions imposed on the regime meanwhile red cross aid has reac