in russia of. the context is somewhat different. government takes a very significant role not only controlling those resources but in developing them and exploring them so i suppose for the canadian companies the challenge is how do you navigate the unique circumstances of the russian oil and gas industry and how it's developed and we're still learning about as we move along but i'm optimistic that as time goes by more and more canadian companies will take an interest in that sector in russia but you might have noticed that when you were already here in russia with your visit that prime minister medvedev came up with the. pretty extensive program of privatization you know he proposed privatization in the gas sector in the banking sector so so that should be a step in the direction you know what that's a very very positive signal and there have been some other positive signals as well i met with russia's natural resources minister yesterday and he updated me on some of the regulatory and legislative changes that the russian governmen

russia human rights conservationism to do wrestles to twenty national june next time you hope for russia to hope post the culture of nations and finally we had some good discussions on the range of foreign policy issues. on syria let me first say that the situation is appalling the syrian regime should immediately cease all forms of violence and provides filter or to do un supervision mission european union and russia might have some divergent assessments but before you agree that i'm not as a whole provides the best opportunity to break this cycle of violence in syria avoiding a civil war and finding a peaceful lost and solution we need to combine our efforts in order for this to happen and to find common messages on which we agree we need to walk towards an immediate stop of all forms of violence in syria and what's process of political transition a new round we agree on the urgent need to prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons you and russia are working closely together and we all the partners on this issue and we look forward to the next round of talks in moscow where the e.u. w

schools of thought in germany concerning russia one it's very interesting ethic about russia this is a business community and the enthusiastically of course welcomed mr putin 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 real

what does this choice mean for the relations between russia and germany and between russia and europe in general europe which is now in the grip of an economic turmoil who ask this and other questions to a prominent expert and international relations in germany that. prudence travel plans have received a lot of media attention lately. 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 seventeen. countries are also working together on. line 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 berlin as his first destination in europe first foreign nation outside the space. where for. schools of thought in germany concerning russia one is very into the ethic about russia this is the 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 an

to twelve so we celebrate russia today. commemorating russia's state sovereignty declaration that you were a member of parliament back then the very problem and adopted the declaration. what was the essence of the declaration as seen at the time and why is that today's russians often referred to june twelfth as the dependence day. but i wasn't just a member of parliament i was one of the people who are rude the declaration and from where i'm standing so bringing independence day or even russia on june the twelfth outright ridiculous. it doesn't it seem strange to me that it is absurd as the purpose of the declaration was to try to find a medellin's of competencies between new soviet union and russia as its constituent republic. those who think the declaration was strictly bout independence and not actually read it. they don't realize that its key point was to establish the russian soviet federative socialist republic as a legal state within the soviet union. what should. go and indivisible state doesn't that hilton's go lib

i thought show that russia is growing russia is changing but there was no blunt most importantly there was no blood i don't think it was any harder on demonstrators than in any other country and all myself. i myself hope for the lives that whatever happens on the streets it will be peaceful and things what it was peaceful so i think it's a big step forward for any country in the world today to have demonstrations protestors about to make sure that their lives hell for their well being absolutely not. and i think russia is moving and moving in the right direction that's my feeling i'm artist i'm not spending hours and hours myself on the streets sure even in st petersburg and working actually i hope a lot of people of russia will do the same just work quite hard that's why i'm interested in your opinion because the opinion of politicians are more or less easy it's a game for them but for you it's not a game it's a piece of sheet music is your world and this thing it's part of your world of this so so this is why it's very important for me to know your point of view what do you think and

and russia in case and this year. as for our economic and trade cooperation it is on the rise we have established on either side that russia would like to. assist russia in modernizing its industries we also have severe interesting cooperation with regard to commodities trade. and that includes building the north stream pipeline we all also have discussed. the evolution of civil society in russia there have been certain developments in this area i have emphasized that we are interested in developing a democratic democracy including those in russia because that is the only way. to conceive a civil society in russia that would assist. the country in its development but. the year two thousand and fourteen will be the year of russia in germany in the year of germany in russia. russia will be presented in germany and showcase here through more than a thousand of activities there will be an exposition titled germans and russians at thousand years of history culture in fine arts it will be opened in the historical museum. bu

the same time keep its relations with major economic partner as russia is anyhow you with russia are part of the us not the force there are stumbling blocks they want material. being a fully fledged member of the e.u. one of them is possibly nato membership which president nicholas said that he would never take on and the other is the recognition of course of a. mistake and it has already made it clear that if serbia has to choose between recognizing cost of a on the e.u. then it can forget about the e.u. there is nothing new in the foreign relations you cited namely the same formulation as were made by former president serbia's national assembly had adopted five six years ago. declaring the military neutrality of serbia. within the present constellation is politically determined not to become the member of nato. constitution plame costs as a part of the country so no politician. disobey the basic principle is as stated in the constitution of the country he's already wrote the votes as well hasn't he there were deep sort of undone some of the work that was done to restore relations w

the development of a middle class something that russia never knew before and every place china russia russia europe the united states the middle class feels itself under threat is dissatisfied. and this is an important motor for social change in russia still in america i mean which sounds to me you're saying is this the normalization of russian politics it is and what i hope for is i mean these demonstrations are in effect fairly useless at this point because they represent a minority viewpoint the majority of russians voted for vladimir putin and would vote for glad to be a putin again but what we needed to realize position and effective opposition in russia the british notion of a loyal opposition not simply being against everyone and everything but being for some positive solutions and this begins with regional politics this begins with people running for office for the mayor of their city and gradually developing a real political alternative in russia which is something which has been missing until now david what do you think about the nature of the opposition here i think you kno

be russia during this campaign as the u.s. top political foe this it really reflects the republican party i can't believe that i mean i know very very many senior republicans including george schultz and looting have your kids at you who's of you cannot believe that it is so we should say so and i don't it's just an election rhetoric or what. i don't quite understand and i know that and they. take an analogy they were russian to better understand they're doing the putin's presidential campaign he seemed to be posing united states as a threat to russia which i don't believe and i'm not there and. so i don't know people say in campaigns sometimes take extreme statements. but i do not believe that's going to be a big issue in this campaign. i do believe will be a difference in that whether through romney or obama in terms of how u.s. russia relations develop and i'm inclined to believe that it would develop a more positive vein under obama than under romney so what this is very important so you think the russians i mean the kreml

russia's reserves around forty percent of them are held in euros so russia's economy heavily depends on the health of the euro itself and while they said. that looking for ways to get the eurozone out of the crisis of the crisis is first of all a decision for the members of the eurozone itself but of course russia will be assisting in its own possible ways in order to get finally through this crisis center for. energy cooperation in general is one of the most important aspects of the cooperation between russia and germany i mean of course the north stream pipeline project which is an international project. russia and germany and is aimed to send the russian gas directly to the european union it's actually almost finished and by the end of this year russian gas should start flowing directly to you would be in consumers but also once again reminded. russia and germany our strategic partners and the trade turnover has grown by around a third exceeding seventy billion us dollars which means that germany's russia's second largest trade partner after china and of course both leaders are sa

public opinion in those sectors of russia who would start off from russia as a teacher and stood up a duty oh well russia is a part of the customs union how this statement made by you remains true. i mean that the attention to w t o. a minimal economic block of the basic agreement and mr brosnahan opinion on how we do integration of russia w t o what influence we have to the. elaboration or for the new. treaty of partnership and cooperation thank you. no no it is a letters beginning with a w t o. we have you see have seen the response separate sectors of russian economy. when we are here to w t o there are reasons but the instruments which we use within the requirements of a double to make us think by implementing those tools in our economy we can minimize those risks for a separate. directions of industry that is agriculture agriculture engineering. car industry etc several instruments are beginning to be used all the things in full agreement with the w t o requirements and other w t o member states are using these instruments as well let's just first second during the talks includin

minds russia would be so much brighter if you knew.

if you want to argue live from moscow with now take a look at our top stories russia seeks to break the iranian nuclear standoff by hosting an international conference in moscow all sides are a dog indeed with tough new american and european sanctions looming over tehran which refuses to relinquish its right to atomic energy. good news for those gathering for the g. twenty meeting to discuss among others the dead battered eurozone breeze seems to be stay with the euro as a pro bailout party takes the lead in the u. action. that egyptians are awaiting the results of the country's presidential election and as you can see in this live picture people are gathering in central cairo tough rear square as long as claim and unofficial early lead in the first democratic presidential polls since the ouster of hosni mubarak well the official results though are expected to be announced on thursday. and next artie's as down with an american lawyer and democratic party politician who also served as a u.s. senator chris dodd is the focus of our interview next. christoper former he left center it's grea

and russia call me and i'm not the e.u. or writer because of the sea there doesn't work that was interesting he did a thing that said be a will have to seize between the e.u. and russia i think it's possible to keep the right balance between then. you have a whole other level i prefer not to have to make the choice or this i'd like serbia to be a home with two doors want to the west and the other to the east these serbia simply belongs to the east as well as to the west we have a traditional and deep relationship with russia not only in terms of origin but also in religion as tree customs language but we have complementary industries that we've had exceptional economic relations since the second world war unfortunately we ruined our industry with senseless privatization war which led to people losing their jobs never the less we have the education we have the will power and natural resources to collaborate once again with the russian federation at a much higher level since two thousand serbia has moved away from russia's un

with nato there was friendship with russia and russia was not present in chicago. what is happening in between? the next question deals with the economics of the plan to finance missile defense in economic difficulties. we are in the defense committee and sharing and actually more country's increasing defense budget so how do you plan to finance missile defense? >> jon? trine? >> the relationship with russia as i am sure you know is worse than it was in 2008. it is a piece of string. difficult to say what the relationship with russia is and we have to take into account all the negative developments. i am not completely without reason. given that list for missile defense, sounded much better than what it is. i had -- difficulty seeing what russia could gain from what is being offered. perhaps it is surprising there has been a downturn in the relationship and on some of that presidential debate, important for that relationship because nato is in russia perceived as the enemy. in the public is difficult, we are friends with nato. nato has been painted as the big doubl

/good russia. i think on doing this, which has been consolidated, it has been a position that has been consolidated over the last 18 months, is actually going to be the first next step that nato needs to address. within the parameters of ddpr i think nato's best option seems to be to return to recommendations of the non-paper that was submitted last april by poland, germany and the netherlands. it should see increased transparency on numbers, types, locations, operational status and the level of storage security. these are questions that could usefully be addressed in the nato russia council and hopefully lead to a better atmosphere and a more constructive working environment within the council. moreover, following the american elections this year, a renewed effort at reaching an understanding with russia on corporation on missile defense would, if it could be successful, provide an environment that would be more conducive for further discussions within nato on nonstrategic nuclear weapons. but for

russia southern half of our joint commitment to develop russia's strategic partnership. as you all know the results of the two last years mockable the russian w t o accession the partnership of madonna's vision and the common steps toward a visa free travel the e.u. russia relationship is enjoying its best identities for years however that is still much we need to do we all do and that what is potentially possible strong political will and hot work with will be needed even in the coming years i therefore welcome president clinton's commitment to bringing this work for the together with european you. would have talks on the all grow by that real agenda and overload issues such as the economy and some of the more pressing international issues i would like to highlight the following points first on the economy for your up these are testing times but good driven by clear commitment a clear that i mean mission to work our way through the challenges we are aiming at swing getting growth in the european union that are many initiatives in the making and we will take fodor this e

much bigger than it is in russia and. i lived in africa so i know what i'm talking about sarah no i would like to go back just a little bit about the oil dependency i mean as of today russia is still largely dependent on oil revenues you know some say that did to the lack of the global growth they experienced a drastic falling oil prices what happens to russia's budget if let's say oh prices fall down one hundred dollars mark do you have a plan b. . what do. tell me about it. it's sort of simple. first of all we already have some experience after the previous crisis two thousand and eight two thousand and nine. secondly in the reserve currency reserves third biggest in the world there five hundred twelve billion dollars. then we have a national reserve fund and we have future generations fund. come by and it's close to one trillion dollars so we have. some money in case the bad case scenario happens. but of course we have also co-equal the state subsidies system which we have tried and proved effective two years ago thoug

specific role because recently you said the russia correct me if i'm wrong that russia should not be considered as one of the brics nations and the will never be included into the g eight if it continues with its with its basically protectionist policy what you know on the g eight you know your prize in the side the not the time the g eight summit because you said he was busy creating his own cabinet that was a bit of a strange thing to do with like a snob you know in the case of the brig's the point is you know russia's potential growth today based on the statements by that with the governor of your central bank is the three and a half percent. time i mean the recently were growing eight nine percent now they're slowing down so you have a contrary you have low potential girl that where there is that you know not as much market oriented there was thought sort of forum you have aging of opal ation there is a certain amount of lack of transparency that has some of that amount of corruption . and tendencies. and the pentagon says them that is institutional weaknesses because that also i

when membership of russia in fact what was strange was that russia was not a member of the it was the only major economy not a member and so it's quite natural that now this happens it's not a secret that we have very much supported in fact the final negotiations it's also not a secret that i also spoke with at that time prime minister putin to try to handle some issues that were still pending and i'm very happy to corp so that russia is now becoming a full member of the euro and i'm sure this is also in the interest of the russian people for all reasons it's true that there are some transitional issues to be. safeguarded and in fact russia was able to address these issues in a very aware it's a new term in a way now today we had also very good discussion about this new agreement and our understanding of friends remember correctly was getting new agreement there will be also parts of of it related to trade and investment as it was in fact agreed in the previous seven it will be a conference in. ambitious and balanced agreement covering most important areas of our corporation but our i

is search our steps do not target russia but russia does not buy this why so why this is just why is it that these assurances are not enough for us to mishear them every day right. you see the issue of you are planting security has been central to any debate over the past several years. and. in foreign affairs with extensive experience covering both the cold war and the post cold war periods. they've come to a common opinion about the reasons for our differences. it is the enduring distrust between our countries to share in the pretty key challenge now is finding a way to overcome it. we fear it could be even more dangerous than the distrust in the times of the cold war but almost in fact you could easily see the rationale behind the mutual suspicions of the past opposing ideologies confrontation between military blocs well today distrust is fed by different concerns is national discourse national so we have to articulate and overcome them we have had a number of debates involving extremely competent experts from russia the united states europe you all have extensive experience in bo

petersburg in russia. that is where leaders from the european union have been meeting president vladimir putin. it is their first summit since he was reelected as the russian president and they took the opportunity to press him on the subject of syria. all parties agree the peace plan proposed by the envoy kofi annan was the best way to avoid civil war. it's not to say they see eye to eye on how to resolve the conflict. gordon has the latest. >> the european union top officials arrived over the weekend to be welcomed by vladimir putin. a first meeting with him since he returned as president of russia. at today's talks, the violence in syria is on the agenda, with european officials stressing that russia's role is critical in persuading its allies to stem the violence and make kofi annan's cease-fire plan work. >> the opinion and russia might have some diverging assessments, but we fully agree that the kofi annan plan provides the best opportunity to break the cycle of violence in syria, avoiding civil war,

who could have thought half a century ago when china and russia clashed over disputed territory that in twenty twelfth russia's president would be greeted by a red carpet in beijing during a lavish state visit. where we know that two years ago china became russia's largest st bernard you know outstripping other nations in the former soviet union as well germany and other european nations you know the security cooperation in russia and china the parallels are. going to other forms of cooperation china needs and how i like russia putin and hu jintao is alliance was reconfirmed by their unified stance on middle east issues in particular the syrian conflict that are being to some difference as a patron russia china and a subway some that are up in countries from thailand the russia prospect they have the key solution lysine. the presentation but and that's planned rather than lies and whether or not we see the poverty. the existing government that is now the committee so i think russia and china's position on syria so it's a more responsible and design to have prominent on the final solu

region for another episode of discover russia before that i'll be back where they have lived. their lives the to. the end of the street. you. her. wish. you luck misleading good. luck. to the mouth. shut on the bottom a very low that. it's. good to see good laboratory jim. teach. with the end of the boer war and the going away of the soviet union many people thought that nuclear weapons disappeared. the risk is not zero that something might be going off by mistake especially with nuclear weapons on hair trigger alert. focus of the victims to use it as it's great. but you know if you keep spinning a trillion dollars a year on weapons of eventually you're going to blow everybody up you you know people are dying from these weapons but until we actually see it people don't wake up to nuclear weapons or a bill. that represents all of the firepower of the second world war this. is the equivalent firepower of the world's nuclear arsenal today. if you're followed up on my bill rather than they. are sort of a trail back and archaic part of our law. and it goes back to a time when peopl

now russia stepping up its efforts to mediate a diplomatic solution it wants an international contact group to persuade damascus and the rebels to cease firing and or talks moscow says it's even a willing to accept president asked his departure but only if the syrian people show him the door. when we hear reports of another message in syria and currently we see such atrocities almost daily many international media outlets want to put the blame entirely on the syrian government the government of many countries of course responsible for what is happening in the country but we're sure the regime alone is not responsible for this we see massacres in houla terrorist attacks in damascus and aleppo that have been condemned by the un security council and all of these is a result of confrontations that are getting more and more outside support i mean first of all moral support for the so-called armed opposition supplying it with money weapons bringing militants from neighboring countries into syria. the u.s. isn't backing russia's call for syria contact group with washington continuing to prop

that's russia needs a lot of investments investments also from for the oil companies. it's also important 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 viju 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 thi