, except russia. we have an army scrambling saving resources, but it was warned. >> yes, the ukranian military is in a shambles. ukraine needs to become prosperous. it's lost a lot of ground. they are capable of defending themselves and we need to continue with pressure on the sanctions additional sanction restricting access to financial networks and transactions to give vladimir putin a reason to negotiate. >> we have less than a minute. super near term. >> international troops like petro porashenko asking whether it's e.u. or u.n. to stablilize the countries. and happy and input in the country, making more transpirance. no weapons. >> what about squeezing russia harder. >> it will backfire in the united states. it's paying for this for the sanctions on russia and becomes more poor. the economy is not driving. which means that the opposition will grow. it will backfire unless it stays as a last resort. >> great to have you with us. thank you for joining us for this edition of "inside story". get in t

russia is aware of that. the unique aspect of ukraine and the problem for ukraine is that it is not a part of nato and therefore, it has had to fight so far this battle pretty much on its own. the europeans for a variety of reasons don't want to escalate this crisis because yes, it could begin to escalate up to the borders as well. they don't want to do that. >> host: our next caller is carl from oxford, massachusetts. good morning. >> caller: good morning. can you hear me >> host: we sure can. thank you. >> caller: thank you for c-span. i want to say, when i was growing up, my parents had a lot of friends and family who suffered under the soviet union during and after world war ii. i am not a big fan of the russians, but i don't think the united states should pressure putin. he could be a potential ally , and you are getting all these countries involved, getting poland and all of the baltic countries and i am sure mr. pomeranz knows as i do, the united states does not care about ukraine or poland or any of t

what stake does russia have. they have economic problems.ould say the real domestic problem is more cold war, less space for optimism. >>. >> it's a problem. if we continue to send weapons, it will be a proxy warheading to a cold car. >> you know the story. i don't look at this. same thing - should have been a political solution. the fact is every time we don't make it, we say let's let an aggressor come to a political solution, we look back saying else. >> what is happening in syria is a humanitarian matter. if the president hadn't acted on dismantling chemical weapons, i.s.i.s. may have chemical weapons, i believe one must exhaust alternatives before war. >> is there a line where you stop and say we have exhausted alternatives and now the upper guy has the other hand? >> we are not there yet. >> editor and publisher of "the nation", coming up. we continue the debate. we hear from a fierce critic of vladimir putin, banned were russia, and later, internet security. it's supposed to make our lives faster and easier, but is it making it less s

we do not want to isolate russia. we want russians to understand how the west works and stoto experience the west. therefore, i don't think a travel ban at this time does really appropriate. host: dennits from watertown, south dakota. good morning. caller: yes. i think one point would be to bring up would be the supply of the natural gas and the pipeline goes through ukraine they have that leverage and since western europe is not energy self-support they would need that natural gas for their winters. >> the gas question is a crucial question for the europeans, for eastern europe and western europe for that matter. they are still dependent on russian gas and this is winter it has forced them to consider share dependence and find alternative forces. europe is taking an active policy to begin to diverse sigh so it's not so heavily dependent. >> what population. it's -- i don't know the number of that off. top of my head. the question really is what percentage of the population speaks russian and even then that is not nec

russia. in turn, this also proves that if russia, the united states and others have different opinions on how to deal with assad, we are not getting closer to another solution. it is more competition. the more you come to a unified position on assad, the more you will be able to define a course that takes you out of the crisis. yesterday i talked to the prime and mr. of iraq -- to the prime minister of iraq and what he told me on the basis of the challenge of ias is that he sees the atrocities that assad committed in a different light. i'm not all that convinced of -- when people and their hopes on assad and that he could be reformed, i was reluctant to believe that. one also have to look at a situation and say that with russia, a solution is easier to find than without russia. obviously one shouldn't lose sight of the syrian population because the have suffered enormously. we cannot simply neglect that an overlook that because then we have another possibility. on the other hand, you have 220

-- cost for russia making it too costly that is right.hink that you know the paradigm which says we dare not provoke russia is absolutely wrong. we have to understand that it began with russian aggression. this began with russia creating the rules that governed europe. since the world war ii which is that you can't change borders by force. there's another reason it's egregious. in 1994 ukraine voluntarily gave up a nuclear weapon. there was an agreement in exchange that sovereignty was guaranteed. >> nuclear weapons is on the table. >> the issue is it's the elephant in the room. how can it be pushed beforing it grose wrong. at what point are you convinced that everyone says this is not about nuclear weapons, no one is touching that. >> i think you are right to point to the gravity of the situation, that's why people have to be careful about escalating the conflict. seeking a peaceful solution when it seems there's a slimmest chance is correct. having said that i think it's important look at this with eyes wide open and appreciate that wha

russia. there's no question as poroshenko the leader of ukraine made evident in munich over the weekend that this is russia they are fighting with. it is absurd as poroshenko said they have captured soldiers have russian passports. >> there's another important thing to keep in mind that's the question of to which country is ukraine more important. russia is an insecure declining troubled country with a weak economy for which ukraine is a vital national interest. and for the u.s. it's less so. there's a question of stakes too. >> we see the national security adviser susan rice joining me from capitol hill. new hampshire senator kelly ayotte just back from munich. what should the white house do? >> i would hope that the white house would provide defensive arms to ukraine. there's now a broad bipartisan agreement in congress about this issue. we passed legislation giving them authority to do that. we had 12 members of the armed services committee saying we should provide defensish arms to ukrain

this is about russia not just taking care of the western influence in ukraine it's about russia taking over a country that is independent, sovereign and a neighbor. >> is there a risk of really escalating this situation, making it harder to talk about the russians about disengaging making it harder for the separatists to end their battle? >> there is a risk that with more arms the level of fighting will increase but it is our contention that these kinds of arms will really fundamentally pose a choice to the separatists and to the russians which is from the separatist, we believe that they themselves are not able to achieve much militarily once ukraine has better arms and will have to rely on direct russian military intervention. the choice is up to moscow, is moscow willing to sit down with kiev and negotiate a true end to this conflict one that recognizes the independence and territorial integrity of ukraine or are they going to invade full force with all the consequences diplomatic, economic and strategic that that would have? faces. it is a one that they don't want to face which is

russia is a neighbor. russia is a close market.important to avoid further deterioration of the situation. >> joining us is james, global equity strategists. let's start with russia because a lot of challenges facing the russian economy right now. the western sanctions in place but given the news we're getting out of minsk that a cease fire has been agreed upon around the ukraine war taking place. do you think western sanctions could in the near term be lifted and that could help the economy rebound? >> yeah it's hard to know the timing of sanctions being lifted but this is a positive step. very very fresh news. we are invested in russia and it hurt us a little bit so far. we're adopting a longer term approach to this. we see geopolitical crises as an opportunity. what we have experienced over the last nine months or year has been quite heavy gyrations around quite negative news but if you look over the longer term say three year plus view when geopolitical crisis first occur after three years you see a positive return in equity mar

do they want to create a security architecture with russia or without russia? i would like to address this question to our american counterparts. we have long suggested building a unified economic and military space and it is especially important to set up interaction between eurasian economic union and the european union, and we welcome growing support for this idea by european leaders. in this year, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the helsinki act and the 25th anniversary of the paris charger. we would like to reaffirm our commitment to these principles and we would like to continue , prosperity in the european region. we wish success to the group of wise men of osce celebrating the 70th anniversary of the second world war. we should be aware of our common and shared responsibilities. thank you very much. [applause] >> foreign secretary lavrov, thank you very much. he has agreed to take some questions. we have a bit of time. i have already received two cards with two questions and will take those first and then we will call on the next colleagues. just g

the policy and the ideas of russia. and it's really the volume from the thinking in the thinking of many other people. i found it unlikely the great works. challenging. a lot of people in the kremlin, two things. they can then use the. really what he's been trying to do with it. >> well, the story of someone like dugan, many many different voices in russia speaking out and then being portrayed in wanting to be portrayed by especially western media as important and the influences as part of the bigger story that we talk about in the book, about book, about how putin actually strangely maybe ironically allows many different voices to be heard in russia. the press and the media in general are quite diverse. putin does not seem to really care. he care. he does not care that much about critical voices in the media as long as they are politically impotent. you can pretty much say anything you want to. and and also on the other side is more extreme nationalist views putin is by know means -- anyone who is under the illusion th

, russia is easier to fight then without russia. obviously, one should not lose sight, quite rightly, of the syrian a population because they have suffered enormously due to the leadership of assad. but the west has not even looking -- is not even looking at what they have had to suffer, and it were 250 thousands that were killed, -- 250,000 that were killed and it is a very difficult and complex task. >> thank you very much madame gensler, you have spoke with transparency and accountability to me, and this is why i am going to read out the list of names still remaining so we can implement this correctly. in closing, i would like to express hope and i would like to make a request also on behalf of many of the participants present here today. you have started a large attempt in order to bring about a diplomatic solution in ukraine over the course of this weekend, and i would like to take up this issue once again. all of us hope that as a result of this weekend in munich, we will be able to send out a strong singnal. this will bring u

there's no russia. russia has no agency. here is the point. said back in march of last year the demonization of putin is not a policy, it's an alibi for not having a policy. it's worse than what dr. kissinger has said. it's completely obscured. it's degraded, any kind of rational analysis of this country as to who is to blame for this and how we get out of it. the result is as we talk -- as we talk, and this is not idle rhetoric -- we may be hurtling toward an actual war with russia. >> partly there's an interesting test of international relations theory here, when a country, a leader has fewer resources, faces more constraints, more pressure, does he back down or does he lash out? so far certainly on the upside the argument has been that as oil revenues have increased, putin's ambitions have grown over the last 15 years. right? that's been the general thesis, when russia needed debt forgiveness in 2000, putin was nice. bush said i looked into his eyes and saw his soul. why wouldn't that work? why wouldn't the fact oil revenues declining make

russia is the big thing to watch indeed as it was last year when russia starting the war in ukraine didtop the german economic upswing for half a year. >> if you are an investor, how do you deal with that? do you just stay away from russia? do you try and position yourself outside of the russian economy? we speak to luxury ceo's and consumer ceo's and they say, i have no choice but to stay in russia because i think things will get better. >> as a company, you may want to stay in russia for the long haul, but it is highly likely that the next you years will be very rough and there is a risk of political unrest in russia. so the outlook for russia is uncertain. focus on the much more promising markets almost everywhere else in the world. >> very quickly because you are one of our experts in german politics, what do you make of the vote in hamburg that saw angela merkel defeated? >> it was also a vote for the incumbent. germany is in excellent shape. the incumbent at the moment has the advantage. i don't think that merkel needs to be very afraid on the national level. >> thank you so much

do they want to create a security architecture with russia or without russia? i would like to address this question to our american counterparts. we have long suggested building a unified economic and military space and it is especially important to set up interaction between eurasian economic union and the european union, and we welcome growing support for this idea by european leaders. in this year, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the helsinki act and the 25th anniversary of the paris charger. we would like to reaffirm our commitment to these principles and we would like to continue prosperity in the european region. we wish success to the group of wise men of osce celebrating the 70th anniversary of the second world war. we should be aware of our common and shared responsibilities. thank you very much. [applause] >> foreign secretary lavrov, thank you very much. he has agreed to take some questions. we have a bit of time. i have already received two cards with two questions and will take those first and then we will call on the next colleagues. just giv

russia has friends over there. it has very good and very well-established contact with iran with syria, with other forces who could be very useful as russia was very useful when america invaded afghanistan. i think that conflict and cold war between russia and america, because of ukraine is counterproductive, and let us to nowhere. leaving aside all this other conflict and troubles which, you know are more dangerous for us than ukraine. >> i can find you some ukrainians who wouldn't agree with you on that but i agree with your insights. >> that's quite possible. >> thank you for being was. >> thank you for inviting pee >>> america's new cuba policy may undermine the version of communism, creating a middle class. >> on the inside there are social difference on the outside it seems normal. >> we go to the streets of havana to see the haves and have not. tell me what is on your mind by tweeting me at ali velshi. or fit me up on facebook. keep it here. >>> president obama's historic decision to renew diplomatic ties wi

they maybe want to invade russia, but they certainly want to bring russia down. it is largest territory in the world, and it is very exposed. there's no ocean to protect russia from itsenmies, and if you're territorially vulnerable like that, the only protection you have throughout history is to have buffer territories, in between the heartland, cup you really care -- the country you really care about which is russia, and the hostile outside world, and you create these buffers around it. that's the story of the cold war, and that's the story of what the russian empire tried to achievement and. unfortunately, that's to some extent what putin trying to achieve today, but i will point out he is under no illusion, he has no aspirations to resurrect the soviet union and especially not the network of satellite countries. russia today cannot afford that. he knows that. that was actually a big mistake by the soviet leaders to try to do that. so again i come back to the answer to my question of how he controls people. his ideal is if he can control countries around russia

it's not just going on in russia. on the other side of the border, there is jostling for position happening. if the rumors are true about the encirclement of debaltseve, than this is a firm boots on the jugular of the ukraine army and the ukrainian government going into the talks in minsk. an offensive is announced on the coastline of the sea so the battalion is pushing forward towards the russian border, heading towards the town, all of this going on in advance of negotiations to happen in minsk wednesday. >> i think we can look at the latest pictures coming in. remind us of how important the territory seized that the pro-russian separatists can actually present those talks in minsk, because of course ceasefire lines will be drawn along territorial gains perhaps. >> the ceasefire lines that were agreed in minsk last year have changed significantly since september, 2014. at the beginning of 2015, the rebels the separatists started a fairly effective and major offensive. they pushed on towards mariupol and they've also

we begin tonight with breaking news out of russia. moscow just outside the kremlin one of vladimir putin's prominent critics was assassinated. several russian being news agencies have reported, boris nemsof has been assassinated near the kremlin found in several opposition parties most recently he has denounced the putin knowledge administration, president putin denounced the safntionsarchtionbeassassination. >> what do you think about it? >> in the 1990s a liberal reformer is sharing a lot of the same values as europe. staunchly against yeltsin government, against corruption. staunchly one of the biggest critics against president putin. he came out recently and accused putin of personally launching and unleashing the violence in the war in ukraine. that's what he was calling the people out to on the weekend calling for all the opposition parties to finally unite and fight the kremlin and president putin, and l david he told a magazine earlier in the month that he feared for his life, that he might be killed and indeed that is what ha

russia has mayor allies. being the most important and most populous arab state plays a critical role for the russians. egypt is a very important country. in the heart of the middle east. it expands russian influence in the region because russia only has major relations with syria, and syria is in a state of all-out war. egypt would serve as a major economic base in terms of arms energy economic ties as well. i mean economic relations now more than $5 billion annually between egypt and russia but also as a card to tell the americans and western powers that russia is not isolated. particular after the latest rounds of sanctions against russia by the americans. >>> police in egypt have arrested 21 football fans foling sunday's stampede at a stadium in cairo. meanwhile new video has emerged. >> reporter: these are supporters of the football team waiting to be allowed in. to enter they have to pass through a narrow metal passageway but the metal structure collapses. fans are trapped. people panic. with no barrier

the pretty are certainly hoping there is genuine and will from russia here, but russia's determination to continue lying in spite of all of the evidence of the level of its participation in this conflict is certainly very worrying. also, there is a bit of a sense that petro poroshenko is trying to paint a better picture than reality. he has come out saying the agreement contains no autonomy or special status for the region of donetsk, the area at least of those regions that are controlled by the separatists. the russian media has been reporting that ukraine has promised some sort of cost of two at constitutional reform could include some kind of autonomy for those regions which could probably just go by another name. certainly all of those ukrainian support for the pro-european government in favor of greater integration with the european union do not want for russia to have any power of the tell via -- of veto, via autonomy, of course that is what russia wants, and they are making ukrainians believe russia has been defeated, because in the run-up to these talks -- another thing petro p

the other one is russia. let's turn back to russia. first interview with an international broadcaster. the head of the country's central-bank talking to bloomberg, telling us that the central bank is not an extension of the kremlin. she has been criticized for the ruble's collapse. some say she has been extending the story of the kremlin by cutting rates recently. ryan chilcote went to russia and sat down with her and begin by asking whether the ruble can tumble again. >> we are not expending any kind of massive decrease in the ruble's exchange rate. the amount of external debt that has to be paid this year is about a third less than last year. >> year on year inflation, could it go beyond 20%? >> inflation may be higher than the currency. these high levels of inflation are joined by taxes. moreover, i would like to point out that other inflation will subside. the contraction in economic activity and a contraction in demand. on top of that, we have moderate [indiscernible] that is why we expect inflation to slow down after the second q

russia. we continue to pursue a diplomatic solution although we have suffered a lot of setbacks. these days we'll see whether all sides are ready and willing to come to a negotiated settlement. i've always said i don't see a military solution to this conflict but we have to put all our efforts in bringing about a diplomatic solution. so there is a whole host of issues we need to discuss. overlunch we'll talk about climate protection and sustainable development and sustainable development goals. yet again thank you very much for the close cooperation. very close coordination and possibility to have an exchange of views on all of these crucial issues. not only in hindsight can we safely say that the united states have always stood by us and helped us to regain your unity in peace and freedom but we can also say we continue to cooperate closely if it is about solving the conflicts of the world today and unfortunately there are many of them and we will continue to do so in the future. thank you f

that's why the sanctions were imposed against russia, that russia cannot get away with this invasion. >> there is talk of more american weapons. would that improve or exacerbate fighting on the ground? >> we have to understand 25 years ago ukraine had the third large effort nuclear arsenal in the world bigger than china france and the united kingdom. it was massive. they gave up these missiles, 1,500 missiles in exchange for assurances from the united states from the united kingdom and russia that its territorial integrity and sovereignty are preserved. now russia that invaded the territory. had ukraine had these miss silence today little unlikely russia would ever invaded. it's not a question of asking for something new it's going back to assurances made two decades ago so ukraine can protect itself against russia invading its land, territory and killing civilians. i think we've seen some horror, shocking the way that the russia military has invaded in 21st 21st century you're. that's what's -- john kerry was saying yesterday, secretary of state kerry in kiev yesterday and yesterday

two new powers like russia. things like the ebola virus. >> these are long-term issues. >> some are long-term, some are immediate. there are a wide variety of issues we face. in the breathlessness of our 24 hour news cycle and political echo chamber, some have sought to suggest we are facing the greatest existential crisis of u.s. history. i am simply pointing out that if you look back with a historical perspective, while there are many different challenges, which need to be taken seriously, they are of a qualitative difference from some of the worst we have faced. >> characterize for me the national security threat you see to the u.s. from isil. >> they have the potential and perhaps the intent to try to attack the u.s. homeland. to date, their ability to carry out attacks against u.s. persons, interests facilities overseas, is limited. we recognize they have an ambition and ideology. it poses a threat, and they have also acted in europe and more broadly. that is why we have been able to lead and build a coalit

we want to shape security in europe together with russia and not against russia. this is true for the european and transatlantic security order. this is also true for coping with international challenges they are challenges to all of us from proliferation of weapons of mass destruction all the way to combating international terrorism. the negotiations for conflict of -- with iran and removal of syrian weapons show that in spite of all the crises. all important issues and incidentally, these examples also show that an international order may will have a positive effect. however, the presupposes that all partners, all parties are willing to abide by the basic principles of such an order and also to measure in the and to the extent to which they abide by those rules. russia needs to do its bit in the ukrainian crisis is well. this crisis cannot be solved by military means and that is why it is important more than ever to define substantial steps that serve to fill [indiscernible] with life. this is the goal, this is the purpose in which all our talks in kiev in mosco

because it's not in russia interest. >> reporter: what about russia in astonia and do they see themselvese crimea? no they do not. >> translator: they feel part of the european union and believe solutions to their problems will come from europe and looking for answers from brussels and not moscow. >> reporter: the question is whether nato actions here might drive pro-european astonia russians towards moscow. just a few days time american and other nato soldiers will be parading in this square literally on the russian border in celebration of astonia national day of independence. many western leaders accuse vladimir putin of paranoia over the eastward advance and not hard to imagine what a reaction would be in washington if russian troops tried to stage the same sort of celebration on the border with the united states of america. politicians here talk about whether their country might be betrayed to the russians over the river by rogue elements in the east of the country. if it's not paranoia then it's out right suspicion and not clear if the presence will make things better or worse, lawr

but political murders in russia have a habit of going unsolved. on saturday police examined an abandoned car suspected to have been used in the shooting. as for motive, they're suggesting that nemtsov might have been killed to weaken the russian state. >> currently the investigation is looking into several lines of inquiry. first of all the possibility that the murder could be a provencation to destabilize the political situation in russia. and nemtsov could become a sacrificial is victim. >> but many say that the kremlin is responsible for the murder. not maybe directly but it created the environment in which it could happen. >> describe to us boris nemtsov's views of president putin, and russia's involvement in the ukraine? >> well, it his views on the conflict in ukraine are no secret. he had organized various war marchs in moscow fairly recently. they were not necessarily big marchs because a lot of momentum has gone out of the opposition movement the last couple of years or so. he had also been preparing a report recently in the run up to his

russia. president obama has been reluctant to do that, and angela merkel, whose neighborhood this is in, is extremely reluctant. we just now got the two-minute warning, by the way. and you also have the issue of the new greek government and its request was an adjustment, but the argument against austerity is one that the greek government was advancing. the president of the united states has been advancing with somewhat more umph behind it. so how to loosen those terms, if in fact that will be done, is one of the things on their agenda. >> and michelle, figuring we have a minute or so left before we get to this news conference, you have essentially a game of chicken now taking place between the eu, germany, and greece. >> oh, yeah. absolutely. every day that goes by, we get closer and closer to the possibility of full-on capital controls in greece and even possibly a greek exit from the euro. so, the prime minister of greece made a big speech in front of parliament. he did not back down as som

with ukraine, given the history between russia and ukraine expecting that if russia is determined that ukraine can fully rebuff a russian army has always been unlikely. but what we have said is that the international community working together can ratchet up the costs for the violation of the core principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity. that's exactly what we've done. russia has paid a significant cost for its actions first in crimea and now in eastern ukraine. it has not yet dissuaded mr. putin from following the course that he is on. but it has created a measurable negative impact on the russian economy, and that will continue. my hope is that through these diplomatic efforts those costs have become high enough that mr. putin's prefer option is for a diplomatic resolution. i won't prejudge whether or not they will be successful. if they are successful, it will be in part because of the extraordinary patience and effort of chancellor merkel and her team. if they are not then we will continue to raise those costs. and we will not relent in that. one of the things that i'm v

russia is invading ukraine.e we are seeing this as having massive effects on the economy, but it's now building for the future and the mid term and long term once this war is over, could be positive. >> okay. we certainly hope so. andy great stuff from you. appreciate your time andy honda from the ukrainian institute there. >>> we're switching gears because it's that time of the year again. it is -- it's awards season with a host of top gongs up for grabs we're talking about the oscars likes of the baftas and film stars and movie producers are lining up lining up to give themselves a big pat on the back, but i tell you what behind the glitz and headlines there is a global economic battle going on. countries all around the world are vying to -- vying to offer tax breaks to get the film industry to move production to their shores and the stakes are high because global box office takings hit a new record high. in 2013 nearly $36 billion fueled in large part by the explosive growth in china. more and more countries

this of somebody that people out of russia knew. and when they see this happening in such a cold-blooded calculated way in the dead of night, in the shadow of the kremlin, it will reinforce a sense of animosity or distance in the move between russia and the rest of the world. i don't think it helps russia in the sense of patching thing up with what's going on. it may have the opposite effect. >> the white house condemned what it calls the brutal murder of boris nemtsov. president obama is calling on the russian government to conduct a prompt impartial, and transparent investigation of the murder and ensure those responsible are brought to justice. mr. obama also said he admired nemtsov's courageous dedication to the struggle against corruption in russia. u.s. senator john mccain of more blunt saying "that boris' murder occurred in a secure part of the russian capital raises legitimate questions about the circumstances of his killing and who was responsible. there must be a full investigation of boris' murder, and those responsible m

russia and kiev agreed to a ceasefire.sible turning point for the region washington's relationship with moscow but ceasefires have been signed before only to fall apart in a matter of days. a truce in the war in ukraine, a collective effort to bring about peace by european leaders, germany, france and russia. the agreement signed by ukraine and the pro-russian separatists calls for fighting to stop by sunday. the deal requires both sides to pull back heavy weapons from the front lines and sets up a security zone to separate the two sides. calls for all prisoners to be released within 19 days and allows ukraine to regrain control of the international border with russia. hour after announcement people a rallied in the stronghold of donetsk where some of the most intense fighting has taken place. >> translator: this is not the first ceasefire; isn't that right and after every ceasefire porshenk o sends more forces. >>> grim reminders of war and failed ceasefires in the past. >> translator: of course we hope piece will come an

the developments on the ground support russia. the separatists have enjoyed some success over the last few days. significant success. >> reporter: the renewed fighting has led to a new stream of frightened refugees. the u.n. says nearly a million people have been displaced in the violence since the conflict began. 5,000 individuals. home now might be a tent in winter or a railway car parked on a sliding. in slovyansk, under rebel control since early summer there are thousands of newly homeless. >> we came here three days ago. our home was destroyed. we are left without work without a home, we don't know what to do now. how to go further. what to do, they should sign an agreement and stop this war. we are already desperate. >> capital kiev already overwhelmed with those displaced during fighting last summer. >> there was no electricity water or heat. i haven't showered in two weeks. the tv didn't work, we have nothing, a real humanitarian catastrophe. the hopes coming out now especially after enduring many days of shelling, in fact

the imf projects russia's economy will contract by 3% in 2015. putin needs strong oil revenues to maintain his power. from 2008 to 2009 when oil revenues did collapse during the global financial crisis, the russian government increased its spending by a staggering 40%, or to preserve social stability. this according to the economists. on the other hand, russia could easily handle continuing its military skirmishing in eastern ukraine. moscow's defense budget in 2014 e in eastern ukraine. moscow's defense budget in 2014 a in eastern ukraine. moscow's defense budget in 2014 s in eastern ukraine. moscow's defense budget in 2014 was roughly 20 times that of es in eastern ukraine. moscow's defense budget in 2014 was roughly 20 times that of kiev's, according to figures published this week by the international institute for strategic studies. the argument against sanctions is that while they may raise the cost for russia putin has shown he does not respond to higher costs in a rational, calculating manner. but if that's the case, then military aid for

we agreed that sections on russia need to be remaining fully enforced until russia fully complies with its obligations. as we continue to work for a diplomatic solution, we are making it clear again today that of russia continues on its current course which is ruining the russian economy and hurting russian people as well as having such a terrible effect on the crane, russia's isolation will only worsen politically and economically. with regards the isis, germany and the united states remain united in our determinations to destroy this barbaric organization. i think angela for her strong support as a member of the international coalition that is working in iraq. and a significant milestone and its foreign policy, germany has taken a story step to it equipping its forces in iraq. germany is a close partner in combating foreign terrorist fighters which was focus and a special session of the u.s. security council that i chaired last fall. under angela's leadership, germany is moving ahead with legislation to prevent fighters from traveling to and from syria and iraq. at the same time, bot

to russia, starts being meaningful.e shaved about 20 basis points out of gdp last year. it is a large number. the question is, in the last leg of the crisis in russia which has been the combination of oil and fx, how much weaker domestic demand are we going to get and how much of that is going to feed back into europe? we are worried that we get in a run negative leg in terms of the russia weakness. we are now seeing it filtering through as well into the neighboring countries. that remains a significant problem. ukraine inflation also very difficult in terms of financial supports. the amounts keep on rising because of the situation deteriorating. >> thank you so much for all that. jacques cailloux and athanasios vamvakids. coming up samsung's three-sided phone. is the company planning to unveil its new secret weapon? ♪ >> coming up, exclusive interview with carlo messina. we talk earnings and of course banking. ♪ >> welcome back to "the pulse" live from bloomberg's european headquarters here in london. here are bloomber

do you think we could see opposition growing in russia, could we see instability in russia? >> i'm sure it was aimed at instability in russian state russia achieved a certain political achievements because they settled this struggle acknowledge that strikes ever heavy artillery from both sides. and minsk agreement was imlemedded in someimplemented in some way begin to implemented. and i think this development on ukraine may have some reflection on the situation in russia. because some people here and outside russia is trying to give a push back for instability. to make something push for demonstrators. one who tomorrow will go out in the streets. i don't think they will be successful because ukrainian case, it is not winning case for any politician here in russia. maybe inen ukraine he gave some points but in russia, in moscow i am sure it is not so. >> good to get your thoughts, thank you for joining us live in moscow. thank you. >>> the u.n. envoy is heading to syria for a discussion. trying to get the parties to dom a temporary ceasefire. the u.n. sending a separate team

analysis about russia or putin. >> charlie: because he surprises you? >> yes, he's an agile tactics and he's shown nat in ukraine. but i think the thing to remember about russia is he's playing over the long term a relatively weak strategic end. russia's had the potential to diversify, it has a smart population, but it hasn't done it. corruption is eating away at the rising middle class in russia. demography is a huge challenge. when you think in the huge expanse to have the earth that runs from the euro mountains across siberia to the far east there are only about 30 million or 40 million russians sitting on the periodic table of element and looking along the border of a billion of chinese so russia's got a lot of challenges before it. in ukraine we've seen the most significant challenge to the european order since the cold war and it's important to work with the european partners to produce steady counterpressure against russia, to do everything we can to help ukrainians rebuild. in many ways, the best antidote to what putin can do is toe show ukraine

petersburg, russia.the streets to flood. >> you've got small lake in the middle of this neighborhood and then all of a sudden you see a car coming through, the trunk is open, and then you realize it's because somebody's wakeboarding off the back of this car. >> and this guy's really taking it to the next level. when we used to do when i was growing up in russia is to hold on to a bread truck when it was snowy and you just kind of skate behind it. >> snow is fun to slide on, but this water could cause a lot of damage. >> i certainly would not mind being the wakeboarder, i don't want to be the driver. have you ever seen what happens to a car when the engine intake sucks up all the water? that engine block is done. insurance company's not going to cover you for being a dumb ass. >> if i knew how to wakeboard, i would completely do something like this. you just have to know what you're doing. but yeah, this is totally cool. i love this guy. >> coming up -- keep your eyes on the road. and romance gone wrong.

and we agreed that sanctions on russia need to remain fully in force until russia complies fully with its obligations. even as we continue to work for a diplomatic solution, we are making it clear again today that if russia continues on its current course, which is ruining the russian economy and hurting the russian people as well as having such a terrible effect on ukraine, russia's isolation will only worsen politically and economically. with regard to isil, germany and the united states remain united in our determination to destroy this barbaric organization. i thank angela for her strong support as a member of the international coalition that is working in iraq. in a significant milestone, germany has taken the important step of equips kurdish forces in iraq and germany is preparing to leading the train mission in erbil. they're combatting the threat of foreign terrorist fighters, which was a focus of the un security council i chaired last fall. and under angela's leadership, germany is moving ahead with new legislation to prevent tlafrlers from traveling to and from syria and ira

russia is paying an enormous cost. over the long-term, if these choices are sustained, the costs will mount. i think it's hard to dispute that in reality even if the in the short-term russia's behavior has not demonstrably changed, the economic impact of the choices it has made are having a maine affect on its economy and will have a major and growing effect on the economy. the variety of tools that we have at our disposable economic and otherwise are ones that we can continue to use along with our traditional tools to reinforce our collective opposition to this type of behavior. but i don't think it's correct that we are minimizing the threat but it is one that we will address through a variety of means. turning, tamara, to your question which is i think one of the most challenging ones we face. there is no question that in the middle east we are challenged by short-term and long-term imperatives that we have to wrestle with in tandem. when the president spoke at the united nations in 2013, he talked in direct terms a