for russia, it isa moscow to budapest. for russia, it is a foothold in europe. apolitical. we never do anything politically motivated. five eu countries are members but russia is by far the largest shareholder. and until recently, the bank was listed as an official organ of the russian state. critics of your bank call it vladimir putin's trojan horse or the kgb bank. in other words, the suspicion is...|j horse or the kgb bank. in other words, the suspicion is... i am a spy words, the suspicion is... i am a spy they also say. the suspicion is is it is tool of moscow to bread spies and agents across europe. is there any truth in that? absolutely not. it is all allegations and even though they repeated hundreds of times, they have nothing to do with the reality. can you understand where the suspicion comes from? because, apologies for getting personal, but you yourself are from afamily of personal, but you yourself are from a family of soviet spies. your father was the head of the kgb. in budapest, yes. that is how i like the city many years ago. and your mother wa

to boost military cooperation with russia they hope that russia would say and secure to experts like has been the case in the central african republic so they can be able to fight off the different music groups that they have to do with on a daily basis only it's the day russia sent to block the boom bust there was biggest profit to south africa as part of a defense cooperation agreement at the same time nigeria send an agreement with russia to purchase 2 of combat helicopters which he tends to use in its fight against boko haram militants now i wait for a major corporation just like my colleague yuri name most guys mentioned russia has made a name for itself in the coordinates for sending nuclear technology to developing nations example round egypt and nigeria that among those in the market for russia bitch nuclear power plants and for starters also south africa's been russia's business but now for some time now under the brics regiment so there's a lot at stake for lead as you know in sochi ok so you're coming back here we're talking about a nuclear technology here economic investm

ruling party side they want russia to come and invest in zimbabwe and kids take the credit that russia has helped them to revive the economy we see is not performing well at the moment. and zooming out a bit from the whole continent is russia's strategy that russia strategy oversleep realizing a kind of compete with the likes of china is to focus on sectors where it can do really well and those sectors would be defense energy and mining and that's why i like invested in zimbabwe the mining sector over there these are areas where it has realized that it can actually. come up with long term commitments from african governments mining because it has a huge mining industry itself and its nuclear technologies can also be exported to africa hopes in the future and of course defense for which it is the largest supplier of arms to african countries. in berlin and privilege material in zimbabwe thank you very much. us although africa's parliament has approved a $4000000000.00 bailout for embattled park company eskom the measure comes just a week after the country was hit by another set of black

russia. russia decided 2014 enough was enough. they decided that they were just going to invade. they marched over the border and took part of that neighboring country for themselves. they declared that part of ukraine was now part of russia instead. and this to say the least was an unusual occurrence in the modern world. since world war ii we have not seen countries using their militaries to just seize parts of other countries and make them their own, particularly on the edges of europe. but that's what putin did in 2014. and the west was horrified, right? the international order was shaken. for starters, the g8 group of countries kicked russia out. the g8 became the g-7 instead because russia was no longer considered worthy of inclusion in that group. the western world also united behind strong sanctions against russia to punish their behavior, to pressure them to reverse course. after russia did what it did to ukraine, nobody was quite sure if that was all they were going to do or if they

today's russia wants to forget about 1989. but three decades on, russia is reasserting itself.re fears of a new stand—off with the west. the baltic has become one of the front lines of what feels like a new cold war. as russia pushes for greater influence, i ask its leader how he sees his country. i am on a journey that will take me back to 1989 and across europe, to find out what it was like for moscow to lose an empire and whether russia is building a new one. moscow — it is a city that oozes empire. from the skyscrapers ofjoseph stalin, to the residence of the czars. the message is unmistakable — this is a country with ambition. throughout its history, russia has had an unswerving belief in its own greatness. you can feel that inside the kremlin. this is stunning. look at this. this says power, omnipotence, this says empire. russia was built as an empire, russia has existed as an empire because the essence is we are great, we have to have areas of influence and we have to have buffer states between ourselves and the outside world. so this is an empire. but in 1989, the buffe

no, according to this conspiracy theory, russia didn't do that, russia didn't intervene. what actually happened is that it was the obama administration that was setting this all up as a frame job. they were colluding with foreign countries to set up russia to make it look like russia was interfering and to set up the trump campaign to make it look like they were getting help from russia. but it was all a frame job. it was all a false flag operation set up by the obama administration to somehow get trump elected and then undermine him once he was in office? it's never been totally clear how it all worked. but that's the conspiracy theory, that the attorney general of the united states appears to have been going around the world trying to prove. just yesterday we had this remarkable reporting about the prime minister of italy who was dragged before that country's parliament. the intelligence committees of his parliament to answer questions about what he and the italian government and italian intelligence service had been talking about with attorney general bill barr who has

little bit of that you work for russia today don't you while it is because of people like you that russia were accused of meddling in the election because you just said now that trump could be reelected they will say gotcha this is russia interfering with the election campaign jokes aside we all know what president trump says about russian american relations and how he talks about them we know that during his previous campaign he called for relations to get back to normal but unfortunately nothing has been done but we do not hold it against anyone because we can all see what is going on in the american domestic political scene these days but the domestic political agenda prevents the incumbent president from embarking on a drastic improvement in relations between our countries in any case we will work with any administration to the extent it is willing to work with us however we cannot help but feel concerned over overall global security and strategic balance this is obvious in 2002 and present trump has nothing to do with it the united states withdrew from the a.b.m. treaty which i would

opinions on that there might be a temptation on the other hand that's my question to russia russia. justified the intervention by the need to protect russia. justified the intervention by the need to protect country men so if one could only sell 65. country men so if one could only sell $65.00. maritime interest and. never to i mean this was a strategic time interest and they of crimean based it was never to you i mean this was a strategic reasons which is much more important than that but this notion to protect it degrees is much more important than that but this notion to protect country men has particularly. in their boat country men has particularly. in the baltic states because they have a lot of country men russian speaking minorities it takes that it's because they have a lot of country men speaking minorities if you could to step back from that and make clear we don't interfere mutually dress appropriately we don't feel quick to step back from that and make clear we don't interfere mutually reciprocally we don't. neighboring countries it would be a major step forward looking

russia at the e.u. they had gary lee hopes to the relations between russia and nato russia at the e.u. he had gary leader once again made it clear that he was beautiful has to be called this bridge between or once again made it clear that he was beautiful to be called this bridge between the west and east and he's happy to play this role here's what exactly he tweeted the west and east he's happy to play this role here's what exactly he said all that was each more odd of course hungry is a member of nato and the e.u. said all that was each morag of course hungry is a member of nato and the e.u. and it will remain there but it doesn't exclude cooperation with russia including a political and it will remain there but it doesn't exclude cooperation with russia including a political levels hungary is interested in improving relations between nato and russia levels hungary is interested in improving relations between nato and russia who have this political and historic experience in relations between western

bigger picture people ask me because intel will put russia and china at the top and typically sayll russia short-term or dangerous short-term long-term china is a threat and to have that capability does china want to surpass? olabsolutely read the speeches and the editorials this is about regaining the rightful place. >> what's interesting is and then the villain not the hero. and so you are with the obama administration event is a knock it off. is that true. >> talking to the former deputy director highly evolved. and then said after he delivered that morning there was a discernible downturn in activity in terms of volume but not substantive change chinese aggression in terms of what they are taking away. >> with the chinese liberation army where they basically lay outt what they are going to do. so what is it? you touch on a lot of it but in general so what is their approach the shadow war is the asymmetric warfare and then to roll the tanks acrossr the border with this old ukrainian thing right they will not build 12 aircraft carriers so they do it in the asymmetric fashion and the stra

that russia did it. position of the trump administration, of course, is that russia didn't do it, and now the attorney general's inquiry, which is apparently designed to prove that, now that is a criminal investigation with, quote, the power to subpoena for witness testimony and documents, to impanel a grand jury, and to file criminal charges. that means that the law enforcement and intelligence officials who were involved in investigating russia's attack on our election are now potentially the subjects of criminal charges. this, of course, is happening against the backdrop of impeachment proceedings in the house. i am sure that is totally unrelated. >>> joining us is congressman shan maloney, the lead committee on the impeachment matter. thank you for being here. >> great to be with you. >> i had a whole bunch of different things to talk to you about, but then this news broke. i have to get your reaction to it. >> it's alarming because we know trump is itching to politicize the justice department. they

-russia relations. as a candidate and as president he frequently says one it'd be great if we and russia got along. the problem is, that's a the wrong question to ask. the answer is of course it be great if russia and the united states got along. the right question to ask is, is it possible for the united states and russia to get along as long as the putin regime is in power without sacrificing our interests, and other countries in the process? the answer to that question is no. i think the president needs to question, reframe his thinking and understand that faultless innot this relationship over the years, the vast blame lies in the kremlin and with mr. putin. individuals matter. there were more hopes and possibilities when yeltsin was the president of russia. there may be even worse some hopes at the very outset of putin, although folks like myself were skeptical given his background. i see no hope whatsoever for a relationship that is protective of our values and interests in other countries in the

russia. john sullivan, who currently serves as deputy secretary of state, was asked questions about president trump's conversations with the president of ukraine in july. this confirmation hearing is just under two and a half hours. >> committee will come to order. today, we will hold the nomination hearing on a very important position. the honorable john j sullivan to be the ambassador to the russian federation. first, we have two very distinguished colleagues of ours who wish to introduce our nominees. torefore, i am going postpone my opening statement and i ask the ranking member to do likewise. beh that, we are glad to joined by senators sullivan of alaska and cardin of maryland. sullivan: thank you very much, mr. chairman, ranking member menendez. it is an honor to be in front of the committee again in front -- on behalf of my friend john sullivan to support his nomination to be the united states ambassador to the russian federation. despite what his last name would suggest, we are not r

and open to both russia and china. ok so isaac some of africa's most influential leaders have gathered for this summit tell us more about why this is important to them you know what are they gaining from this deeper partnership with moscow. would the needs from russia vary from country to another country for instance some country would lead to boost military cooperation with russia they hope to trust shall we say and security experts like has been the case in the central african republic so they can be able to fight off the different mission groups that they have to do with on a daily basis only yesterday russia sent to block that bomb but there was biggest major aircraft to south africa as part of a defense cooperation agreement i did same time nigeria sent an agreement with russia to purchase 2 of combat helicopters which he tends to use in its fight against boko haram militants now i wait for a major corporation just like my colleague yuri moskos mission to russia has made a name for itself in the court and for send

well what you just heard means that russia 1 is now sorry africa is now russia's guest in order to make sure that russia becomes africa's guest more often maybe in some cases permanently as the russian africa economic forum and summit that's what it's officially called are well underway i have told you that the invitations were. sent out to all the african leaders and nearly all of them made it here and that is more than 40 leaders taking part here i can tell you that the economic and geopolitical giants such as the us the e.u. and china have to thrown such events in the past but someone saying that they do have a reputation of being very eager to get this slice of africa natural resources and other benefits that they can get out of it in fact more than 30 percent of reserves of the earth's natural resources that's really something that sounds quite tempting but now it is russia's turn although the officials that i have a hard from keep saying that russia is approach is completely different moscow is far behind western countries and china when it comes to their ambitions for africa and

of free press abroad reports on corruption in russia. are helping to establish authoritarian regimes abroad crackdown on the free press would have similar effects for a genuine distaste for democracy or fear that nato is creeping on the borders how do you split that difference? >> i think my reaction to that is yes. this is one of the things that makes for difficult problem. very seldom dealing with the paradigm issues you have diagnostic evidence. that's only consistent with one explanation most of the time the fax you have in front of you can be connected in different ways simultaneously. this model can be true and this model can be true so this rules this out. you are right. part of the problem is you can explain them in different ways but what i'm advocating is this is the only way you explain it the others are not plausible and the stakes are so high we better think hard for the el terrier explanation it matters a lot. now one of the things that i would say however about the time is that do they and those that do happen. >> so i als

president want ukraine to make a deal with russia over russia having invaded them? well, any deal between ukraine and russia that settled that matter would be the basis for u.s. and international sanctions against russia being dropped. so this is something that the white house has been pushing for. obviously the way that president trump has been behaving toward ukraine means that any such settlement right now between ukraine and russia would be more on russia's terms than it otherwise would be, right? i mean, ukraine is in a newly weak position if they newly cannot count on u.s. military aid, if they newly cannot count on u.s. support and public shows of support, things like meetings with the white house, invitations to the white house. these are things the trump white house has actively withheld from ukraine repeatedly since trump took office. but ukraine is further weakened by these now public indications that their new ukrainian president is a sort of is up plikant to the president of the united states and trying to get that support. that makes him look weak too.

but russia does not want to stand aside while other powers like the u. china and india strategically increase their influence and investment on the continent putin has big plans for africa especially with its rich mineral resources that's a quick look at selected activities of russian companies on the continent as energy multinational luko which is involved in a natural gas development project in the republic of congo in sudan and the central african republic a close ally of president putin has secured licenses for mining gold in guinea russian element in produce roussel is digging up more site and in zimbabwe russia wants to dig for platinum until now russia's trade with africa was muted last year exports to imports from the entire continent well value that only $20000000000.00 in comparison china's trade volume was 10 times bigger as the more than $200000000000.00. africa's largest trading partner of course that during that time was the european union with nearly $340000000000.00 of total trade russian officials have said that in the medium term they w

he talks about the russia-ukraine conflict and the impeachment inquiry of president trump, russia sanctions and u.s. military aid to ukraine. from the johns hopkins school of international study, this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> i'd like to welcome everybody to the russia-you're asia seminar. we do it every two weeks, as you know, and given the speaker that we have and the topic is going to deal with. we have the pleasure of welcoming c-span here which is broadcasting this event as far as i can tell live on c-span2. i'm charles gotti. i organize these seminars and i say very little because i want the speaker to have as much time as possible. just to give you a little background. he hails from massachusetts and the soviet studies at harvard, before that, he got his va also in soviet studies and political science from tufts university. at harvard he studied with the legendary adam olamb and in tufts with solitary and old friend of mine, indeed. >> he left washington after, ana professor at -- in florida, at -- at florida international university, and that's a move that is shrouded in myster

a push for closer business ties and more geopolitical sway russia is hosting its 1st african summit as it seeks to greater influence in a continent where the west and china has a firm foothold also coming up despite major backer stropping out facebook insists on launching its own digital currency next year the company c.e.o. will face questions on the matter today by u.s. lawmakers. i'm chris cuomo welcome to the program it's a premier aimed at making a big impact russian president vladimir putin is hosting dozens of african leaders in such a this week for the 1st ever russia africa summit chief of his aims is to jumpstart relations with the continent 3 decades after the fall of the soviet union then a major player in africa. now russia has big plans in africa particularly in mineral resources like in the republic of congo where oil multinational oil is involved in a natural gas development project and so that and the central african republic a close ally of president putin has secured mining licenses for gold in guinea russian aluminum producer ross through saul is the thing about sid

folks they will russia and china at the top and typically say russia short-term they have a capability to a stronger economy and population etc.. it does china want to surpass the u.s. come absolutely. it's about regaining their rightful place at the top of the world. what's interesting is russia had a similar mindset going back not as far but the collapse of the soviet union they feel they were humiliated and folks know better in the room tammy what's interesting chinese leaders to study the fault and collapse, china studies at and they say we don't want to be that. >> by impression is they say knock it off and it kind of works for a period. >> the former deputy director of the nsa, basically the cyber operations response. he said after obama delivered a tough warning that there was a discernible downturn in activity in terms of volume but not a substantive change in the aggression. it's still as active as what they were taking away in the public and private sectors. >> they basically la lay out wht they are going to do so i mean, what is it that they are going to do in general they w

as russia has to to sell its gas 60 to 70 percent of the budget of the federal state budget in russia dependent on the revenues from gas so they have to sell and europe has to buy it's a double dependency it's another story for ukraine ukraine is not buying gas anymore from russia it's now getting its gas actually from vest in europe but ukraine is dependent on the fees it's charges for gas transported via the pipelines running through ukraine and russia wants to get rid of these fees and the dependency on ukraine and therefore is building these new pipelines around ukraine terex stream in the south and north stream in the north. thank you very much. google's parent company alphabet said its quarterly profits fell 23 percent to $7000000000.00 mistake market expectations alphabets as profits were hampered by rising research and development costs the company is trying to maintain growth while investing in a variety of new gadgets and services revenue growth from advertising is also down . its leaders says the city is ad risk of falling into recession as it enters its 5th month of pro-de

at this point it is impossible for russia. i'm not sure that it ever was very realistic but at this point it is off the table as a possibility with a lot to undermine the nato alliance and european union more broadly that is a fundamentally stable situation and unresolved. that's factor number one, number two the united states and russia over the past 25 years have gradually each come to the belief that the other side not just as a competitor but actually wants to destroy it if led them to believe that the united states was trying to encircle russia with hostile regime's expanding the nato alliance up to the borders and ultimately regime change inside of moscow to break the country apart. now, we think that's crazy. we look at this to say they are go the russians again. they are paranoid. in fact, when we talk about russia and its perceptions, you hear that word paranoia a lot. it's almost like russia and paranoia go together. what happened with the united states particularly over the past two years? .. things. in the pentagon

russia's 2024 problem which is the problem of the issue of power transition. to his successor also very much depends on their cuteness of tensions with the united states how come how is it possible i mean moscow is so proud of its sovereignty and yet you're suggesting that the most consequential decision of a generation of will ultimately depend on its relationship with washington well i think the international context and the u.s. russian relations is one of the most important elements of this international context made a huge impact on the russian domestic evolution the historical mission i think of law the middle portion is not just to make russia a great power again but also to make it illegitimate a great power right to compel the other powers to recognize russia and the except russia as a legitimate independent great power of global significance we are logged there we are in conditions of precisely the new called war do knighted states still try to leverage the russia back into its strategic defeat into mind in mind this and do wants to transform russia

and the except russia as a legitimate independent group. of global significance we are logged there we are in conditions of precisely the new cold war do knighted states still try to everett russia back into its throat defeat into mind in mind this m d wants to transform russia both in terms of its foreign policy in the terms of its domestic politics these pressure off the us the russian comes from tension i think is is impacting the russian domestic development in the very strong way he him in the that it will be a more difficult you know for for russia to manage its transition in conditions of the new cold war with the united states if we have the acknowledgement by the united states by the west in general in the role as the legitimate great power what i think the 20th when to for transition would be much more smooth and easy and car mornings while we have to live in there thank you very much for being with us today my pleasure. i encourage our viewers to keep this conversation going in our social media pages and hope to syria same place

russia. from my perspective with the russians they want their people back an putting pressure on other countries, particularly european countries, to take theirs. my concern is what happens to those people, particularly family members of those fighters, who get sent back to russia. cy which is one of the limitations on our counterterrorism dialogue. there are limits in what we can -- we can work with them because of their behavior. >> were you aware that rudy giuliani had opened a second channel of diplomacy, if you want to call it that, second channel of effort in ukraine? mr. sullivan: as i said in response to questions from senator menendez, i was aware at mr. giuliani was involved in ukraine issues. my knowledge particularly in april, may, june time frame, even into july, was focused on s campaign, basically, against our ambassador to ukraine. senator shaheen: is that the normal way the state department does business? to open a second channel? mr. sullivan: i will say there are examples g

this is deja vu news africa coming up in the next 15 minutes the fare returns to africa russia as it's supposed is on the continent and the 1st is a russia africa summit is under way we'll find out why so many african leaders are keen on often a ship that was lost. and needs to cindy and walter cameron has a couple making it involves book they say they're living the russian dream. lotus is able to want to have coffee ballots in the country's tight as you mention it 50 good people day it will tell us what their expectations are. kind of back to the ocean will be nice penguins bats they're facing the exchange. hello i'm kristie want to welcome to news africa it's good to have you along doesn't that look like a grown man's well here's a question for you how do you get 43 african leaders to leave the continent for 2 days well that's one russia's right and recruited can answer because that's exactly what he's done the 1st of a russia africa summit is underway in the russian resort town of sochi and the attendance is remarkable. in this picture alone you see the president's off malawi egypt

this is day to have you news africa coming up in the next 15 minutes they are returns to africa russia has its focus on the continent and the 1st is that russia africa summit is under way we'll find out why so many african leaders are keen on off a ship with bosco. and needs to cindy and wall says that cameroonian couple making it in moscow they say they're living the russian dream. coaches able to want to have a positive balance in the country's time to see the action of 50 people day will tell us what their expectations are. handed back to the ocean will be nice wins but they're facing extinction. hello i'm kristie wonderwall come to africa it's good to have you along doesn't that look like bromance well here's a question for you how do you get 43 african leaders to me leave the continent for 2 days well that's one russia's right in my crew to count on so because that's exactly what he's done the 1st of a russia africa summit is underway in the russian resort town of sochi and the attendance is remarkable in this picture and you see the president's off malawi egypt and solve africa n

they're pretty much like bunching each other out over russia hitting russia they're. pretty much like watching each other over russia that's what it looks like from here yeah and i think that there's a point there you know the social justice what it looks like from here yeah and i think that there's a point there you know the social justice warriors in the us the hollywood liberal types warriors in the us the hollywood liberal types whenever there is a problem they axiomatically just whenever there is a problem they axiomatically just point out russia as the source of the problem and it just strikes anyone who point that russia as the source of the problem and it just strikes anyone who's got any sense of history or any conscious at all that just naked it's got any sense of history or any conscious at all that just naked bigotry just make it bigotry and but they but and these are coming from the social justice we get 3 just make it bigotry and but they but and these are coming from the social justice warriors who you know are going to eat falafel in our tofu sandwiche

former director of russia analysis at the cia and white house advisor on russia for vice president shiny, george beebe is director of intelligence national security at the center for national interest, draws on 25 years of experience to when the us and russia are on a collision course. describing a situation more dangerous than the cold war he shows how factors including new strategic weapons, shifts in world power, unsettled regional conflict and the advantages of cyberattacks on cyberdefense are heightening competition between the countries to the point were small and predictable event could set off a deadly conflict. here to talk about it please help me welcome george beebe. [applause] >> thank you for that introduction and thank you for coming tonight. i have given a lot of talks over the last few years since leaving government but i think this is the first time i have given a talk with a book, this is the first book that i published in the first time i have ever given a talk where my wife has been in the audience. that is a special occasion and great to see so many colleagues and fr

hollywood movies that demonize russia. hollywood movies that demonize russia. thousands of hours of cable television russia becomes blamed for also thousands of hours of cable television russia becomes blamed for all sorts of things so. russia is the prime candidate for demonization it's very difficult to do the same thing to china because that would be considered raise lots of things so. russia is the prime candidate for demonization it's very difficult to do the same thing to china because that would be considered racist whereas russians pass for white people so russia's state just whereas russians pass for white people so russia's state the obvious target but it's sort of shadow boxing because they are really hitting russia there will be a star get but it's sort of shadow boxing because they are really hitting russia they're. pretty much like watching each other over russia that's what it looks like from here pretty much like watching each other over russia that's what it looks like from here yeah and i think that there's a point there you know the social ju

or force putting pressure on ukraine secondly apparently claiming that russia is more important than ukraine and that is in the sort of egypt interest of the united states to get along with russia will receive green is an obstacle so this goes against the political views or m.p. resigned but i wonder if it's just the matter of him disagreeing with the president because the same unidentified whistleblower complained about your. interactions with the ukrainian president. has suggested that mr walker was often acting not on the instructions of donald trump or secretary of state might compare his direct boss but at the request of the ukrainians for example the close aide to president selenski and the moc given how easily accusations of treason fly in washington does he have her reason to be concerned about the ethics of his own behavior rather than his association with donald trump the legal view point of course yes and what you just described is again proves my thesis that there is a very strong resistance among american bureaucracy against the policies. the president and they apparentl

is playing 2nd fiddle to russia it seems like turkey is playing 2nd fiddle to russia. first of course throughout the war. it wasn't simply people who were ever sure it would just do with. probably as much as any country sponsoring that the so-called opposition to topple the regime as much as any country sponsoring that the so-called opposition to topple the regime and now the fact that turkey and russia are working together is really another indicator you know the fact that turkey and russia are working together is really another indication that assad and sig so i think he probably has mixed feelings but still and that was sudden sig so i think he probably has mixed feelings but still. he must be reserved though he's not determined it was not it was cold war hero he must be reserved. he's not determined it was not it was cold war here is all of this all going to dr max abrams associate professor of political science is all of this all going to dr max abrams associate professor of political science at northeastern university thanks so much your time . at northeastern un

russia still occupies and threatens ukrainian territory. russia has not withdrawn mr. putin doesn't deserve any breaks from the sanctions and actions that were taken by the international community. let's fast-forward to the current situation with the impeachment inquiry and the scandal that we are witnessing here. even before the phone call that president trump may 2 president zelensky on july 25 of this year, key, according to media reports, had a very negative view of ukraine. the "washington post" reported, for example, that it a former senior administration official who were people he discussed the issue with president trump said that the president thought court, what we were doing in ukraine was pointless and just aggravating the russians. the official went on to say the president position basically is we should recognize the fact that the russians should be our friend, and who cares about the ukrainians? the "new york times" had a similar report, saying that president trump has had harsh words about ukraine. they are terrible people, he is quoted as having said.

is interested in russia, is concerned about russia, therefore flirting with russia, if that helps keep the u.s. interested, that is a good reason to do so. of course, our adversaries such as iran and syria, they may not like the fact that moscow is working with israel, saudi arabia, etc., but they don't have much choice. where are they going to go? moscow is not worried about being liked. it is worried about if it has leverage. now, what is interesting is that so, essentially moscow competed with middle east oil producers. they would not abide by opec production limits. what we have seen is since 2016 in particular, saudi arabia working together in the opec plus format to affect oil prices. this is really something that's unprecedented. some observers feel now saudi-russian cooperation is more important than opec. saudi arabia and russia make the decisions and opec ratifies them . this is an amazing accomplishment putin has achieved. boasts that unlike the u.s., it has the ability to talk .o all sides in the middle east the u.s. cannot or will not talk below --, with has that russia is

well that big difficult for russia because russia is also dependent on europe and also on the custom as russia has to to sell its gas 60 to 70 percent of the budget of the federal state budget russia dependent on the revenues from gas so they have to sell and europe has to buy it's a double dependency it's another story for ukraine ukraine is not buying gas anymore from russia it's now getting its gas actually from western europe but ukraine is dependent on the fees it's just for gas transport via the pipelines running through ukraine and russia wants to get rid of these fees and the dependency on ukraine and therefore is building these new pipelines around ukraine the turks remain in the south and north stream in the north battling that thank you very much. hong kong's leader carrie lam says the city is a risk of falling into recession as it enters its 5th month of pro-democracy protests over its numbers have dropped and retail businesses as they have been forced to shut of their doors doing protests and rallies. after 5 months of pro-democracy protests some people in hong kong are

russia the relations is one of the most import. elements of this international context made a huge impact on the russian domestic evolution the historical mission i think of lot of the middle portion is not just to make russia a great power again but also to make it illegitimate a great power right to compel the other powers to recognize and accept russia as a legitimate independent great power of global significance we are logged there we are in conditions of precisely the new cold war do knighted states still try to everett russia back into its throat defeat into mind in mind this m d wants to transform russia both in terms of its foreign policy in the terms of its domestic politics these pressure off the us russian confronting. i think is impacting the russian domestic development in the very strong way in the that it will be a more difficult you know for for russia to manage its transition in conditions of the new cold war with the united states if we have the acknowledgement by the united states by the west in general in the r

running a putin jokingly says russia will interfere in the next us presidential election. you can. do that so we could cheer you up properly but don't tell anybody ok. fears of toxic pollution the group the french city of ruin after a massive fire at a chemical factory. a scientific journal withdraws a study trying to claim the syrian government was to blame for a chemical attack in 2017 south of the article attracted fierce criticism. latest on those stories head over to r.t. dot com stay with us now for cross talk on the 70th anniversary of communist china .