controlunclear how much russia actually has on what is taking place inside ukraine. s, there is russian support and russia is in favor of a chaotic and unstable ukraine. but russia itself does not want to annex eastern ukraine. it cannot economically, financially and socially supported. it's a very different region than crimea, which is primarily russian ethnically. eastern ukraine is the front and russia's not ready to support fully economically, financially, militarily at this time. russiadoesn't mean doesn't like the chaos and instability taking place because the more chaos there is in ukraine, the more the government in kiev will have trouble actually passing real legislation that would undermine russia's influence inside ukraine as a whole. >> presidential elections are scheduled for ukraine on may 25. is russia going to try to disrupt the vote? >> russia backed off that last week. president putin said the elections on may 25 could actually be a first good step toward an agreement in ukraine on decentralizing power. russia is showing there is some wiggle room her

ukraine. we reject all attempts of russia to blame the government of ukraine for allegedly failing to implementthe agreements and we state that despite numerous calls of the international community, the russia federation has taken no efforts to de-escalate the situation and implement geneva agreement. instead, russia's strongly supports illegal militant groups operating in the eastern region of ukraine. endangering civilians, seizing hostages, and creating an atmosphere of terror and violence. security, as well as protection of rights and fundamental freedoms of all people of ukraine, remain a top priority for the government of ukraine. therefore, purpose of the counterterrorist operation, the active phase of which has been renewed in -- is to isolate civilian populations of the city. the commandment of the counterterrorist operation has required from the heavily armed illegal militants to immediately free all hostages, including ose monitors, and to stop violence and massacres. ukrainian authorities are ready to amnesty all those members of militant groups who haven't committed serious crimes.

chop down a ukrainian minutes be helpful to the coast since friday last week gm says russia has already invaded ukraine and the war has already begun boston to know is that us troops on the ground despite a substantial body of evidence which the international community says koreas russia is not telling the truth . graham bought new one. hundreds marched through the streets of the southern ukrainian city of odessa and support for united ukrainian attendees place their support for newly appointed police chief steve aitken during check and recheck replaces kilter with steele who was fired following the clashes since the last raid which took more than forty people dead. it is said to be or how it treats its pro russian separatists with active demonstration and trigger phrase chaos with liberalism which job with the kids did it. we are here to protect our citizens from the pro russian activists to one against which to join the russian federation. i know that simple. gold received. separatists that at least the city earlier in a demanding the release of her rights activists were arrested during the day of th

ukraine. on tuesday, secretary of state john kerry criticized russia's call for ukraine to postpone the election >> is very hard to reconcile that russia is now making the argument that ukraine ought to reduce and not have an election or postpone an election because the violence is taking place, but russia is full whole hog behind having election in syria where there's far worse violence. reconcile that one for us, please. ry who is nower become secretary of war, and not secretary of state. he is supposed to be our chief diplomat. at recall him uttering in the word about any kind of diplomacy the last two weeks. why he's so embattled, i don't know. let's remember what putin said as of last thursday. there's clip you showed may be out of date will stop putin says, russia have been opposed to the presidential election in ukraine on the 25th. >> he spoke on tuesday. this was him speaking. >> then this is a little out of date. on thursday, i believe, putin said, you want to have presidential election in ukraine. it is a crazy idea, but please go ahead, we will interfere. it is a crazy idea. why is i

ukraine. on the other side, we're definitely seeing a hardening of wills as well. more forces coming in from russiahis time into ukraine, describing themselves as chechen volunteers. important to point out that these are not conventional russian forces as far as they are concerned. they're describing themselves as irregulars that have volunteered the fight with the separatists. we saw video of a group of 30 or 40 of them, eyewitnesses on the ground say they saw a convoy of up to 10. we are seeing escalation on both sides. minutes, the ap has tweeted that they have seen 30 dead rebels this morning. clearly, things are picking up in the east of the country. >> the biggest commodity, the single issue is gas, whether it is for europe and certainly the ukraine. it looks like the noises we are somend be inching toward kind of deal. what he seen so far between the ukraine and russia? enough, you could call gas another battleground in the complex between russia and ukraine. there's a tentative agreement reached yesterday between ukrainians and russians. it had to be agreed by their governments by the end o

russia and ukraine can't agree. deliveries to europe could also be affected the eu has been trying to resolve the dispute the form of the policies of sharon goodwill today. they have indicated that they want to heat up the gas sector to turn it into a tool to politics. that is up to find solutions was obvious. i picked up. still in negotiations and get over the eu holes in the meeting on energy between russia and ukraine in the coming weeks ok for some background hill scribbled on trial he's an economist at the institute for east european studies at the nq the free university of berlin. good to have you with us mr fennell first of all let's take a step back and look at russia right now and it's the big chip in this game. economically the gas that is its gas supplies for germany for eastern europe what it be that easy for russia to simply turn off the gas to europe. when we would not be easy though it would be rather difficult russia is hard currency reserves. in less than five hundred million but has that collective

in short, russia's actions in ukraine are making an already weak russian economy even weaker. moreover, if russia continues on its current course, we have a range of tools ats our disposal, including sanctions that would target certain sectors of the russian economy. we've been consulting closely with you're european and g-7 partners and stepping up our planning. angela and i continued these consultations today. the russian leadership must know if it continues to destabilize eastern ukraine and disrupt this month's presidential election, we will move quickly on additional steps including further sanctions that will impose greater cost. but that is a choice facing the russian leadership. our preference is a diplomatic resolution to the issue and ukrainian government has shown itself more than willing to work through some of the issues that would ensure that the rights of all ukrainians are respected and that you have a representative government and they've shown themselves willing to discuss amendments to their constitution, the power to a local level. they have gone through wit

, directly not just a question of the subsidization of gas from russia into the ukraine, it was tying the economics together and with a lot of money factoring and economic processes, the markets, nearly all of ukrainian manufacture goes to russia it is highly unlikely anybody else will take on all of these enterprises and probably when you look down the line you are seeing between the range of 5 billion to 10 billion depending on how you factor this in of orders coming into the russia economy directly from the russia. the entire market for the chocolate that the president was selling within russia itself is it is likely unlikely that consumers elsewhere in europe are going to buy the president's chocolate so we will have to think very clearly about how russia plays into this and putin is all about that one of his biggest complaints about the european union's association agreement was the ukraine being taken out of russia's economic -- he kept signaling for many months that he wanted to sort of sit down at the table and have a discussion about this, about how this was goi

ukraine, not even in crimea. why did it all now happen, and i think the main reason is russia has been instigating it. >> this waseorge, a badly-run country since the break-up of the soviet union, it's not a place that started to unravel or become unstable. ukraine. >> i don't believe the west is afraid of owning it. ukraine was bad economically. what it did not have was the ethnic tension or violence among the ukranian speakers. that existed. there was no crisis here. we are seeing a similar situation as what we saw in the balkans. during the cold war there was no ethnic tensions if vladimir putin s his agenda and his doctrine of "i will defend speakers no matter where they are", we see a lot of danger not just in ukraine, but central asia." are we lack looking at something that will take time to resolve. >> it's far from over. if the west do not help the kiev government, and if it does not restore order and have elections we'll see not just the russian conquest of ukraine, but also perhaps of moldova and aggression in central asia and the baltic republics. >> you were shaking your head. what do you hear that yo

russia. grand plan?n's will we see the ukraine's divide ? it is clear what his grand plan has been four months. -- fo r months. russia has a fallback position. itough the maiden protests, was clear that he could not have the whole of the ukraine, so the idea is that he takes the bits he can get away with. i think that is crystal clear from what we have seen in crimea and south and east of ukraine in the last few months. rex a secession vote in crimea led to an ignition. >> a secession vote in crimea led to annexation. does it lead to eastern parts of the country or not? >> it is a little bit trickier. they are controlled through the presence of 20,000 troops. engineering and ensuring an annexation is a lot more challenging. is thattegy from russia they would rather like to expand russia's borders and if opportunities arise, they will do it. i think they really want the populations to welcome them in. i do not think they want a protracted and long drawnout military conflict. is to stabilize ukraine to the point at which russian peacekeepers a

russia. half that supply runs through ukraine. twice in the past, russia has cut off those supplies. it is threatening to do so again if ukraine does not come up with the money. this is an ongoing story. everything depends on the money landing in the account on moscow -- in moscow on monday, and possible negotiations in brussels later in the day. >> thank you very much. thailand's coup leader ruled out elections for at least a year. in a televised address, general prayuth chan-ocha outlined plans to restore democracy. >> the first phase would focus on reconciliation between divided political factions, followed by political reforms. finally, when the political reforms are in place, and election will take place. the army took control of thailand last month after months of antigovernment protests. officials in the northern indian state of uttar pradesh have fire to police officers for ignoring the disappearance of two girls who were gang raped and murdered. >> the teenage cousins were found hanging from a tree early on a. the families accuse the police of failing to take action when they

russia is a great power compared with the ukraine. so few people can come out on the states arm themselves with the assistance of russia, and make a big difference. which will not be directly involved in the affairs of eastern ukraine. and they may allow them to work it out by themselves. there are differences but you hope that it would be add cat to allow the citizens to work it out for themselves. it began with a very strong presence by the united states, tip lomatic, which is then countered by even stronger involvement by the russian government. and between those two forces. not take such an active part. flu the russian media, and allow the ukrainians to decide for themselves through an election. >> let me just jump in there, is -- do you get the sense, that a government in moscow is willing to accept the outcome whatever that outcome is of the elections on the twenty-fifth. >> . >> if the government follows flu on what it seems to have declared, which is that it is going to reconsider the description of power between the center and

ukraine. angela, i want to thank you for being such a strong partner on this issue. you've spoken out forcefully against russia's illegal actions in ukraine, and you've been a leader in the european union, and your presence here today is a remind you are that our nations stand united. including through coordinated sanctions. we're united on our unwavering article 5 commitment to the security of our nato allies, including german aircraft joining nato tropatrols over th baltic. we're united in the umf program approved this week. and as ukrainian forces move to restore order in eastern ukraine, it is obvious to the world that these russian-backed groups are not peaceful protesters. they are heavily armed militants who are receiving significant support from russia. the ukrainian government has the right and responsibility to uphold law and order within its territory, and russia needs to use its influence over thinks paramilitary groups so these disarm and stop provoking violence. let me say we're also united in the appalling treatment of the observers that have been detained. pro-russian militants are still holding

ukraine. firstly, that big natural gas deal with china. russia has to look for new customers because its biggest customers in western europe now say because of ukraine, they want to buy less russian natural gas. so, there's a big business imperative. natural gas is a big part of the russian economy, but there's also symbolic, a big political message here, that despite what the u.s. says, russia still has friends, can still do business, that it is not isolated internationally, as the united states and europe say that it is because of its actions in ukraine. now, on the border between russia and ukraine, russia now says it is pulling back its troops there, and the president, vladimir putin, says that's because russia wants to create a favorable environment for sunday's presidential election. russia is clearly playing a softer line on ukraine, as it has done for recent weeks. putin says that the election on sunday is a positive step now. now, the key question, though, is what happens monday, after these elections are held? there are still pro-russia

between the ukraine and russia, compromise is possible. everyone knows what it stake. nd the europeans first concerned by this crisis are also prepared. principles that will respect the sovereignty of the ukraine is still conceivable. but to that end, what first from a bad a stop spy novel. ,he ministry of foreign affairs we don't need an amateur james bond drinking vodka nor diplomats. we need to come back to the principles that are the foundations of international life. i think the representative of france and give the floor to the representative of the united kingdom. republicratulate the for assuming the president is here on the security council in the month of may. esther president, thank you for convening this meeting. the russian federation has described events as a punitive military operation against peaceful activists. this is yet again a gross distortion of the facts. the ukrainian government has the right and the responsibility to uphold the rule of law and in its own citizens territory. it should do so in a proportionate and measured way. the actions underta

scoup -- security council , where russia is a permanent member. the president says ukraineestroyed the agreement meant to calm tensions. >> translation: if the criminal misadventures of the kiev clooek are not stopped. the catastrophic happenings cannot be avoided. >> president obama hosted german chancellor angela merkel at the white house. wrestling with ways to turn up the heat on vladimir putin whilst not hurting german's economic ties to russia, trades amounting to $100 billion. >> a word on sanction, i agree with the american president. they are not an end in itself, but combined with an of of diplomatic solutions it's a necessary second component to show that we are serious about our principals. >> it is obvious to the world that the russian-backed groups are not peaceful protesters. they are heavily armed mill tans receiving support from russia. the ukranian government has the right to uphold law and order in its territory. russia needs to use influence so they disarticle and stop provoking violence. >> the president touched on kidnapping of international observers

this is not just about the bill of what ukraine owes russia. it's more about how the three operate together in a way that does not benefit the west so ukraine can be in a more comfortable position for russia. >> the new energy deal with china, to supply china with natural gas for the next 30-40 years. does this boost vladimir putin's position in terms of how russians see him and in terms of how the world sees him? >> very much so. before russia was at the mercy of the europeans needing russian energy. it was a dual relationship. now russia has options. yes it will take three or four years for those options to come online, but it's still going to be options that will be coming in the very short future. and russia is negotiating discounted natural gas prices. russia signed with italy a discounted gas price. russia is playing nice with certain europeans and showing that they can switch the gas from west to east, and there are ways that they're shaping the situation in many ways that russia has many tools in its toolbox. >> lauren, good to see you.

. >>> president obama today vowing to come down harder on russia if moscow does not quit meddling in ukraine. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." the world lead. as pro russia protesters shoot helicopters out of the sky, germany's chancellor angela merkel talks about squeezing more sanctions on russia. >> jeb, if you need some advice, give me a call. >> increasingly it seems that republican donors may be inclined to and the pop culture lead, do you think this gives you a respectability that you didn't have before? >> absolutely not. >> joel mchale has something to make fun of, us, the host of "the soup" and the star of "the community" drops by "the lead" ahead of the white house correspondents' dinner. good afternoon, everyone. i'm jake tapper. we'll begin with the world lead. death in ukraine. 31 people died at a trade union building while the cause is not perfectly clear, odessa is currently being torn apart by rioting and clashes between ukrainian royalists and pro-russia activists with thousands positioned near the eastern border. but right here in the u.s., president obama and german c

i think this is the key to it holding ukraine together. russia has called for the election to be postponed as long as ukrainian troops are deployed against parts of ukraine's population. well the flurry of diplomatic activity comes as the fighting in eastern ukraine intensive phonics and government are upset and circle the flashpoint city of lubbock and candor tightening their grip after deadly clashes with progress since the protests. tss thirty insurgents and foreign government soldiers were killed in battles on monday ukraine has stepped up its offensive to try to take back control in the east the rebel fighters ever been hoping for mass production fighters still man the barricades lead into the center still be on they're patrolling the streets the eastern ukrainian city remained quiet on tuesday a day after bitter fighting in which thirty heavily armed separatists were killed according to the ukrainian government the separatists and for good number have done it. it was key as most ambitious effort to retake looking on. it said ukrainian troop

ukraine. it is obvious to the world of these russian backed groups are not peaceful protesters. there we are militants. for receiving significant support from russia russian leadership must know that if it continues to de stabilize eastern ukraine. and disrupt this month's presidential election we will move quickly on additional steps. neon is any guide both the nintendo intent was to make it my company my new baby. on the basis of stuff to audition it literally has the right direction finally worst it's a very up to standards of chaos on the stove and we will see to it. they see me and nathan talking down from the system i think i'm a twenty to make his own. life went on in my state. the unavoidable to something that we can one man isn't it easy on to the this week. the land of. song online. he admits the road the origins of the job here just to be shown me just add to this position in eastern europe. wish it was about as directors at the korean quite good. the interest of mine hunters from norwegian netherlands belgium and is doing a reading test is to keep security is of note it's the antithesis of interest want is right. the most authentic evi

ukraine. that's obvious. and since march russia has amassed at least 40,000 combat troops and heavy equipment on the eastern border with ukraine, and today the russian defense minister stated russia will take steps to increase its presence in the black sea with additional warships and submarines. now, in response to requests by the ukrainian government, last month the administration announced $8 million in nonlethal military assistance. we know that this aid package was very welcome there and included bomb disposal equipment, hand held radios, engineering equipment, communications equipment, vehicles, and nonlethal tactical gear for the ukraine border guard. now, deputy assistant secretary farkas, in your testimony you state that the defense department is working to identify additional assistance resources for ukraine but that quote, ukraine's request for material assistance are far reaching and vastly outstrip our ability to meet them under current authorities and appropriations. so i need to press you. what is it that they're ask

assessment of the armed groups in east ukraine include professionals funded equipped and directed by russia ukraine remains comedian committed to the implementation of the agreements reached in the medium of foreign ministers of ukraine the russian federation the european union and the united states in geneva on the pill seventeen. free and fair presidential elections only twenty five remain so for unity of the dome to puke green. to reject what dems of pressure to blame the government if ukraine for allegedly failing to implement the agreements and the state that despite numerous calls for the international community the russian federation has taken no efforts to escalate the situation and implement the geneva agreement. is this precious soul is of course illegal medical groups operating in the eastern region of ukraine. and injuring civilians. soon cause for this cause the just and creating an atmosphere of terror and lemons. security as well as protection of rights and fundamental freedoms of all people look at the door to green. i mean the open era did for the garment a few green therefore purp

so they might not be as sweeping as something we would see if russia invaded ukraine. but it's going to be something along those lines. president obama sort of parsed it out, saying, look, it's not realistic to say we're going to ban oil and gas exports from russia to europe, ban anyone taking those. that's just not going to work under the current conditions and looking at the global economy. angela merkel said, you know, it's not what we want to do, we don't want to impose such sweeping sanctions. but if we have to, then germany and the eu are ready and willing. that's something many people had a question about. if the u.s. wanted to take that step, would the eu go along with it, wolf? >> stand by, michelle, because matthew chance is in moscow. he was watching, listening. what's the likely reaction going to be from the russians, matthew? >> well, they're going to be watching this very closely, of course, for any differences between washington and that key european leader, angela merkel. and i think there wasn't probably as much unity between the two leaders as they wer

we see russia's hand in destabilizing efforts in ukraine. rst we saw crimea, which also lead to an illegal annexation of crimea, and i have no doubt that russia is also moved in the destabilization of eastern ukraine as we are currently witnessing. >> defense secretary -- u.s. defense secretary, chuck hagel testified before congress saying that this crisis really demonstrates the lack of nato funding. if this came down to a battle between nato forces and russia today, are you confident you have the resources to win? >> we have all plans in place. we have the resources required to ensure effective defense and protection of all allies against any threat, but having said that, i'm also concerned about the declining defense budgets. we have seen deep cuts in european defense budgets during recent years because of the economic crisis, during the same period of time we have seen russia significantly increase its defense investments. and this trend cannot continue, so time has come to stop cuts in europe, and gradually start increasing defense inves

how difficult could the situation get for you in russia and ukraine? always very difficult. it creates some uncertainty. we have changed our outlook for the russian markets. could the situation get for you in russia and ukraine? >> it is always very difficult. compared to what we had in february before the crimea situation happened. the change in the outlook for the beer category is driven by the more uncertain, more negative macro environment. anng into the year, we had assumption to gdp in russia would be between 1.5% increase in now we are assuming flat tdp for the year. -- gdp for the year. we are saying the worst outlook for russia, we will be able to compensate so we can still deliver the same underlying performance as a business. because of worse currency exchange rates, the russian it will be a low single digit increase. >> in terms of the weakening ruble. do you have to raise prices to counter it? a gives an advantage to some of your competitors. >> you can only do so much on consumer price without risking significant negative impacts. precauti

european leaders this week announced a new but tentative deal between the ukraine and russia. eover gas races roots and serious concert once is. class the ukraine presidential election may help solve one problem here -- who is in charge. a new president will face several serious challenges, including a gas -- this is with russia. recently, they took over the ukraine gas company. they get almost all the gas from .he russia gas company ukraine leaders say it is on these mobile. constructive.t off anhe politics -- the aging policies. they are all consequences of a shared past. fighting maybe taking lace hundreds of miles to the east. economickraine, and and lyrical this dude is raging. it's the us on five lines like .hese voters in on the euro and they are used to massively with industrial energy. it pays the lands for those the mess gas needs. that is where much higher in will hurt national gas. >> most of the bills are in the united days dollars while residential uses pay. current the has fallen against the dollar. when gas demand -- it gets squeezed. saysa's prime minister that

russia is looking to cut off ukraine's gas supplies over past bills. berlin is holding talks to keep the pipe lines open. tensions are high in the central african republic. two protesters are reportedly killed and demonstrators are angry over the government and foreign military presence on the ground. protestan villagers against police inaction after finding two girls rate and killed. two officers -- two girls ra ed. and kill two officers were suspended. moving onto egypt, a landslide victory. >> the provisional route sold -- result, 93% of the vote, but not the turnout he wanted, 46% according to approximations. a quoteart out with from the washington post this morning. on the bottom later there it says, the election where nobody voted, followed by other bricks that said restrictions on assembly, speech, and groups. what is this? it is the tomb of the unknown democracy, according to this cartoon. that is a lot of what the western media is saying, that the selection was not very democratic. in fact, the guardian today saying egypt has come full circle

russia. separatist groups in ukraine vote for self-rule. the presidents as china needs to adapt to a pace of slower expansion. welcome to those of our viewers just waking up in the united states. i mark barton. >> and i'm caroline hyde. this is the pulse, live from bloomberg's european headquarters in london. murdoch is reviving his plans to create a europe pay-tv empire. for more, we're joined by reporter --ws deals what is murdochs plan here? >> we don't know it is ending is. her greatcording to reporting. acording to fox, he has about 37% stake in b-sky-b. in skya 55% stake deutschland. italian and the german sky providers are sold to b-sky-b. then they would have inevitability to negotiate advertising and get access, the rights and programming rights on the backend. you have one unified company that can have a footprint in italy, germany and u.k.. here's interesting thing, murdoch would still only have a minority stake in that company, unless these are cash and stock deals. then do you get the majority a majority percentage. what we wil

the diplomat said russia would potentially face further sanctions if it interferes with ukraine's national elections scheduled for may twenty fifth japanese prime minister shinzo ave has again urged russia to respect the results of the upcoming presidential elections in ukraine. speaking after a meeting at me to take orders to rustle up they said his country would not tolerate the use of force in ukraine nato secretary general anders phone ross mitcham said the alliance was ready to take further steps if one of its members was to be trapped in the european union japan and the united states have placed a piece that made him an asset freeze that spawned dozens of individual song close to russia president what he referred to him but have held back on wider trade sanctions. it's like an escalation of the crisis in ukraine both japan and the united states have emphasized the importance of ukraine carrying out free elections by march twenty fifth to give people the democratic choice of who should succeed pro russian president to kiama coverage to play cupid february in the midst of bloody protes

ukraine's interior minister says 30 gunmen and four soldiers were killed there on monday. >> well, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has accused russia of planning to annex more of ukraine's territory after a referendum do to be held on sunday. separatists say they'll hold polls in two oorn regions to -- oorn regions to -- eastern regions to decide whether they'll remain part of ukraine. >> we are concerned with prorubbishan separate efforts in donetsk and luhansk to organised a bogus, contrived independence election on may the 11th. we reject the illegal effort to further gid ukraine. the -- divide ukraine. the pursuit will ceate more problems. >> the deadlines to pay is dues expires on wednesday. gazprom sis kiev owes $3.5 million. the gas producer says starting from may the 16th, ukraine will have to pay first to buy gas. the money ukraine received from the international monetary fund could have been used to ebay the debt. >>> nick spicer joins us from kiev. let's look at the gazprom deadline. the release of money from the i.m.f. - where do you think kiev will spend that? >> well, the government - interim government which came int

ukraine position is there's no debt because russia owes ukraine for the gas. ukraine is prepared to pay a lower price than russia claims. disruptions to the european union and if russia cuts off gas to ukraine, ukraine will probably have the results last until september. after that, it will be difficult. >> okay. many thanks indeed. >>> now the families of two teenage cousins who were allegedly gang raped and hung from a tree have expressed outrage of the way the police responded to the crime. they say it took police 12 hours after the girls went missing from her home in uttar pradesh. let's speak to our correspondent. take us through the crime itself which is pretty grim. >> yes, on 27 evening, these two girls age 14 and 16 went out. as the family members tell us now, they went out because they don't have proper toilet back home. they have to go out to relieve themselves. they didn't return back. next morning, 28th morning, their bodies were found hanging from a tree. the report said the report confirmed rape and death by hanging. three of the policemen have

but the other stuff bothers me. >> obama has taken a lot of credit for putting pressure on russia in this ukraine crisis, but to be honest, it has not had much of an impact on russia. do you think there is anything more washington intends to do? >> i'm not sure at this point that anybody can really change president putin's mind. that said, i think it is very important for the white house to be closely in touch with the european leaders, particularly german leader angela merkel, on this, and i think they need to work shoulder to shoulder on that for the foreseeable future. >> thanks so much for joining us in studio. >> you are very welcome. >> ukraine's prime minister has called on russia to block the border to his country in order to prevent rebel fighters from entering. >> ukraine's new president petro poroshenko says his country is at war in the east, and he has vowed to crush the revolt. the situation remains tense on the ground internet where dozens died in a battle over the airport. >> a city in a state of emergency. young people of donetsk are erecting barricades to block access to the airp

and russia, ukraine and the global economy pay a huge price for the crimea. and we should stop them and not be so emotional. >>> it's an enormous challenge and is going to need all parties to push this forward. it cost me a new mayor of clench. it's been going on a few moments ago. what about sanctions, there's a lot of hawks in washington. and here in kiev, we want a third round of sanctions, to am lut pressure on the table forces it to the -- there's no doubt about it, when putin said to jeff on friday there's a boomerang on the west. ed the suffer will shrinked from the inside house yd. >> that's absolutely crucial, but this country and russia, again, better prosperity in europe as well. i'm very important to see. it's important to see how russia and the ukraine speak well. much more to come from you. you can get more on the chocolate king president-elect. >>> more to come on the elections and on today's show, sou souls -- amazon is now funding many places in the eu's tiny hax haven. out of europe, out of favor. find out how much mass united brand dropped

talks between russia, ukraine, and the european commission will go ahead on friday. time is running out to avert a threat from moscow to cut off supplies. ukraine is the transit nation for about half of the gas russia sells to the eu. people, energy euros, and 2 trillion the economic union brings together russia, can't extend, and belarus. ago, it two decades comes into force at the beginning of next year. today's meeting is without any exaggeration of unique importance. have alsosidents expressed interest in membership, but the meeting was missing a crucial guest -- ukraine's new government has pulled out, setting sites and joining the european union. >> i am sure that sooner or later they leadership will figure out where their happiness lies. >> following russia's annexation of crimea, hillary clinton joined the voices accusing vladimir putin of trying to rebuild the soviet union. he denies the claims, yet even the cofounder is wary of moscow. >> the union is economic and does not touch on questions of independence or the political sovereignty in the integration. is

we have no problem with development between russia and china. >> turning to ukraine and the strained and moscow, do you think it is right that russia wants that bill owed by ukraine, $3.5 billion, to be repaid now? that is acceptable isn't it? >> yes, i think contracts have been to be accepted from all parties. they are negotiating and moderating the process. there's some money for ukraine to pay open bills. to avoid any interpretation of gas deliveries, ukraine is relevant as buying and consuming gas. but for us, it's more relevant. so we have to avoid any crisis, any problems in the gas situation with ukraine and russia. >> is it fair russia charges ukraine the highest price of any european country in europe because of the crisis which exists between the two countries? >> good question. in general, february and march ukraine has to pay $268 per 1,000 cubic meter. russians are saying price will be $485. this is the highest price global wide. we're waiting on a market based balanced fair price. i'm quite optimistic to find this fair price between 300 and $400. >> okay. i'm sorry. we'

secretary chuck hagel today spoke about the nato alliance its history and its relevance to the russia ukraine conflict. it's 40 minute talk is followed by a panel discussion on ukraine with former russian german and polish officials. >> in 1997 my daughter hillary and i have for hillary in my own family, then it presents senior majoring in politics pics nato as her thesis topic. she called her mom then in my third term in congress to get my assessment. so i had to really think about it. nato expansion have been agreed upon and in 1994 brussels declaration and there was real enthusiasm certainly in the united states congress. the senate voted 89-19. that's a very initial vote these days in 1998 to ratify the addition of three countries to nato poland hungary and the check republic. 16 countries have now been added through six rounds of enlargement since the end of the cold war. but there were also skeptics. tom friedman the writer tom friedman who also is a former wilson scholar wrote an op-ed last month in which he quoted his 1998 interview with it then 94-year-old george kennan. said kennan,

for comments from chuck hagel talking about the nato alliance as tension heightens between russia and ukraine. russia's military move quote shatter the myth that the end of the cold war meant an end to insecurity at least in europe. speaking in washington he says the european nato members need bolster their expense effort because they will test the 28-nation lead alliance. we expect remarks to get underway in just a moment here at the wilson center. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> morning. >> good morning. >> morning, everyone and welcome to the wilson center. i am jane harmon the president and ceo. i am delighted to introduce our first event this morning. let me welcome the cochair and former chair and ambassadors from countries and our speakers for the next panel which is going to be introduced later. i have to recognize the former german ambassador who is a scholar at the wilson center. in 1997, my daughter hillary then a princeton senior majoring in politics picked nato as her thesis topic. she called her mom, me i

russia warned ukraine not to use more force in the east. the foreign minister saying that what be a colossal mistake but that is exactly what we have seen over the last 12 hours. ukrainian forces using helicopters, using paratroopers, trying to take back that regional airport in the east of the country as a train station there. there was fighting and not just those two spots but elsewhere in the city and the other cities in the east as well. russia or i should say the separatists have also escalated their contributions to this conflict. a number of pro-russian fighters were seen in the city yesterday. local agencies reporting as many as 40 trucks came in from russia into ukraine. identifyingrs themselves as chechen volunteers. as you can see, there won't be any sitting down and friendly relations between ukraine and russia now that the president-elect is here. they are on a collision course and we will have to watch what happens next. >> sergei lavrov warns of a colossal mistake if they do not get it right. let's talk about the big issue wh

prepared for taking an active part in the actions on the territory of maine and ukraine citizens of ukraine russia and representatives of pressure because the movement or is there to prevent terrorism suspects in their regions. this is the main cost for the security forces and government officials said the acting president of ukraine on sunday to check up at a meeting with the hats and regional state administrations. no one's to this effect is preparing supper task in six regions of ukraine. but the main holidays. i was in groups and to destabilize the situation had this up. but asked for his epic song and the cry of regions soapbox. yes i did it not been told the station into regions namely convenience and once set the chin. it will. i joined and tension of heads of administrations of those regions. the detention of heads of security agencies tend to care for it especially during the may holidays we must ensure that our citizens can relax during these holidays. when must provide them with peace of mind and protection it's okay we anticipate possible exams and stuffs imitate his cord and disinform

ukraine's interior minister says 30 gunmen and four soldiers were killed there on monday. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry accused russiaplanning to annex more of ukraine's territory after a referendum on sunday. they say they will hold polls to decide whether they will remain part of ukraine. >> we also are very concerned about efforts of pro-russian separatists in donetsk in luhansk, to organise, frankly, a contrived, bogus, independent referendum on may 11th. we flatly reject this illegal effort to further divide ukraine, and the pursuit will create more problems in the effort to de-escalate the situation. >> it's been six months since typhoon haiyan struck the philippines. many survivors have been forced to fend for themselves. >> reporter: pedro hopes that every little thing built in his new home means that he is slowly finding a place to store away a painful memory. he lost 22 members of his family - his wife, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters and cousins. six have not been found until now. he is left with his only son. all the others died when typhoon haiyan struck the philippines last november. >> tr

will it be part of ukraine or russia? >> it's our policy that it remains to ukraine and should return to ukrainian control. >> so you done know. how about you? >> i agree with mr. hartley. >> you don't know. the kidnap watchers. who kidnapped them? >> they weren't election observers, it was a team composed of eight europeans led by thiermans and they had five ukrainian escorts with ep them. they were kidnapped by a pro -- by pro-russia individuals, a ro-russia group in eastern ukraine. >> what were they doing in eastern ewe rain? you say they're inspectors, of what? >> they were there under the vienna document, all 57 nations that are participating states in the organization for security and cooperation in europe to include russia have agreed to a set of measures that are intended to build confidence among the partners, mong the participants. part 1 mechanism of that is our inspections that each -- each participating state is obliged to receive a certain number of inspections every year but they can also offer voluntary in

we put in place in dodd frank, they are very powerful reforms. >> rebels in eastern ukraine have asked to join russiaferendum showed support for independence. meanwhile, gazprom is threatening to cut off gas supplies to ukraine unless kiev pays for its gas by june 2. back to the company news stories this morning. we have had earnings from airbus. they reported earnings that beat expectations of analysts. though they were still lower than last year. david tweed has been following the story for us. why did the earnings drop? is probably a reflection of what we have seen in some asian airlines and that is that these asian airlines put in a lot of orders for planes and now they are deferring some of them because they just cannot take them. there are infrastructure problems for some asian airports. malaysia is building a discount center airport, but it is two years behind time. we see it in the numbers. 141 airbus planes delivered in the first quarter compared with 144 a year earlier. that said, they still say they will be on track to deliver about the same number of planes as last year, 626 planes. that

ukraine's ambassador was consensus that artsy rei in eastern ukraine might be similar to the one implemented by russia in abkhazia. that reminds you that ukraine has never threatened the strain of the wheel. ukraine is going to human beings want to be left alone. the highest level of cynicism is a russian reference to the right was still good friends in a situation where it is a russian who is taking his aggressor. having gone through quite creamy and he's going to be interfering in internal persecute grain is to the eyes and then trying to create resources situation in eastern regions of ukraine us ambassador matter how upset russia has kept stuttering traveled on to mining the key of government and releasing statements which distort the facts even since beans national agreements and the crisis in ukraine was like in geneva on april the seventeenth instead russian officials have refused to publicly call on the separatists to give up their weapons and relinquish their illegal control ukrainian government buildings. in fact russia continues to find to courtenay and to fuel the heavily armed separatist