what the russian population and the russian citizens. think of russian foreign policy what kind of foreign policy they would like to. and. what image they have of their own country of themselves and how they place russia and themselves on the global scene i think it's very important that. foreign policy matches the. image that the population would like to have of the foreign policy the russian parliament and you as well you begin your work in the wake of much foreign criticism with regards to the parliamentary elections claiming that they weren't fair what kind of a challenge does that criticism present to the parliament and do you first see a response well i think the response has been already given president medvedev. in brussels he basically stayed to the opinion of the european parliament. not important for russia russia is not a member of the european union and so whatever the european in m.p.'s think of the russian elections is not relevant for the russian leadership. and i sing basically. take into account the statements which wer

home but british officials have refused to send their evidence to russian investigators the russian investigative committee has meanwhile declared lugovoy was also a victim of poisoning as he was exposed to pull on him and had to undergo serious treatment in moscow. how do you feel about the fact that many people consider you personally love to be the main hurdle that is preventing the russian u.k. relations from improving their rights or certain extent. you know i have thought about it i find it a little strange and it's a disservice difficult to come to terms with the idea that i am now a historical. figure that he so to speak. not in the sense that i have to reform some great deed of course it is strange to be an issue that to be construed as cannot agree on my position is that the british side and using entirely to blame for that idea who. let us return to the current us call it. this isn't is better typical for the u.k. court system. said the court is to determine the cause of. the current us courts recognize the name was intact killed doesn't support your version about him and

peacekeepers russian never asked for any military assistance because we. believed time was sharp and we need to react immediately subsequently we worked in order to ensure that there is a plan in place that you know creates a better situation for this territory for the new independent state of south and for there we do think time will come when everyone around including our immediate neighbors recognize the new reality but we are not begging for it with think it's self-explanatory what happened there i think it's fine how worked with our allies on this issue as well ok another neighbor north korea has never really been in their life at least of independent russian but russia always speaks of its unique position at least in the relations of the rest of the world with the region specifically with north korea the country is in political transition now a new leader is coming do you expect any unpredictable behavior from north korea or do you expect any real change in north korea and i guess that that the opinion of the russian foreign ministry is very interest

as a kind of an expression of russian nationalism as an assertion of russian national attention now the question i asked myself is yeah i agree with stephen that there was a feasible norm coleman the stilton that if soviet union maybe even the mco but chosen a ship but if survive to challenge of russian nationals the mafia has to be a question about ok i can see when you're being asked a question go ahead. what i think it's a terrific question and i think putin is trying to give us the answer today with his proposal for a eurasian union now notice what's changed in the last twenty years you're absolutely right peter and the others mentioned this that in one thousand nine hundred ninety one the russian leadership held led by yeltsin felt burdened by the economic subsidies it was giving the central asia and the other republics to day the putin leadership thinks that it needs those markets it needs that reintegration with central asia with bella ruse and with ukraine but putin is promising there won't be the political control that was represented by the soviet union so we will see how this

have similar laws in fact every year russian records appear about three kind would cases were russian citizens are accused of crimes they committed abroad to please upload requests from abroad you for they committed a crime outside russia the country in question gathers evidence and sends its going over to russia through official channels. the fact that russia's law enforcement is named to the victim in this case that it appears is actually a blessing for you you're not facing the courts here you guys if you're not. viewed as a murder suspect in russia any longer in fact i've never been regarded as a suspect i was a witness in the case anyway this is positive news for me personally as well as my lawyers and the prosecutor general's office of cold on scotland yard to send over all of the evidence or for their investigation there are many documents in this case we have never received the results of the examination is that we will that is a positive news for you know what we have to remember about the price you had to pay for it you were exposed to radiation were significant was the dama

the russian pilots detained interjected stand well how would you evaluate the work of russian diplomats and these and other cases was it was it efficient. we have not achieved all the results we have not fulfilled all promises but we have progressed one thing is important here one should not underestimate the difficulties related to this particular case as we should refer to it specially with persons arrested and convicted in the united states we have a number of troubling spots in this area with the us where working on this both politically in legal area and i hope next year will bring some fruits and results as was the case with the russian pilots arrested interjected stuff the case of mr booth is pretty funny i have heard the other day that one of the one of the jury admitted that she has she said guilty because she watched the movie the merchant the impression it was actually the same the same way with bush bush initiated the good case because you watch the movie so is it fear convicting a person because there was this marvelous movie shot. mr boot. was arrested because he was under

russians this is only fifteen guys that really are well. off well now you are here but you are a foreigner when you play in the states what's your opinion there's a huge discussion now in russia about about attracting foreigners to play for russian teams in football and ice hockey and that's what your opinion about that for is it good or bad should we limit the number of foreigners i think i think it's a different situation. in russia. you know and b. is the best league and everybody will support it doesn't matter if the whole team is foreigners you know because there's a lot of examples like when a lot of foreigners play there in russia i think it's a little different situation because. we. have a very big institute of national teams and we all want him to be successful. or there are to be successful we have to have russian players to play well and if we have every team you know to bring a lot of foreigners and the russian players know a player we're going to lose our national team. that's why i think we should. you'd have a restriction so

but first let's see what russians think about it. the last leader of the soviet union gorbachev is now eighty years old his name is forever linked with attempts to reform the soviet system and his policies have received different assessments through the years the russian public opinion research center asked russians to define his historical role fifty one percent of the respondents said his opposed to show who was thinking about the betterment of his country but made a number mistakes sixteen percent called him this honest man who most of my did the collapse of the country and another twelve percent see him as a brave man who took responsibility to oversee vital report in the country gorbachev attempted to create a more open and prosperous country through the paula says of glasnost and perestroika back to peter that's what russians think about the legacy of mr gorbachev well our sophie shevardnadze interviewed mr got a bunch off and this is what he said to her about what he thinks his legacy is. going to issue i think it is a united

legacy of the last soviet leader i'm joined by stephen cohen here in the studio he's a professor of russian studies and history at new york university and his latest book is the victims return survivors of the gulag after stalin in london we go to geoffrey hosking he is an emeritus professor of russian history at university college london and his latest book is rulers and victims the russians in the soviet union and also in london we have lad sobel he's an analyst at the securities and another member of our crosstalk team on the hunger all right gentlemen this is cross talk that means you can jump in anytime you want stephen i want to go to you first here as got a bunch off is eighty years old today and let's talk about global legacy and then let's go to specific to russia what is his contribution to history at eighty years old remembering his rule ending the soviet union well one contribution is already recorded in history he set free the countries of eastern and central europe that's done where they go from here is up to them what's not settled or written history is the fate of democracy

everyone how authentic russian bourse differs from the famous russian super ukrainian restaurant course not being tough and is the place for russia's neighboring country cuisine with such traditional dishes as the start of course. with horseradish in the drink which is forty percent proof that its bright interior is the stuff where ukrainian national costumes spirit of the country is in the air and on weekends a so-called national branches served from one until six o'clock. experience the future of the russian magical tiger region you don't necessarily need to go to siberia tyrosine meaning from the tiger restaurant office an experience which makes its guests feel like that far away from the hustle and bustle of the city but rather in a northern forest its interior is a decorated with fur coats weapons and handmade embroidery and the menus highlights include venison and wild. to our final restaurant now and to the first restaurant specializing in a reigning cuisine in moscow named fozzy this exotic eatery opened in the summer of two thousand and ten and situated at the former hotel ukra

top stories now the russian billionaire playboy jumps into the presidential race. was formally announced to be running for russia's top job next march the country's third wealthiest person entered the political stage only this year when he headed up the right cause political party need to quit over disagreements with other party members. thousands flood the center of moscow again but this time it's the supporters of the victorious united russia party for his master opposition rally staged amid claims the results of the parliamentary vote. greece's second multibillion euro rescue package and skepticism over the efficiency of the emergency measure. cracks within the e.u. wide with britain early and between france and germany plan to create a common fiscal union. and occupy protesters take their rallies to a new level as they put corporations in some of america's west coast ports as is demonstrations also got a place in new york where our correspondent reports that police have already started mass arrests. less than half from now in the meantime it's a debate show cro

looking over the highlights of the past year twenty eleven has been an exciting year for the world of russian culture and indeed for the moscow out so over the next twelve minutes we'll be really introducing you to some of the best bits from culture news and shows we've produced over the past twelve months and first up what had to be the most exciting events of the whole year the reopening of the bolshoi theatre. as the main cultural symbol of russia twenty eleven saw the poster states and finally returned to its former glory striking day all night illuminated exterior now shines proud of the years of being covered by scaffolding canvas and building materials. the reconstruction took six years and cost billions of rubles but now the fall of space is open to the public it can continue to nurture and showcase the present and future of russian and international talent. it's a once in a lifetime experience or for me it's. going out on to the stage and seeing really the. how big it is and how grand it is and how beautiful the restoration has been it's it's really once in a lifetime. next up on one

as the ever changing multicultural city becomes a melting pot for russians so. british and french capitals to explore russian influence and connections abroad. delved deep you'll find just how much russian culture is imbedded into many aspects of western society one thing for sure from owning football clubs to major newspapers russians are certainly making their mark on the british capital. moving south into a series of russians have also been fascinated with french culture for centuries shows showcase how much christians devoured the social scene in paris and as we proved the modern day french capital is scattered with russian connections and cultural aspects. well that we have a small selection from the dozens of shows we produce for you could buy twenty eleven how many people i meet in the u.k. for example i have no idea about the cultural diversity of this country has to offer and from palm trees in the south in the east i think russia is one of the most misunderstood destinations moscow st petersburg offer two of the most spectacular cultural scenes in the

and russian speaking people in ukraine for example and having a new border was not what people wanted ok maybe they didn't want to be part of the soviet union that's one thing but being separated from each other completely is another let's be heretical it's not even clear they didn't want to be part of the soviet union remember in march only a few months before the abolition of the soviet state there was a referendum. nine republics took place there was a very large turnout seventy six percent voted for the union the cultural point that nikolai makes are very very important but the more important thing is when the rest of the world was economically integrated in europe in particular suddenly what had been a soviet integrated economic common space was blown apart for no rational reason that's what plunged people at the beginning in the poverty along with the shock therapy now when you've seen then that's the kind of the logic of the economic integration driving itself well if there is a more there's a political resistance but the logic of economics is formidable now suddenly you have t

what we need is more russian and. we need multinational cement internationals and we don't need more nationalism richard you want to reply to that . well i'm just saying that was a possible alternative i'm not saying that would be exerted on i think it horowitz it was a poor alternative in ninety ninety one and it's an even worse alternative to that ok stephen i want to ask you is there is a world a better place but the end of the soviet union. we're not allowed to discuss that in the united states premier i'm sorry let me put it here like this you must go last night. last night preparing an article i'm writing i tried to make a list of international pluses and minuses that ensued from the end of the soviet union and all i do is i asked my readers a question if the if a reforming soviet union a democratizing soviet state had continued to exist would there have been in the last twenty years and i give this question to you. less international terrorism less fanatical nationalism less ideological zealotry less global dea

the davis russian and n.b.a. basketball spotlight will be back shortly after the break so stay with us and. are going. to go. the official anti application. i pod touch from the top story. on the. video. smiling fuel costs. in a sense feeds now in the palm of your. mission. in the. fish. welcome back to spotlight i'm now going over in just a reminder that my guest on the show today is on the kiddie lanko the famous russian basketball player known in the n.b.a. as a k forty seven and rate well there we started talking about the the the the ability of russians to play abroad the sort of a comfort of this come for that you have when you play well well when you play in a fairly well this is true not only for basketball this is also true for for hockey players in the n.h.l. this is also true it might sound funny for the russian girls in the modeling business the last of them or are working work it's also a kind of sport you have brought well what do you think what's the reason that russians do really but often they do