russian side got to these investigations and this is something we also heard from the russian journalists during the press conference when mr smith was asked questions about the particular ways to open the door sample bottles said yes i want to refer you to some of the actual friends your reports that are available online but when it comes to the specific experience when it comes to the descriptions maybe pictures videos of ways to do it the russian side is always concerned that they don't see this and as it turns out for now the reason for a lifetime bans of individual athletes and now this whole decision to basically bad team russia from competing only allowed to compete under the international olympic flag only based on scratches and salt sure i will no doubt a lot of people will go to. the i.c. website to see exactly what was in that report well thanks a lot with trying to there with the the details of what was discussed at that press conference well before today's decision twenty five russian athletes had already been banned from dissipating in the games by the commission which exami

not seeing russians play, not hearing the russian anthem, it is a disaster.eter: how are russians likely to respond in sporting terms? daria: i have been observing reactions over the last couple of days. i could say the reactions are very different. the russiansying should go anyway. i personally am on that side of well. when t the athletes, it is something they have been preparing for their whole lives. it could be the pinnacle of their career for many of them. they deserve to go if they can prove they can are clean, and i do not see why they should miss out on any of it, but quite a lot of people are saying that the athletes going anyway despite the ban on the russian team would be tantamount to national treachery. that is something that as a russian journalist you hear a lot. people somehow tend to associate the country, the state, and the name of vladimir putin together. if you do something which is not on the general line, you're supposed to be a traitor. athletes deciding to go and compete in the olympics just because of their ambition, not representing

crime, russian financial crime, russian money laundering, russian corruption, than i did.new quite a bit. >> reporter: according to weiner, steele occasionally provided reports on developments inside putin's russia to his colleagues at the state department. >> the people who were working russia all the time valued the reports. they thought they were well sourced. they felt they were remarkably timely. >> reporter: the state department wasn't the only u.s. agency to relyn christopher steele. >> i understood he had a relationship with the fbi, relating to the fifa soccer scandal, and had been a significant source for them in making cases in that area. >> reporter: in 2016, though, the americans calling christopher steele weren't fbi agents. the call he got in 2016 was from a small washington research firm called fusion gps. fusion gps was founded by former "wall street journal" reporters. this is how one of fusion's founders, glen simpson, described his company's mission when he spoke at a 2009 symposium on investigative reporting at the university of california at berkeley.

crime, russian financial crime, russian money lau ing, russian corruption than i do, and i know quite a bit. >> reporter: he provided reports inside of putin's colleagues to the people inside of the state department. >> the people working russia valued the the reports. they felt they were well sourced. they felt they were remarkably timely. >> in the state department was not the only u.s. agency to rely on christopher steel. >> i understood that he had a relationship with the fbi relat te ing to the fifa soccer scandal and had been a significant source for them in makes cases in that e area. >> in 2016 though, the americans called christopher steel weren't fbi agents. the call he got in 2016 was from a small washington research firm called fusion gps. fusion gps was founded by former "wall street journal" reporters. this is how one of fusion's founders glenn simpson described his company's mission when he spoke at a 2009 symposium on investigative reporting at the university of california at berkeley. >> we are hoping that people who have an interest in bringing things outs do somethi

let me give you a flavor of what's being said from the russian side a russian foreign ministry spokeswoman came out and said they're always trying to put down put us down and everything our way of life our culture our history and our sport what do you say to such sentiments it's ridiculous i mean it's the soul and circle he meant mentality we see it with nato they're afraid that nato is in circle in this well i think most people in the west realize this is ridiculous and hopefully nobody will take it too serious that's russia's problem of they feel that the west is in a circle and that's russia's problem they think that the i.o.c. is going after them for doping when they've been caught red handed i think most people outside russia see it differently not him has been looking very thoughtful daria's be looking very full diary you say you're personal reaction to this you talk about doping scandal of the whole saga being painful tell us about the pain well to be honest i guess just like most people in russia i did not expect the russian team to win the sochi olympics so when russia won it was

have you heard about the russian doping scandal no i haven't heard. i don't know about is this a repeat yes i. have never heard this i know in the uk and it's called. i heard he used the medicine. and her face i don't know that it's true needs to be received. what do you think the winter olympics would be like without russia. to bring a little bit more i says to the strongest country. by. people everybody is like a. beautiful national soccer game spain the you know and it's not really a game when the biggest player is not there and we don't get the rights to. be found. just well this is on the people not the winter olympics but you know russia is not a whole country that's your political stuff. and the south korean capital which is looking forward to the country's first ever winter olympics. happened without t.v. russia just a reminder you are watching our continuing coverage of the international olympic committee's decision to ban russia's team and many individual russian athletes from taking part in the two thousand and eighteen winter games in sout

with the support of the russian. the syrian army liberated hundreds of cities from territories and returned almost all the country's territory to the government controlled. the u.s. led coalition the russian federation of the syrian regime is the only field that has made meaningful progress against isis three years the various sides have shared a common goal driving i still out of syria but now that's been achieved for some the main thing now is taking all the credit it is still absolutely critical to the us role in the world to maintain this this narrative that it is a response only responsible for. you know the good things that happen in the world while its enemy is responsible for all the bad things and unfortunately it sees russia as not just a competitor really as an enemy spawn. well that and i mean so what we we're hearing here is effectively that the that i saw has been defeated or the majority of ice has been defeated but essentially the political situation well that's now to be sort of just what exactly cor

russian soldiers in seti are welcoming their commander in chief at the him in military base and on his first visit to the country vladimir putin announced that the bulk of troops stationed here can no go home. last week the russian military declared victory in syria over quote terrorist groups including the so-called islamic state and al qaeda for president putin it's now mission accomplished there where all of that unity with the terrorist threat in the whole world is still very high. however the task of fighting bandits here in syria a task that was essential to solve with the extensive use of force has for the most part been solved and it's been solved spectacularly. when. russia entered the syrian conflict in september twenty fifth it was moscow's biggest intervention in the middle east in decades since then russian forces have battled more moderate rebel groups opposed to the syrian president bashar assad russian airstrikes helped turn the tide in assad's favor. what about not only is president vladimir putin proud of you but i am also proud of you and i thank you. no sooner had p

potentially maybe hit the russian and i'm not sure but they'll be able to wear you know the russian colors again and hold the russian flag they fail it will draw a line under this whole episode do you think that will be the case if you think this is just stigmatized russian athletes forever. i can't believe it would stigmatize them forever i mean look. u.s. has had the doping scandal in baseball the u.s. team has had the doping scandal in the tour de france. you know i think people have gotten over those things. i'd like to think you know that this would not stigmatize them forever but you know it seems like countries especially the u.s. canada and great britain would like to be stigmatized forever and i don't go along with that dan one of the other things that i think is the russian officials that when they spoke today said that they're hoping that these russian athletes that clean athletes those individuals will build bridges you know will that will this draw a line under the whole repeated press negative press that we see against russia and of doping to think they go ahead and th

russian in appearance. balancing now as leader of the state between this personal age and interest of state building. he is part of the networks but begins a crack down on them. cracks down in 1925 the soldier ofat 1917 who becomes the head of the central executive committee, he need to stop writing letters in the languages of though minorities even this was stalin's native language he said stop doing that. we can't have a state which correspondence is conducted in a dozen languages. he carefully manages himself.tation of sometimes stalin emphasizes that russian.t a other times he affirms russia's role in the soviet union. he is giving his most famous speech which is a toast but in ussian people this georgian toasting style. stalin, as we know, ultimately as a near himself absolutist ruler in this all of hic empire above these networks. my talk i nning of talked about new chronology for about war and revolution. 1922 ger war from 1914 to and longer revolution beginning in 1905 and we can think if this movem

his decision to ban russian athletes. it's a tough decision that will have to be made it will depend on the individual athletes of course on the one hand but then still we understand that the russian olympic officials will somehow influence that they are of course responsible for the facilities they provided them they were in charge of the training but anyway if russia goes for this boycott of the winter games in twenty eighteen that will be the direct result of the r.c. decision that we heard on tuesday but the i.o.c. probe has already resulted in more than two dozen russian winter olympians being banned for life and we understand that there is more to come and questions have been raised along the lines of why do athletes who test positive from different countries get bans for only a few years and then they're allowed to compete and then when it comes to the russian athletes they're supposed to be kept away from the olympics for good so you bring up these lifetime bans has the i.o.c. given any reason for these specific l

-russian relations with the russian ambassador to the united states. this event was hosted by the world affairs council of northern california. [applause] amb. anatov: it is a great honor for me to be here. i would like to thank the council for this opportunity to be with you. important to discuss a very burning issue, what should we do together? do we need each other? are we partners? re: enemies? who we are, the united states and the russian federation? blame anyone for the current situation in russian-american relations, but today is the first official remarks by me as an ambassador for the russian federation to the united states. [applause] amb. anatov: i am not a magician. killing inou to stop chechnya. stop killing gay people in chechnya. people left alone in chechnya. we need to protect gay people. stop killing gay chechnya and's. chechnyans. gay chechens. stop killing gay chechens. stop killing gay chechens. stop killing gay chechens. [crowd noise] amb. anatov: you can see our relations are complicated. it seems to me everybody has the right to

of the expectations of russia of russians of the majority of the russians and the majority. if russia. doesn't want a liberal democratic leader we first before. wants to have a strong powerful and but totally that cool to restore the. glory of our country independence and freedom for our society for our. state and that is the first of the month after that the second amendment is not civil society is just social justice i think the death watch in a cool place fulfills very well these bought into joe politics and the distorting celebrity and that is why he is so all popular and why we support and keep but keep . it. keep hasn't done anything to it in order to restore social justice anything keep it in some social aspect he he's. a liberal by saying i am also you are right here because we have to take a very short break but we'll certainly come back to these very interesting subject after every short break statement. was running insisting that wait till i did it again i am. i was to try to list as a. kind you. could do for you but it wouldn't stand but showing you the need you

flag or here the russian or where russian uniform all of which are seen as obviously traditionally quite important aspects of the olympic games for any athlete from any country so russian that are deemed clean will be able to partake in the upcoming games in chang however as you said they will be titles olympic athletes from russia they will hear the olympics. and will have to. participate under the olympic flag certainly something that's seen as quite upsetting for those athletes that are going to be participating as i said now this is not just the only measure that's been implemented here in the us and today we also know that any official from the russian ministry of sports will not be accredited for the upcoming games we know that the then minister of sports back at the time of the olympics of twenty fourteen as well as his deputy are banned from any participation in all future olympic games the russian olympic. committee president alexander superfit is suspended as an i.o.c. member and also the international olympic committee here has decided to put a ban hefty fine on russia of fift

the russian british chamber of commerce and the russian federation's trade representative to britain tons of mainstream media horror stories about moscow's expense easing nine teeth into a bid for economic partnership in fin bowl this is coming up in part two of this special russia u.k. trade ties edition i'm going underground. here's what people have been saying about redacted in night just full on awesome the only show i go out of my way to lunch you know a lot of the really packed a punch. yam is the john oliver of harvey americans do the same we are apparently better than food. and see people you never heard of love back to the night my president of the world bank though they didn't write me. send us an e-mail join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics sport business i'm show business i'll see you then. welcome back we're still at the russian british business forum twenty seventeen at the queen elizabeth the second center in westminster and joining me now is the chair of the board of directors of the russian british cha

russians on the russian air force the syrians i'm outta luck to retake ad lib and then the. extremists as i'm just getting actually. and i get on with russian involvement in diplomatic work with that i want to see. you know without all the corporation building russia in the states iraq iran and saudi arabia we can defeat terrorists with a comprehensive plan and comprehensive diplomatic really hard work it's worth recognizing a significant chapter may be closing but it's just said it's certainly not over yet another adult i was already appreciate coming on the program thank you thank you. this is r.t. international that's it for me andrew pharma will be here in just a couple of minutes with our breaking headline news on r.t. international. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and obviously he's a guest of the world of politics score business i'm show business i'll see you then . elliston is getting international recognition with the help of israel at least in the world of zoos remember wolf it was dismissive to do it long before you like a million little pieces and

the russian olympic committee.he ioc reserves the right to take measures against and sanction other individuals implicated in this system. the russian 0lympic committee will reimburse the costs incurred by the ioc on investigations and contribute to the establishment of the independent testing authority in the total sum of 15 million us dollars to build the capacity and integrity of the global anti—doping system. the ioc may partially or fully lift the suspension of the russian 0lympic committee from the commencement of the closing ceremony of the olympic winter games in 2018. provided these decisions are fully respected and implemented by the russian 0lympic committee and by the invited athletes and officials. this decision should draw a line under this damaging episode and serve as a ca ta lyst this damaging episode and serve as a catalyst for a more effective and more robust anti—doping system led by wada. thank you very much and now i'm ready to take any questions you may have. well we will leave that news c0 n

so it was a nice surprise for russian people and i'm surprised the russian norman but as i started to i'm not surprised but fulfilling these goals by any means before we continue the conversation and let's just take a closer look at what is. the allegations of state backed doping amounts to. the twenty fourteen winter olympics in sochi russia the host nation won thirty three medals more than any other country russia and president vladimir putin came off looking like champions but did they play fair or were the real champions that doping laps. two years after the games had investigator for the world anti-doping agency richard mclaren published some serious allegations that the moscow laboratory operated for the protection of doped russian athletes within a state directed feel safe system the russian ministry of sport directed controlled and oversaw the manipulation of athletes and little results no less than the head of russia's own anti-doping lab grigori wrote chunk of was chief witness he left for the united states as did you yesterday part of a runner who had reported systematic do

russian officials yet. well you know here in the zone of course it's been a very tense day anticipating what kind of announcement would come from the international olympic committee following a day of deliberations behind closed doors that were closed to the media here who were kept inside a press room for most of the day waiting to hear what would be announced the i.o.c. have in fact said that russia is being suspended from the games but not individual athletes now this is a decision that's certainly going to be and it's already being seen as quite a fruitful not just to athletes who are pretty looking forward to participating at these winter olympics just two months from now but also the millions of fans in russia who of course see it as a source of special pride to see their own athletes being able to compete and also here russian as well as wear the uniforms and this is not going to be happening now we do know of course that following this latest decision the i.o.c. has said that russian athletes indivi

army russian ideology and the russian world. me. most brother ruffians still accept the monopoly of their russian neighbors and of left to walk a fine line between solidarity and independence. but georgia was a different case. after the rose revolution it quickly developed into a pluralistic comparatively well functioning country. the tax system was simplified and the banking sector and public services modernized its cities were transformed. mikhail saakashvili the new president completely renovated the center of tbilisi. will decide life the city will soon move after the rez revolution foreign capital began to flow into the country it felt like a new era was coming people had a great visions that our country would become a new switzerland or singapore or that an economic miracle would happen. and a big boom really did start things that were worth a million dollars now cost one hundred million apartments in tbilisi were more expensive than in moscow we had an enormous growth in our client base and hired new staff who earned real

olympic committee but the russian sports ministry the russian you know special police so this was something that was being directed from very high levels and the evidence for this really came out last year after the mclaren report and that happened basically too soon before the summer olympics for the i.o.c. to be comfortable to put sort of blanket ban in place so they decided to really look at the same evidence and lo and behold mr schmidt which was the that the head of the new commission which gave his report today said yet the evidence checks out we need to ban russia and what happens now to the clean athletes and how are we going to prove that russian athletes are clean well to answer your second question first i think time will tell one of the big things that happens in a lot of reason to lympics and you can go back not only to sochi but to you know london and twenty twentieth's that are cetera you have to keep these samples on file let's just say and maybe a few years down the line might found find even more athletes who are ostensibly clean it is a linux will turn out to have been di

well quite frankly this is an internal matter for the russian federation the russian federation is a independent suffering country and if the russian people next year during the presidential election choose to reelect president who's in that lead then they have every right to do that and it has nothing to do with america or britain or any other country in the west or indeed any other country in the world with people in america and britain needs one to stand. requires a very strong lead. people historically support the need for a very strong leader back country that mightn't be to the taste of american and british politicians and journalists but that is irrelevant all that matches is that russia is kept on the very strong leadership of president putin provides that strong leadership one of the points russia is not the west and there is no reason why bosses should be like the west given that we're at an age where countries complain of interference in their own actions and it's been several of them over the paul feig is is that anything that you think might trouble the shelf. whoa i thi

here tonight, any russians? >> they have conducted watergate 2.0. >> this fake dossier was made up. >> i don't use the term dossier. these were field reports. is there something here that i could verify? >> i call it the russian hoax. it's all fake news. >> i am not involved in russia. president of the united states. >> it started in the spring of 2016 with a former british spy whose name was almost too james bond to be true. steele, christopher steele. >> and we will make america great again. >> if you were looking to investigate donald trump's alleged russia connections, christopher steele would seem like the perfect fit. >> he can tell you off the top of his head leading members of the russian mafia and people who have influence in the crekremli >> west says that steele was mi 6's man in moscow in the early 1990s. >> and thereafter he ended his career as the head of the bunch that trains new intelligence officers and that's considered to be an important role. >> after retiring, steele started a new company lo

coalition stepped in when the russian coalition started bombing. and here are some of the key landmark points of the russian operation in syria. few. now as i have mentioned i still used to control very large swathes of syria in fact before russia started bombing its position bombing terrorists there at the request of the syrian government some pundits some geopolitical experts voiced concerns that i still could very well end to damascus at some point now of course this is no longer the case at all used to hold cities like mosul like like palm myra and many other of the many other very key and strategic places now it is important to understand as well that russia has not been the only player has not been the only force. and terrorists of the us had had their role in coalition in the country for a long long time. conducting yes strikes against eisel before russia started its operation and now with i still essentially losing all of its territory russia is saying that it could very well consider joining american coalition and conducting conducting joi

team the russian flag the russian anthem is shows that this is really directed against russia per se it's not a question of clean athletes and athletes that are there. which we know is a widespread practice there was a two thousand legged water report that said between twenty nine and forty five percent of athletes worldwide were engaged in doping this is a problem in many other countries but russia is being singled out for the special treatment particularly against its national symbols and i think that is indeed quite political what sort of action would you like to see him because i take what you say the abbotts sports fans today will listen to the evidence and say you know in sochi something obviously if he was going on the air in twenty five athletes have been given lifetime bans i mean people do want to see action die because something did go wrong. sure i think that's right but the question is is it really credible to think that this is specifically a problem with russia and only with russia and i don't think that's the case i as i say i think there are a lot of athletes or a lo

in which the russian state security forces the russian olympic committee the russian sports ministry collaborated to create a system there which no russian athlete could give up a a tainted sample mystically they would have clean urine stored in advance and it would be swapped with the tainted urine so that when the tests were undertaken russian athletes would always pass with flying colors this evidence was out and has been out for at least two years since the mclaren report last year the i.o.c. wanted to take another closer look at that evidence that evidence has held up and here we are emily what about reaction from russia there are reports that moscow plans to appeal this ban right. well the kremlin spokesman his cough said that they would be waiting for a decision he even said that they might wait for that decision in writing so they're kind of buying time there hasn't been an official reaction yet but the school of said earlier today that they would protect athletes and there has been some indication that they might appeal a decision in in the courts but it's not clear now with

of russians of the majority of the russians and the majority of russia. doesn't want to liberal democratic leader we first of all wants to have a strong powerful and but to articulate that could restore. the glory of our country the independence and freedom for our society for our. state and that is the first demand after that the second amendment is not civil society is just social justice i think death. a cold place fulfills very well these bought into joe politics and the distorting celebrity and that is why he's so popular and why we support and keep but he. said. he hasn't done anything to it in order to restore social justice anything keep it in some social aspect he's. a liberal by saying i mean this is a right here because we have to take a very short break but we'll certainly come back to this very interesting subject after every short break statement. snow room good them bridge to come in you stupid to it. yao's knows to. the salk of the poor old polish. grass cutting insisting that we did not in keeping him i am. i was to twenty list. because t

planes intercepted russian planes putin's envoy also for syria that they called on the u.s. to leave the country are we going to see more tension between those two powers. in syria when it comes to syrian affairs well more tension is likely we were on the bring or the nod around of tension several months ago or not not not even several months ago just about one and a half months ago when there was intensive fighting in their own sword but the problem was not about their own it was about the oil field or fields that are situated in to the east of there us or so there is clear competition between the government in damascus and the syrian democratic forces which are mostly made of so where does that leave the prospects for peace in syria in two thousand and eighteen then. the prospect well there we have very contradiction contradicting trounce on the one hand we still hope to have a new round of negotiations leading us to geneva and probably a peace agreement because we have weekly russia at least she used some understanding with the saudis we have an understanding with the tur

it says he reached out to the russian ambassador, urged the russians to call for a delay or no vote on the resolution and ultimately the russians said we're not going to vote no on this. december 28th, president obama announced his sanctions against russia for meddling in the campaign. the court documents say this time the russian ambassador reached out to flynn and said, you know, what's going to happen here and that flynn talked to the transition officials now described as senior transition officials who urged him to tell the russians to moderate their response to these sanctions because they thought that any further, harsher response from russia would derail the trump administration's desire to have rosier relations with the russians. he talked to the russians about it. the russian ambassador told him they would respond more reciprocal reciprocally, which is what vladimir putin did. the key question, why would flynn lie about these conversations with the russians? in theory a private citizen, which is what he was at the time. trump wasn't president. he wasn't national security advis

have you heard about the russian doping scandal no i haven't heard. i don't know about is this a repeat yes i. have never heard this film about any school but. i heard the news that just. her face i don't know that it's true needs to be seen. what do you think the winter olympics would be like without russia. to bring a little bit boring i says to the strongest country. by. people everybody is like a. beautiful national soccer game spain the you know and it's not really a game when the biggest player is not there and we don't get into the right as i think it's unfair for you to have any doubts as well this is on the people not the winter olympics but you know russia we've got a whole country that's so you live the good stuff. and the south korean capital which is looking forward to the country's first ever winter olympics that will. without team russia or back to our continuing coverage of the international olympic committee decision to ban russia's team and many individual russian athletes from taking part in the two thousand and eighteen winter game

was warned about russians. did you ever have any contact with any russians? >> no, i did not. i never had any russians. >> i'm surprised nobody ever asked me that. >> did you have any knowledge of anybody on your campaign having contact with any russians? >> no, they have not had any contact with any russians? >> did you know about anybody lying about any contact with the russians? did you think that if anybody had -- i guess what's so abnormal is, peter baker is right. there is nothing wrong with just having a meeting with russians. there's nothing right about it either. it may not be illegal but normal campaigns do not huddle with russians. >> even ones where, you know, hillary was former secretary of state. so there were a lot of people on the campaign that -- >> george bush was the president and we didn't hear from any russians. >> and we didn't hear from -- there was one time where the ambassador reached out via somebody else to have a meeting with staff and they said, thanks we're not going to do that. bu

/russian relations. but can you talk on a more substantive level and from a legal perspective and perhaps the course of this investigation into how that tweet by the president, this revelation that mike flynn was talking to sergey kislyak and then lied about said conversations with sergey kislyak about sanctions. can you put the picture together with the president's tweet and the president's public statements, included in what you see? >> yeah, it's clear now, nicolle that when the russians interfered in the election and the obama administration sanctioned them for it, what mike flynn did was he got on the phone with ambassador kislyak and said, hang in there. a couple days from now we'll be in office and you don't have to react to the sanctions. basically we're going to watch your back. in the quid pro quo, this was the pro quo. this was the thing that the incoming trump team was giving the russians in exchange for their support during the election. and it's clear that the president, president trump, th

whenever you believe russian products. are not just getting good quality. for the little visit soon as we. look for the spiritual. this is breaking news after months of speculation president putin officially announces his bid for reelection in twenty also commented on the president of russia from the winter olympics. the circle so. we will not announce any blockade or prevent our athletes from competing if we want in a personal capacity. for the i.o.c. banned russia from the twenty eighteen winter games after a three year doping scandal despite a lack of concrete evidence to support the claims of the state sponsored drug program. also ahead of this policy in the u.s. president is expected to recognize jerusalem as the capital city of israel a move that's likely to ignite fury among many in the middle east.

i think some may think they should be no russian athletes there, a complete ban.they've gone down a different path saying they will be able to compete but as neutrals. we had several neutral athletes competing at the world athletics championships in london this summer. there is perhaps the threat that vladimir putin who has had a close relationship with thomas back, make all neutral athletes not to ta ke back, make all neutral athletes not to take part at all. ian mccall for a boycott of all russians on of this mike bryan on those who may have been under the old regime of institutionalised doping. we may be going back to the days of 1980 and 1984 of course we had boycotts at the summer olympics in moscow and in los angeles by america and then the soviet union as was. the irony is that we could be seeing a return to those days, russia came back into the fold in 1988 but of course it is another south green games this time and they may decide not to compete at all given the restrictions being placed upon them. they could see that as a loss of face. it will be fascina

and the russians have the russian military has responded with concern that this is just a pretext to leave u.s. forces on the ground in syria even after the operation even after the victory over i saw it will be really interesting to see how all of this unfolds especially. he with the u.s. state secretary still is in the meeting of the russian top diplomat sergey lavrov. to discuss the situation in syria where now joined to live by daniel pipes founder and president of middle east forum thanks for being with us here on our team international. is so interesting situation here trump says that it was the u.s. led coalition which toppled isis but at the same time the pentagon says that they will keep the troops in syria as long as they need so what is the point of that if isis is no longer a force in syria. while there are many problems in syria not just isis let's assume for the moment that isis is finished just to give a little more mopping up but there are still so many problems in the country somebody's wife still things. i think it's wise to keep some presence there. you bring up a

a russian figure skating coach touched you know. broke down in tears when she learned of the decision. slovenia which still because they see there are no words you know i don't want to cry i want to scream it's sad that we won't be at the games as a team but the russian flags will be flying it's devastating that there will be no tears of joy as you hear your national anthem but nobody is prohibited from singing the anthem i think that if there are victories and if there are athletes who want to participate and when i think we'll hear them singing. that was. our correspondent an associate churkin a is now in a loss and she filled us in on the decisions taken concerning the russian olympic team. it's been a very difficult day here obviously with so many eyes from around russia watching the announcement that would come from this room here in los down where the international olympic committee executive board made a final decision on the future of russia when it comes to these next winter olympic games coming up in just two months from n

may backfire because you may find russian athletes competing. you know it was supposedly under that what is it oh ok our designation doing things that would highlight the fact that there are russian and then everybody will talk about it in the news and so you know if it's short of would back fire i'm not sure that this through right could be interesting to see how this all plays out in the days and weeks to come especially before the run up to the olympics dave lindorff investigative journalist and founding editor of the online newspaper this can't be happening thanks for being with us here on art international but. all right now to remind you the international olympic committee says that russian athletes can only compete under a neutral flag they will participate under the title olympic athlete from russia with the country's flag and symbols banned from the games next tuesday russian sports officials are expected to hold a meeting on how to react to that decision but earlier president putin said that the neutrals option would be humiliating for

it the russians are. very good with turkey supposed to be an hour. the west. have been as the at odds with the kurds and they have been. sort of giving access to supplying haddest with or intentionally or not but in the heat and also at odds with the president assad then the arsenal pretty good relation with the ship with the iranians we have seen a visit from the king of saudi arabia we have seen agreements now to call the russian forces to these european bases to the island with asia where no other superpower actually. is and that's number one number two i've said. since the russian intervention on the invitation of the muskets that the russians have to really plans one is to give the geographical in figurative syria as it is obvious that russian interests and most important the second one is to reshape a moderate islam because the islamic culture there's a lot of islamic heritage within the russian russian society itself and has been facing lot of problem for many many years for terrorism at home so th

russia the or put you on the russian side russian officials who's the opportunity to be heard we had. a russian delegation there are today in the i.o.c. executive board gave them again the opportunity to express their most selves. in these. meetings after an order. president of the russian olympic committee apologized. there are those things you. see there are there are a complete and full decision of the i.o.c. executive. order. mr buffett you said. that you were attacked in the center of the games in sochi. the ground only a few meters away from the athletes will it. you personally spend some nights during the games. russia as we heard still denies that they cheated ruthlessly. in your opinion could you could you hide. that when belling seeing the sanctions and a little wish could you please also answer the question in your native language thank you. very clearly that these represents an unprecedented take on the integrity of the olympic games. what i have said. when the first allegations were coming up and there we said if it's proven true it's unprecedented to take on the into equ

all you'll see need do the games to go ahead they need russian athletes to me the russian most hockey team to play the need to. contact a hockey league to release their players because they don't the russian the winter olympics loses loses cash and that's been the biggest problem is because when we split the two olympics this summer i'm going every two years it's been a disaster and revenues have for them and people have been not watching numbers of it should be so. they have to this removal state sponsors which i know is of money money people and something that i detest from the start. very keen not to blame people at the top of that you know if they don't want to bring people in the kremlin know they have made a scapegoat in italy won't go that was always going to come down. even and it makes no sense you're buying him to see all the credit more involved in this world of sports ministry were involved in they weren't involved have been very political with their language but the i.o.c. needs russia more than. this moment so recap them russia has been banned from the twenty eighteen wi

yeah so russian t.v. had announced before that that they would do that if the russian team were banned and it seems they have now widened to the neutral flag situation that we now have as well and of course ahead of this decision various officials had said that that the russian athletes competing under a neutral fly wouldn't really be an option or at least it's one that they condemned for example if you tell you who was sort of mentioned in the report just now he said that that would not be an option even though he said that it would be up to each individual athlete to decide whether they want to compete under a neutral flag the question of course is if they do go whether that will be seen as a very unpatriotic move you know even putin said that it would be a humiliation to compete under a neutral flag so of course the signals from up high say that they probably shouldn't go and there is the option that perhaps there would be an overall boycott and that no one no russian officials and no athletes would go

including the ministry of sporting clued in the russian olympic committee and including the the russian anti doping lab that participated in this process so they too have recognized that there were multiple players involved in this effort to subvert the doping system no i don't dispute that that particular conclusion there was indeed a recognition that officials have been involved in the i think where the contradiction lies is what was the highest level of authorization of doc kind of program and i think the i.c. didn't point specifically to the kremlin as a thing as many what officials have done in the areas well my reading of the schmidt report and the decision the i o. i.o.c. took was that the the ministry of sport had some officials involved and i believe one of the disciplinary actions they took was the then minister of sport at the time should be held responsible for the activities of the officials in the ministry of sport and that's where the that's the limit to which certainly i now know would comment on is reflected in in the reports from professor mclaren and and now the schmi

from russia well this may be disappointment it's clear that the visibility of the russian athletes as the i.o.c. and none of its headquarters in switzerland had no house to make the decision on whether to boycott the games entirely. also ahead this r t the us president prepares to recognize jerusalem as the capital city of israel a move likely to provoke fury among many in the mideast. live from moscow every hour of the day this is r.t. international mining's you know neil welcome to the program our top story this hour the russian winter olympic squad has been banned from competing at the twenty eighteen games the international olympic committee announced it's the sit in on a years long doping scandal on tuesday night resorting to want it earlier called the nuclear option however individual that can prove their plane will be allowed to participate in neutral flying named as olympic athletes from russia. these you know i did ask lee so will participate be to an individual or team competitions under the name olympic else lead from russia. they will compete with a uniform bearing this na