sergei lavrov said important things there. the bbc's tom burridge joins us.'t assume any self-defense forces you see there are actually under moscow's order. >> reporter: that's right, nik. a small group of ukrainians, people demonstrating outside the foreign minister. the russian foreign minister, i actually asked him, would russian or pro russian forces, however you interpret those forces, how you perceive them, would russia withdraw those forces. he said those forces do not take orders from moscow? i think the other interesting point comes from sergei lavrov, a question about whether russia would be open to the idea of an international team to go there to try to resolve the crisis. sergei lavrov said the west and other international partners should be asking the krichlian regional government. russia trying to push that idea that the legitimate authority in crimea is the crimean regional government which was appointed recently and of course is pro russian. >> we can hear you with everyone around you, i should reassure you. an interesting factor along the ib

sergei lavrov saying it is clear his country and the u.s. a, quote, common vision of the situation in crimea. u.s. ships are headed to the indian ocean to search for the missing malaysian flight. al jazeera has learned that the plane may have been set deliberately off course. >>> freezing temperatures are once again gripping parts of the midwest. close to 90% of the great lake are frozen over. kimberly reports. >>> crews work in frigid temperatures repairing the freighters which sail the great lakes. these else haves must be ready to go when the shipping season opens. >> they need to be able to get out of here with a full load as soon as they open the gates. >> reporter: the problem is no one is sure when that will be. some ice on the lakes is normal, but not on this scale. for the first time in decades the five great lakes are almost completely frozen over, blame the arctic winds of what is own as the polar vortex. they have blown much further south this year. if this were summertime it would be impossible to stand where i am right now, bec

john kerry and sergei lavrov are due to meet in paris.y are meant to talk about syria, but no doubt ukraine will fig fighture. ukrainian soldiers, meanwhile, have been, in some says forced to choose sides. jennifer glasse reports from sevastopol. >> if there's somewhere where the russians have full control, it's here at sevastopol. ships of the black sea fleet halt all traffic, draining all life from this otherwise thriving port. if the russian's intentions is to take over ukrainian military instillations, it is not over yet. ukrainian servicemen refuse to yield to the russian show of force. >> the russians take position in front of this army base. we spoke to some of the ukrainian servicemen through the gate. they said they had not received an ultimatum. they said they had no intention to vender the base because they had pledged loyalty to ukraine, and said that they hoped it would be solved peacefully. the soldiers are digging in for the long haul. relying on the support of relatives to keep them going while politicians reach a compromi

piece and tonight prime minister sergei lavrov indicated that russia wants to support ukraine in its independence and ability to make the transition. the ukrainian government demonstrated remarkable restraint in the face of enormous pressure and has shown the world courage and resilience that every country ought to applaud and as it continues down the path the united states of america and its partners will remain by its side. we would be delighted to take questions. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] ..means of intimidation and perhaps they have a military option in mind. you noted that they raised the force and asked the russian side to pull forces back from the border. did they agree to do so? if not, what reason did they give? secondly, both sides talked in recent weeks about the possibility of federalisation in ukraine as a means of protecting the russian-speaking population. the russian side seems to have a far-reaching concept of federation, one giving veto authorities over national and foreign policy. did you make headway in narrowing the gap on this core issue and what are the next s

sergei lavrov was behind me here for just about five hours meeting with u.s.ecretary of state kerry and he comes out with saying we do not have a common vision of the problem. so there was not a meeting of the minds. he did say it was technically useful, because i think maybe secretary of state kerry brought some proposals to the table such as protecting ethnic russians, and that has been president putin's position all along that that is why he got involved in the crimea to begin with. these talks take place on the eve of the ren -- referendum on sunday, and lavrov said we will respect the will of the citizens of crimea as stipulated by our president. so they are going to support that vote of the separation of crimea away from ukraine and the joining of crimea to russia. they also rejected this whole idea of getting russia to speak directly to this new government in ukraine. and russia seemed in lavrov's news conference to regent that notion. they are not going to talk to this government which they feel is illegitimate. and he was asked about the threat hangin

secretary of state kerry and his russian counterpart sergei lavrov. so much has happened since the handshake took place at this spot less than six months ago. u.s.-russian relations are arguably at their worst point since any time since the cold war. the chemical weapons deal is not going to plan. the syrian government is well behind schedule in getting the deadly agents out of the country. some believe the bashar al-assad government welcomes the fact that the world's attention moved. >> i think bashar al-assad is dancing. he knows that the united states has his hands full and believes at this stage that a lot of international pressure will be taken out of his back, all of n.a.t.o., all the energy is now into the ukraine. >> there could be a downside too. he relies on russian support, weapons, parts, aircraft. the west presses for sanctions and arms manufacturers and that could hurt. >>> let's speak to barnaby phillips in paris for us. the french foreign minister has been talking about ukraine, suggesting that there could be sanctions voted in as earl

sergey lavrov said that there is no meeting of the minds.nd russia will respect the vote in crimea. do you believe that in fact diplomacy is failing here? and they are going to go ahead with as you termed a back door annexation of crimea. and what gives you confidence that sanctions will in any way change president putin's mind? thank you. >> well, i suspect the market in -- in russia, in moscow can be significantly affected by these choices. it already is being effected, and if there are going to be sanctions i believe that will have an impact. but the reality is president putin saying he will respect the vote offers in many options as to how he chooses to respect the vote. if the people of crimea vote overwhelmingly as one suspects they will to affiliate or be associated with russia, i think we'll respect the vote by making sure their autonomy is increased, without necessarily having made a decision to annex. so until that decision is made, i'm not going to interpret what it may or may not mean. i think it's more important for president pu

i want to get sergei in for a moment. i want to talk a little bit about these protests sergei.ou know, observers have called them deeply authentic. they said it goes to the core of ukrain, and there is fear that the violence is going to escalate. i want to get your thoughts on that. are you anticipating an escalation? >> right. well, we have to remember that the violence happened only after two months of peaceful protests in the stern of kiev that were repressed by violent means by the yanukovych government. the violence was a form of self-defense against the attempts of riot police to try to disburse protesters through force from the streets. now that the yanukovych government has been toppled, i don't think that violence really is a serious issue that threatens russian speakers in ukrain. this is a completely bogus threat that russians are on purpose creating in order to find a pretext to intervene in uranian territory to organize and cover up this aggression in crimea and further in the east. >> sergei i'm going to get community in. steven just tweeted in . . . and i want to

sergei lavrov says putin has no intention of what would be considered invading. kerry said that there should be a new constitution for the country, one which creates a federal nation which gives more autonomy for the regions notably. those regions are dominated by russian speakers. washington for its part has according to officials in the u.s. come up with its own plan. he's saying there needs to be international monitors. they also want to see movements on direct talks between kiev, the inter erupt government there and between moscow. that's something that does not look like its happening for a long time now, particularly not since russian forces effectively annexed crimea peninsula. after a referendum, a very controversial referendum. so both sides have their differing visions of the future in ukraine. they have their own interests in ukraine. there's lots to talk about in paris on sunday night. >> since crimea became part of russia, ukraine has par one regn left of odessa. >> reporter: ukraine is a country still coming to terms with what has happened, and what

we have that story from paris. >> this meeting between john kerry and sergey lavrov due to happen at the residence of russia's ambassador to front after a direct phone call between kerry and lavrov saturday. john kerry was flying back from the middle east to the u.s., but turned around after speaking to sergey lavrov. it's well known that the u.s. has concerns about what it believes it the bit up of tens of thousands of russian troops on ukraine said eatern border. it's very worried that in fact russian troops could look to move into ukraine proper. sergey lavrov has been saying that russia has no intention of what he says would be invading ukraine. at the same time, he's been talking to russian state television on sunday, putting forward his idea of what should happen within ukraine. he said that there should be a new constitution for the country, one which creates a federal nation, which gives more autonomy to the regions notably more important for moscow, more self control for regions dominated by russian speakers. washington for its part has according to officials in the u.s. com

what's secretary kerry's main priority in dealing with sergey lavrov? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. they're just wrapping up their third meeting of the day, and now secretary kerry will be huddling with the french, the german, the british foreign ministers all in an effort to try and get some diplomatic process going. and deescalate the situation. his single sales objective for the russian foreign minister is to get him to sit down with the ukrainian foreign minister. as we know, the ukrainian foreign minister flew with secretary kerry to kiev last night, waiting all day, wants to sit down with the russian foreign minister, try and get some dialogue going. try and deescalate the situation. but so far, foreign minister lavrov is not biting, wolf. >> so we expect they will come out and hold a joint news conference, or kerry will have his own news conference. do we know? >> reporter: well, secretary kerry's news conference was supposed to start about 15 minutes ago. but he just wrapped up his meeting with foreign minister lavrov and now going over to th

we do not expect to hear from sergey lavrov.erry said he'll take all of this back to the white house and he hopes in the days forward that they may be on a path towards getting this situation under control. russia has invaded the south of ukraine. it has taken over the military installations there, it has taken over many of the government institutions, it's taken over a missile defense shield system location there today. it, in essence, runs it. you don't see it on the streets, but it is a fact. and it would appear, at least for the moment, after this meeting tonight, that the united states and europe can't do anything about it, at least for now. so where did all of this begin? it began in 1994. ukraine was a nuclear nation after breakup of the soviet union. then three parties got together to sign an agreement. they were russia, the united states, and great britain. and think all said, in essence, we're not going to try to gain any advantage by working for or against ukraine. we're going to respect their territorial sovereignty,

sergey lavrov of russia and john kerry face-to-face in something called a pullout meeting. something that happened on the sidelines of something all together different in paris. some discussions had nothing made public. but there is one thing that the secretary of state of the united states is urging, and that is direct talks between russia and the ukraine. joining me to put these pieces together, cnn's chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto. let's start right there on the diplomatic front, because that seems to be where most of the action is right now. the secretary of state pushing for these talks between russia and ukraine. do we have any clue whether russia is the least bit interested and whether ukraine is the least bit interested? >> reporter: well, it's a start that they're talking, right? because this has been something that hasn't happened. there have been a lot of unreturned phone calls from u.s. officials to their russian counterparts, but also a refusal on the russian side to meet with the ukrainan government at all. they say the legitimate governmen

ambassador's residence there after a meeting with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov.he russian president has indicated through his foreign secretary to the secretary of the united states he's willing to make no concessions whatsoever in these talks to try to resolve the crimean conflict until at least the referendum is over. that's two days from now. in two days crimea is set to vote on whether it should secede and move back to the motherland of russia. there are 60% of people that are ethnically russian. so it's likely that's what the vote would indicate. problem is secretary of state has said that that vote will not be recognized. it's not legal. it's not effectively being recognized by ukraine and the united states is still standing by the government of ukraine. by the way, this many kos after six hours of what the secretary called frank and candid discussions with sergey lavrov but sounded as though the dictate was coming from moscow in the way of president putin's hard line, nothing, nothing will change until two days from now when that referendum happens. so per

john kerry meeting with sergei lavrov in london.avrov saying putin won't make any decisions before sunday's vote in crimea. violence breaking out in eastern ukraine, one person is dead and 20 others injured. all of this ahead of the referendum in crimea. >>> and u.s. ships are heading to the indian ocean to search for the malaysian flight. a battle over animal rights could end at a new york city hall and a mainstay. the major vowing to make those horse-dra horse-drawn carriages history. >> officer! we just got married. >> reporter: it's a an iconic new york scene played out again and again. >> very corny. >> nope. >> reporter: manhattan's horse-drawn carriages attract tourists by the thousand each year. this man has driven his fair share of them. >> he is responsible for putting food on the table for my kids, and responsible for feeding the other horse i have as well. so we all earn our keep. >> reporter: there are 68 licensed carriages in new york city and more than 160 active drivers, but because they are individually owned driver

. >> a meeting between john kerry and sergei lavrov. >> we have no shared vision of the situation with western countries. sergei lavrov says sunday's vote in crimea is about self-determination. >> translation: we will respect the as a result and express our opinion after the results. >> secretary of state john kerry repeated the white house's vision that the vote carries no legal weight and is outside ukraine's constitution. >> neither we nor the international community will recognise the results of this referendum. secretary of state john kerry went into the meeting hoping to turn back the vote, ready to focus on what happens next and push russia not to react to the crimean referendum with force. >> what was clear in the context of vladimir putin being unwilling to make any decisions regarding the next steps until the vote is taken, that's a decision of enormous consequence. with respect to the global community. >> president obama called for russian restraint. >> i have a strong message to russia that it should not violate the integrity and the sovereignty of its neighbour. we continu

we wait to hear from sergei lavrof.o here to come. >> i'm on lake superior, one of the five great lakes that right now is almost completely frozen over. i'll tell you why that is a problem for north america's shipping industry. >>> and in sport, a new president as he decides against appealing his prison sentence. ♪ ♪ >>> welcome back. i have the top stories on al jazeera for you. >> obviously we have a lot to talk about . . . >> u.s. secretary of state is meeting his russian counterpart for a last stitch effort to resolve the crisis in ukraine. >>> malaysia's government has denied reports that the missing jet liner was deliberately flown off course. 13 count tries are now involved in combing the indian ocean. and a verdict expected shortly in paris at the trial of a former army captain accused in taking part in the 1994 rwandan genocide. he denies all charges against him. >>> syrian women and children from president bashar al-assad minoritial lial low -- al low w sect [ inaudible ]. >>> they were taken last august from

sergei himself had led protest begins the russian invasion. three days after he and i spoke sergei was reported missing. he warned me of this in the interview. >> the police they have their heads in the clouds. >> what are you scared they will do? >> what scares us most is the uncertainty and we don't know what to expect tomorrow. >> so today they are avoiding the risk by leaving. we met them at the train station, the only way out of crimea. they feel now the only way out of there is here. >> the government reported as an exodus of people leaving the crimea, they hope they will return but they admit dmit that they are not sure when or if it will be safe. >> nick, some remarkable reporting out of that country. thank you very much for this report, we appreciate it. >>> it has been a violent day in venezuela. government security forces used water cannons on protesters in caracas. the death toll has be risen to 20. government troops have stepped up security in san cristobal. our paul beban spent a day inside the barricades. >> this is where it all

that's something sergei lavrov has made clear. he wants to see greater autonomy for the various regions, that would be food for the parts of eastern and southern ukraine, where there are russian speakers, and strong ties with russia. on the other hands, the united states and its western allies are keen to see the may presidential elections followed by parliamentary elections. they are happy to see the counter players, people who were formally in the opposition against president viktor yanukovych taking part and see it as a democratic wave coming through ukraine. it's not clear whether russia will start talking to those people in kiev. so far they have rented them as illegitimate. what they want to see is some kind of recognition from the u.s. that they have problems with dealing with those individua individuals. they want to see more respect shown to the russian speaking part of ukraine. the u.s. stressed that they talked with russia about how to pull back the tens of thousands of russian troops on the boarder that they say gather

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secretary of state john kerry is due to meet russian sergei lavrov later on friday.t is the latest attempt to solve the crisis over ukraine before a southern crimea region vote in sunday's referendum on whether to join russia. one person has been killed in confrontation between pro and anti-russian demonstrators, and the eastern city of donetsk. violence broke out after protesters tore through a police cordon, and across the border russia has been holding another round of military drills. 8,500 troops were involved in the exercises. russia's ambassador told the security council that it doesn't want war. the acting prime minister called on moscow to join the crisis. james bays has more. >> a clean message from the interim prime minister of ukraine to the u.n. security council holding its sixth meeting on this crisis in two weeks. arseniy yatsenyuk, and some of his strongest comment were aimed at russia, looking at the russian ambassador as he spoke. >> my country has faced a military aggression of a maybe ouring country, which is a p 5 member. it's absolutely unaccept

secretary of state john kerry is sitting down with russian foreign minister sergei laufer of. -- serge a laufer off. ready to give is ukraine a billion dollar aid package. are meeting onov the sidelines of the support meeting for lebanon aiming at helping the country better manage its security and the growing number of refugees from syria. the annual congress in china gets underway. the government is promising to transform the world's second-largest economy with steady growth and a 12% increase in spending. -- in defense spending. also coming up for you this hour on "france 24," just 100 days to go until the football world cup in brazil. but things there are far behind schedule. we will take a closer look to see just if it will all be ready on time. and karl lagerfeld gives his latest show a very commercial twist just returning paris' cash crunch into l.a. into a giant chanel market. latest on the ukraine -- the head of the european union executive arm says that the ee was ready to provide ukraine with $11 million -- 11 billion euros in aid, made up of loans and grants in the coming ye

secretary of state, john kerry, and russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, meeting in london, and they have been meeting for an hour, talks taking place over growing pessimism in crimia. dana, do we have any indication of what's going on, and are they still talking? >> reporter: well, dell, as far as we know, they're still behind the gates in central london, and the discussions going on just short of five hours as you mentioned. u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, here, and cameron and hague, and he went into the meetings with love rov to understand two things, are the russians prepared in any way at this point to step back from the brink in ukraine, and also to lay out what happens if they don't in terms of economic sanctions, travel bans, and freezing foreign accounts, and there are interesting reports now on the specificity, 120 to 130 individuals that are around president putin, close to the kremlin, maybe involved in some of the decision making on the crimea. and we understand two names have already served now. he's a very close adviser to president putin, and another name, alexe

dmitry rogozin, sergey aksyanov and among some in vladimir putin's inner circle. does that, in theory, put pressure on him in any way? >> it doesn't put pressure on vladimir putin, because the officials are not in the top tier of the russian officials. you see that neither the e.u. or the u.s. sanctions went into vladimir putin's politburo, his ultimate inner circle, which is people like sergei lavrov, the foreign minister or the security aid, the deputy prime minister. it doesn't mean that the u.s. will not change your their mind if russia intergrates crimea into russia. at this time they are going after second tier and parliamentarians, so they are not putting pressure on vladimir putin. >> you said if russia goes into crimea, you said it's not a given. russia made sure it has substance to turn back, turning crimea into a situation in 2008, after the russian-georgia war, in which they didn't bring the two regions, they declared independence, and the status quo was maintained. such a situation could take place with crimea, in which russia could recognise the inde

no concrete deal in talks between u s equity of state john kerry and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov on ukraine crisis the telling for action is now a stark warning from the un climate expats in the era to read the full impact from global warming the sangh france's opposition you and he claimed victory after the country's budget is punished including sentence by abandoning them in that drives one hundred and forty six he swung from left to the conservatives in municipal elections. ump day snowfall swap coca cola to purdue way that supports the mall is huge. i want to see how president on will react to this message to the polls and i want to know how he'll change his catastrophic policies that would be. also on this likely to react with a cabinet reshuffle prime minister show models government has been accused of being amateurish monroe is expected to be among the first to go the book. he didn't make the bed to another level as well as nationally was a duty to the government and for the majority. but that was smiles elsewhere as provisional results at the far right national fro

as you know i came to paris to meet with foreign minister sergei lavrov because president obama and theates believe firmly that diplomacy has a critical role to play to help the people of ukraine to live in dignity in a stable and peaceful, unified democracy. we are here because of our firm conviction that diplomatic solutions ought to be the first resort in solving international problems. >> the u.s. and russia have differences of opinion about the events that led to the crisis. but both of us recognise the importance of finding a diplomatic solution and of simultaneously meeting the needs of the ukrainian people, and that we agreed on tonight. both sides made suggestions on ways to de-escalate the security and political situation in and around ukraine. we also agreed to work with the ukrainian government and the people to implement the steps that they are taking to assure the following priorities - the rites of national minorities, language rites, demobilization and disarmorment of regular forces and provocateurs and inclusive constitutional reform process and free and fair elections

staff barack obama arrived in the netherlands for a nuclear summit and sergei fedorov will attend andll be over shadowed by the crisis in ukraine and texas a massive oil spill blocked the movement of ships in one of the busyist waterways and carrying marine fuel and it collided with another vessel and cleanup is underway and home to several bird habitats. the cleanup efforts in texas takes place 25 years after the largest spill in history when the oil tanker exxon valdez ran ashore and we talk about the lasting effects of the spill. >> reporter: they did not have this 25 years ago a computer simulator to teach people about alaska's tricky coastal waters and it's real and the desks appear to heave on the swell and there is no way to practice on an oil tanker. >> as real as it gets without being in danger. although it's hard to convince yourself sometimes you are not in danger, it's totally real and virtually real. >> reporter: when exxon valdez hit the reef in 89 millions of crude went in the water, beaches were fouled and fish and wildlife coated in toxic tar and the cleanup went on f

john kerry and sergei lavrov are talking about ukraine.o students killed and several injured as security forces in front of protesters at university in cairo. the date for egypt's presidential election is set for may 26th and 27th. >>> but let's turn to latin america now look,ing at cuba's new rules to attract foreign investors. we are also in brazil where police are trying to gain control of a vast slum. rob reynolds is there for us. but first to venezuela where the military is taking on protesters in the main protest city of san cristobal. we are following that story. >> reporter: for many hours now the venezuelan national guard and the local police have been trying to take back these neighborhoods in central can cristobal where people have been protesting for over a month and a half. two days ago on friday a commander said they would move in and free the city from the protesters, so far they have only been able to move some of the barricades. but one in particular considered symbolic for the presence of an abandoned tank bite militar by

secretary of state john kerry meeting russian counterpart sergei lavrov. let's catch up on all the developments and just before we do that, mention that financially this country is in huge difficulties. we heard about the americans, washington offering $1 billion in loan guarantees. we also heard the european commission saying they will be offering 11 billion euros over the next two years. the financial side being addressed by the international community as well as the military standoff in crimea. this report by nick chiles. >> reporter: the diplomatic big guns have been gathering in paris for the biggest diplomatic push yet to try to defuse the ukraine crisis and the deep freeze in east-west relations. for the west, the key question, will moscow accept a direct dialogue with the knew ukrainian authorities. >> the prime minister and president obama have both made clear that there must be significant costs to russia of violating its international obligations in this way. now, of course, we would much prefer to make diplomatic progress, but in the absence of

a last chance face-to-face dialogue for john kerry and sergei lavrov.re sunday's hastily organized referendum in crimea. it will ask the people there they want to leave ukraine and join the russian federation. it's been widely condemned internationally. within the past few moments the british foreign secretary william hague said the talks on ukraine will be "formidably difficult because of the enormous gulf between russia and the united states. there is enormous tension in advance of what's happening in crimea. the secretary of the general joins me now live from vienna. ambassador, thank you very much indeed. what is the status of your observers which have been authorized to go in to try to at least give good independent information on what is taking place. >> they were yesterday in donetsk. they are observing military installations there. at the same time we met some flights. the limitation of the treaty in the region. and there is ongoing discussion on amon toring operation in ukraine. >> ambassador, some of the observers managed to get up to the russ

he as sent sergei lavrov instead. when it comes to sergei lavrov, there's a bit of good news on the ukraine front, for weeks sergei lavrov, or any other russian official refused to talk to anyone from the interim kiev government, did not recognise the government and said it was illegitimate. he did, for the first time, sat with the interim ukrainian foreign minister. we don't know what came out of the meeting. sergei lavrov seemed to be defiant about a lot of things in a press conference held after, and met with secretary of state john kerry, no movement, but symbolic and significant movement in the hague. >> mike viqueira in the netherlands. >> while world leaders met to discuss the situation in ukraine, the interim government ordered troops to leave crimea, the decision coming days after russian forces stormed and seized ukranian military equipment. jennifer glasse is in sevastopol. has ukraine surrendered to russia at this point? >> no, the acting president made the decision to protect the families, and soldiers wh

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he said he received assurances face-to-face from sergei lavrov.nd that was something that sergei lavrov himself made clear during his press conference. >> translator: the russian federation does not have any plans to invade the region. we believe the rights of the russians, hungarians, bulgarians and ukraines should be secured and protected. >> i think the last conclusion to make from this day of high diplomacy in london as far as the americans and europeans are concerned, the ball is very much in president putin's court now. john kerry said he know it is going to go ahead. we regret that, we consider its results illegal, but it depends on what president putin does with the vote. if he takes the yes vote and rubber stamps it into moscow, john kerry said they would consider that a back door annexation. >> simon thank you. speaking to us from london. >>> and as simon was saying, russia faces sanctions if the referendum does go ahead. already the united states has issued travel bans and frozen the assets of people and companies deemed to have acted t

. >> reporter: sergey lavrov is a formidable character. he's effective in effecting the agenda of his boss, vladimir putin. kerry and love roof appeared to have worked together when they mediated the chemical weapons in syria. so it should be quite a meeting. whether it will produce an ending to this you trainan crisis is remote. martha: the question of crimea is essential. some people think that situation is over. there is no way russia will pull out. lavrov will say we can't pull out. those aren't even our troops. report * th>> reporter: the ruse created paperwork to create justifications for this move and that move but they are drastically different from what the u.s. and its european allies see as legal. it's unlikely this meeting will produce a break through. gregg: russia not letting out, flexing its military muscle by test firing an intercontinental ballistic missile. the pentagon says that launch was not expected. they were not notified days in advance in accordance with the stark treaty. martha: russia saying they don't have the p

sergei lavrov and kerry are in their third hour of talks. when they wrap up, they'll talk to the media and we'll bring it to you live. >> the pentagon sent its top n.a.t.o. commander to europe. he will cut short a trip to washington to meet with commandos in brussels. it does not mean it's dealing with ukraine, but will deal with russia's troop movements. steve fish, a professor of comparative politics from the university of berkeley is with us. >> let me ask you about the negotiations between john kerry and sergei lavrov. what do you expect to come of it? >> i don't expect a great deal to come of it. there'll be some measures that prosecutor to offer russian, and some north american -- american concession, but i think vladimir putin is dug in time in crimea. >> why did vladimir putin reach out to president obama and arrange the meetings on friday? >> it's crucial that russia create the impression that it's trying to be a good international citizens in the crisis. that's important to staunch the economic matters. the russian economy is suffe

following a meeting with david cameron john kerry will hold talks with sergei fedorov.his morning in london. last-minute diplomacy is ahead of the sunday vote in crimea and residents will decide whether to leave ukraine and be a part of russia. a study says 300 people died after their airbags failed to open up in two gm models and the cars are already part of a massive nationwide recall and admits faulty ignition switches caused 34 deaths and they are disputing airbag findings al jazeera has video showing women and children being held against their will by rebel fighters in syria and erica wood has their story. >> taken by sunni rebels last august from villages in the northeast. the region is a stronghold of presidential assad alawites, a branch of shia islam and ready to free the 94 women and children in exchange for the release of 2000 prisoners being held by government forces. they made demands over which prisoners should be freed and say mainly coastal regions and at least half of them mouth be women and children. prisoner swap last week saw release of 13 greek orth

so, you know, our experience of sergei lavrov in geneva is normally a very clever operator. a clever foreign diplomat. but his speech today was really caught contradictory. not the one he planned to make. obviously changed on the plane coming over here to insert the section in which he was very blunt. it's our business. we need to protect russian civilians in ukraine. >> sit important to understand why ukraine matters so much in russia. did he spell out the historical links? >> not so much, no. what he talked about was ultra nationalists, violent extremists. he was referring to some of the protests we have seen in kiev. he talked about overtones of anti-semitism. and he talked about the fact that there are a great many people of ethnic russian origin in ukraine. and he said they felt threatened. their lives were at risk. and therefore it was russia's duty to protect them. and this is why russia had intervenes. and, you know, he also suggested that obviously the russian fleet and the black sea stays in crimea. in terms of geopolitics, no, he wanted to steer clear of that. >>

>> well, that's what sergei lavrov just said. he said, we believe the agreement of februar february 21st, should be reinstated. i'm overlooking the square in kiev, and i can tell you that the people will not accept viktor yanukovych. in the country. if he does, it's more likely he'll be arrested if he does. it's this legalese that they've put forward saying that this needs to be done within a legal framework. well, that's all well and good, but the reality on the ground is those days are past. viktor yanukovych is not coming back to this country. there is clearly a disconnect herhere in a lot of different sectors, what we heard from secretary kerry or foreign minister lavrov, in this entire process as we've been discussing over the past few days, there has been a clear stand on the various players in this equation where we have a heard perspective on what is going on, and they just don't seem to be able to deviate, whether it's the ukrainians themselves, the crimeaens, the russians, the west, be it the americans or europeans, eve

on the other hand, as you heard sergei lavrov saying russia does not want bloodshed, the west saying they will treat russia as a partner on this issue. so there is scope for common ground and i guess events in paris over the next few hours will give us a pretty good sign as to whether the diplomatic tension is going to drag on or worsen within the or if there are the first chinks of light at the end of the tunnel. there's a way through with dye log? we don't know yet. >> the trial of three al jazeera journalists was resumed in egypt. the court is hearing evidence for the prosecution. peter gresta, barha mohammed red accused of terrorism. al jazeera region jackets the charges. ays is currently not allowed to report from egypt. we did manage to get this update from cnn correspondent a short while ago. >> many rights groups, many journalists say this trial is a clear message by the government they are going to cram down on any narrative that goes against the dominant narrative among authorities which is the muslim brotherhood is a terrorist organization. so, many media organizations jus

where can sergei fedorov and kerry go from there?t was kerry in london who said the only settlement of this is a political settlement so talks will have to start at some stage if they want a settlement between ukraine and kiev. and of course the sticking point is, and no secret here, is crimea. kiev says it will never accept the fact that crimea no longer belongs to the ukraine. >> reporter: a developing situation of course in crimea and we should talk to well with ukraine ordering troops to withdraw from there and comes as russia strength ens the hold on the region and raising flags overseas military bases and detaining commanders and earlier they used stun grenades to take one of the bases in the port city there. ukraine says the troops and family based in crimea will now be moved elsewhere. and now let's talk to nick spicer and live for us and tell us the latest on the military situation with pull outs or otherwise. >> it appears to really be the end game here as far as the military conflict go with ukrainian defense ministry at l

center, a meeting taking place in paris today with secretary of state kerry and russian counterpart, sergey lavrov to attend. the media at the conclusion will bring you those remarks live when they start. >> this is one of our favorite times of the year at c-span. the time i get to the winners of our annual student documentary contest called studentcam. the 2014th team for students interested in entering the most important issue that congress should consider in 2014. this year we received the record number of 200 -- 2,350,000 entries came from 46 states from the district of columbia, from taiwan and from the united arab emirates. as students around the country and internationally. altogether, 4860 middle and high school students participated this year, either individually or on teams. one other thing special about this years contest as we doubled the number of prizes and the amounts of prize money. it went from $50,000 contest to us giving away $100,000 in prizes. that meant 150 poor student documentarians and also the 97 students to receive honorable ventures. the grand prize here is $5000

russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov arrived for the talk. russian troops have surrounded one of the last ukrainian marine paces in crimea. russia is taking over military control of the peninsula, base by base. in kiev, thousands gathered for a rally, calling for ukrainian unity. it is supported by the west, including the u.s. and europe. >> there are growing fears that other parts of ukraine will breakaway following the annexation of crimea. two pro-russian groups fought in donetsk in the east. it happened during a rally. n.a.t.o. alliance is concerned about a threat to mald owa, the nearest allied to ukraine. there's fears that others may want to join the russian federation. n.a.t.o.'s top commander is warning about a build-up of russian troops on the eastern border. >> if russia is worried about a country moving to the west, a way to solve that is an unkurtion, a frozen conflict and no one wants to bring that nation into n.a.t.o., because it may mean conflict with russia. >> the u.s. is hoping china will take a more proactive stance. chine

unclear what that means, but secretary kerry changing his plans, heading to paris for a meeting for sergei lavrov. the two have been meeting and talking on and off the past few weeks. that has done nothing to diffuse the situation in crimea but after the phone call between president putin and president obama, maybe there is a diplomatic resolution will. >> ex-boxer vitali klitschko saying he is not going to run for president in ukraine. >> reporter: he is putting his weight behind petro poroshenko. poroshenko said now is the time for unity, and you had three very strong candidates. vitali klitschko polling first, and then petro poroshenko polling second and then yulia tymoshenko. and no one candidate would get the 50% needed to win outright. that's what they would like to see. the heavyweight boxer was the favorite for the president election, instead will run as mayor of kiev, a very powerful position. klitschko supporting poroshenko, and the idea is not to have to go through a second round. time is of the essence, the longer this process takes, the more ukraine sovereignty is in danger of

here is a two state owned carriers in frocks ahead of a dentist takes me to his russian counterpart sergei lavrov but now the countries surveyed both the palms of recent events in ukraine and health at stores open. words of rock above all just rhetoric saying that there's a strong belief the russian action is punishing is central to her message. we are preparing to work with anybody. if they're genuine interest to ensure that ukraine on. is able to govern itself. as i indicated before and something that i think it's not been emphasized enough. they are currently scheduled to have elections in may. the actions are aimed a car or fall. president putin says moscow will not recognize its peak in this first set of eyes that dress since the crisis began. she remained resolute the russian of course is on all the right team crimea. if you also refused to rule without the use of force but stressed it would be a last resort today to russia said to me to discuss the crisis further. in ukraine's capital kiev where the still morning that day. counting cash is which led to the eventual a good thriller t

on sunday john kerry will be in london to meet with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. there has been so much concentration in domestic political circles on president obama's alleged weakness, and vladimir putin's alleged strength. with all the concentration on whether putin is winning in crimea, are we losing site of the fact that he lost in ukraine, that this action might be pushing ukraine into the arms of the west. >> i think it's an excellent point. first of all, this is a very difficult crisis. and i think that president obama and secretary of state john kerry handled this well. making it very, very clear that they are prepared to apply sanctions, already applying sanctions. while working with the europeans more reluctant to take the action that we get with the g7. i think the president has been very clear and made it clear that this is a no kidding situation. yes, the calculation for vladimir putin is hard to imagine. the presidential election in ukraine is scheduled for the 25th. if crimea is not part of ukraine, and the russian speaking majority in crimea is no

we have diplomatic movement for the first time, moscow talking to kiev, russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in the hague right now, we don't know what will come of that meeting but very clear he would demand that russian troops would leave crimea and hope to get crimea back, hopes to get international backing for that. very, very interesting meeting. the first diplomatic meeting between moscow and the current government in kiev. >> massing along eastern border what is ukraine saying about this? >> reporter: very concerned about that. about 20,000 troops they estimate on that eastern border. russia says it does not have more troops than it should but obviously very worrying signal to kiev. we've seen demghtses i demonstrn donetske and i think that's very worrying because if russian troops did come in, i think we would see a very, very bloid battle -- bloid battle. i think you might see some very, very serious fighting and i think everyone wants to would i i -- to avoid that. >> jennifer tell us about the people who are left behind? >> reporter: there is supposed to be a plan drawn up