russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov condemned the massacre outside damascus the latest in a string of sectarian killings across the country. is the details foreign minister sergey lavrov had gay given a general statement on what's happening in the region where russia is concerned as well as its international partners he said that in cases of trying to work together to deal with the situation there he does feel that they need to be equal footing and fair consideration of where the different parties stand he gave syria as an example where russia's voice he felt was heard by the international community in coming up with that syrian resolution well another thing on syria that he had a comment on is the recent killing he had talked about how the different factions as russia had always pointed out in the past have become more and more extreme and this is what he had to say these were. the massacre that took place in this address was barbaric for christians druze and alawite will slaughter them even sunni muslims i believe who rejected the hardline islamist rules that these people preache

just your reaction to sergei lavrov's comments in parliament, suggesting that the e.u. or the west were putting pressure on ukraine. >> well, it is obvious thing because the yate demonstrated signing agreement with the unit europe and demands - it was american demand and pressure from western europe is obvious. diplomats are coming to kiev, participating in opposition demonstrationing, and even some european groups, parliamentary groups, to make camps. it's unprecedented inference in internal affairs. they blame russia, that russia. it is not russia. key eve is thinking of its benefits, losses, economical issues. it is dominating here. not political. the opposition is clear. they are fighting. they are fighting - it's political incitement. >> there'll be many in ukraine, you see the pictures yourself, of many ukrainians who think that by bailing ukraine out, by offering subsidies to gas, it's a way of russia influencing not just politicians, but a large swathe of the ukrainian people, that russia is the friend you should be with and the e.u. can't help you out. >> that'

was among those who interviewed sergei lavrov and joins us now live. here has been quite eventful when it comes to foreign policy what exactly that sergey lavrov focus on well we spoke for an hour and there are lots of things to talk about since it was quite an event for you which did bring russia several diplomatic victories like for instance the syrian chemical arms deal and clearly with the international community now working on the. conference according to the foreign minister one of the key obstacles in that sense remain preconditions being voiced by the syrian opposition including calls for president assad to step down at the same time mr lavrov said the stance of the west in that sense has been shifting. well some countries are now becoming more realistic in their approach to settling the syrian conflict regardless of what their official spokesman say the number one problem is the threat of terrorism in syria the threat of jihadists coming to power in setting up the caliphate and trampling on human rights and maybe even exterminating minorities

remains tense so it is to a certain extent among diplomatic circles now a russian foreign minister sergei lavrov his visit to brussels comes on the back of a tweet from the e.u. chief for enlargement who says that the e.u. believes that ukraine's position on the go seizures of the association agreement is quote unquote and has no grounds in reality now the ukrainian prime minister's office has responded to that and said that ukraine is very much open to continuing negotiations with the e.u. however it will not respond to tweets it will respond to official messages and also it wants to if it does decide to sign it wants to do so on its own terms that as far as russia is concerned here among the meetings of the foreign ministers the deputy foreign minister of lithuania is also chairing and presiding over the e.u. council and said that's of the lover of can expect to be told about quote unquote in the admissibility of putting pressure to bear on ukraine now the permanent representative of russia to the e.u. has responded to that it has also turned the table in question of the very actions of the e.

at this moment sergey lavrov is meeting in his iranian counterpart mr zarif here in teheran this is the highest level russian delegation to visit iran since president hassan rouhani took power bringing with him an approach that has led to a real significant diplomatic movement after just several months in power at the breakthrough talks in geneva early in november the new administration in tiger and agreed to either freeze or curb parts of its nuclear program the payback was limited relieve from the international sanctions which have severely hampered the country's economy already we know that a group of international inspectors has been allowed to visit the iraq plant here in iran which is at the center of suspicions about iran's motives for have a nuclear program it's been shut down so far for at least six months a cauldron to geneva deal with russia's massive is that good will is key to hold in this together iran's foreign minister has already warned that if the u.s. senate decides to introduce new sanctions and this is something that is now being discussed in america all diplomatic

regarding a foreign policy what exactly that sergey lavrov. but we spoke for an hour and talked about lots of issues but with the geneva two conference on syria clearly being worked on obviously a lot of attention was focused on that and according to the foreign minister preconditions being voiced by the syrian opposition remain one of the main obstacles including calls for president assad to step down but mr lavrov said the position of the west is shifting. and currently western countries are becoming more realistic in their approach to settling the syrian conflict regardless of what their official spokesman say the threat of terrorism in syria the threat of jihadists coming to power and setting up a caliphate and trampling on human rights maybe even exterminating minorities in syria is the number one problem and the realization is dawning that regime change is not the way to resolve this problem for western partners are becoming increasingly clear about this. russia's relations with nato were also discussed and the foreign minister said that

sergei. lavrov things are finding the time to meet with us we have three channels here r.t. spanish r.t. arabic and english. with a whole year to cover there were lots of things to discuss it brought russia several diplomatic victories including the chemical arms deal with syria he would do is the next step according to mr elaborate of preconditions from the syrian opposition remain among the key obstacles including the one for president assad to step down something that the west is now moving away from. the threat of jihadists coming to power in setting up the caliphate and the realization is doing that region change is not the way to resolve this problem our western partners are becoming increasingly clear about this. there are also changes in russia's relations with the west and apparently there are signals for more transparent and trustworthy ties on both sides but appalled warming talent is still something that must pass to deal with political so going to need a members have a food be against russia which is really said this leads to some of our european partners still

well first of all the foreign minister sergey lavrov had given a general statement on what's happening in the region where russia is concerned as well as its international partners he said that in cases of trying to work together to deal with the situations there he does feel that they need to be equal footing and fair consideration of where the different parties stand he gave syria as an example where russia's voice he felt was heard by the international community in coming up with that syrian resolution which now has led to the process of destroying chemical weapons there and he says e.u. partners want russia to be helping out in the situation in libya but he says that russia wants to have a say in the way the operations are going and that's the kind of equal footing that they want now in reference to the recent killings that had happened in the syria us again lavrov had said pointed out again how horrible those killings were and the kind of people making up the groups right now going around in syria he said that even human rights watch had said that there are some other bandit group

. >> a russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is accusing the west of putting pressure on people in thekraine to shoes e.u. over russia. viktor yanukovych signed a deal with russia on tuesday including cheaper gas and a $17 billion loan. protesters have been culling for the president to stand down. sergei lavrov expects the choices of the ukrainian people. >> in spite of the decisions that were taken yesterday by moscow, kiev is free to make a choice. >> translation: our opposition is based on respect. choice of the ukrainian people. as president putin has stressed, we don't impose anything on anyone. >> martin mccauley is a russian expert. thank you for joining us. on the show, how much is this really about trade and any, or is it really more about the - about europe and russia in a power play? . >> it's both, because russia now is turning away from europe, turning away from the west, pointing to the east. putin would like to put together a eurasian economic union, russia, ukraine, belarus and pakistan. that would be powerful. ukraine would be crucial in the mix. putin, who in his spee

foreign minister sergei lavrov visits a studio on chats his thoughts. about the top kills fourteen people and injures over a hundred at a security building in the golden age of the government spokesperson blames the muslim brotherhood a brand to get a terrorist group. to personal diplomacy in south sudan as raging battles between functions threaten to shut up american farms out of all.

foreign ministers and the russian foreign minister, survey like rough -- sergei lough roth -- sergei lavrov warm.d luck staying thank you very much indeed for being with us. the president of south sudan says an attempted coup d'État has been foiled. president ofhe africa's newest country, which gained independence in 2011, was speaking after heavy fighting broke out overnight in which heavy machine guns and mortars were used in the country's capital. the government says a group of disgruntled soldiers and a former viced by president has been attempting to overthrow the government. france, the ceremonies being held by french president francois hollande in memory of the soldiers who were killed in the central african republic last week. 2 of the french troops that were sent to the troubled central african nation after thestore order, united nations granted a mandate as the intervention african forces seek to build up and take over security in the country. the 2 soldiers were killed last monday and their bodies are being laid out this morning in paris. shot 2 troops have lebanese soldiers in t

they met with sergey lavrov and said they would not harm relationships with russia in any way. lavrov said the wish of its people should be respected. >> it was our common agreement that everyone should respect sovereignty of any country, including ukraine. the trade agreement would pave the way for ukraine's entrance into the e.u., but it was decided last month to walk away from the deal out of consideration with ukraine's ties for russia. protesters have hit the streets and haven't left. >>> a large winter storm is hitting japan. we might see some snow here in tokyo on wednesday. our meteorologist robert speta has more. robert? >> yeah, gene, indeed, we are looking at this storm system and it's already bringing foul weather. winds as high as 80 kilometers per hour reported down here towards the south, and that is coming after the storm brought foul weather as far south as northern portions of vietnam. you saw some snowfall on monday. we have photos here, definitely a very rare scenario, typically you associate this part of the world with tropical weather. definitely, that col

foreign minister sergei lavrov visits altie studio i'm sure as his thoughts. about the time kills fourteen people endangers over one hundred at a security building in northern agent the government spokesperson blames the muslim brotherhood a brand to get a terrorist group. on the us a personal diplomacy in south sudan as a raging battles between all the functions threaten to shut up american farms out of oil. this is all seem to national coming to live from moscow hello and welcome to the program. russia's top diplomat says serious humanitarian crisis is being used as a tool to disrupt negotiations on ending the civil war that. spoke exclusively to c and he was among those who interviewed the foreign minister and joins me now live back how they you were what did the foreign minister have to say well we spoke for around an hour and touched upon a lots of issues but with the recent diplomatic breakthroughs that took place this year with the iranian nuclear program and the chemical arms deal with syria obviously a lot of attention was focused on that and accordin

have been visiting protest camps in central kiev and giving speeches russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov described their actions in the accusations leveled at kiev's leadership by governments as hysterical political science professor nicholai petro who's in ukraine told us the e.u. doesn't have the best interests of the ukrainian people at heart. it's a one sided message of support for the policies of the of the u. and it is an attempt to attract ukraine to sign the association agreement i think it's a short sighted position one that seeks to divide drive a wedge rather between ukraine and russia whereas a more alongside it position but actually encourage both russia and ukraine to associate and come together with the e.u. unfortunately it seems to be more of a divisive and a confrontational approach than one that aims at reagan silly ation. well these efforts may be unwilling ukraine right now but in a few minutes we hear about the struggle in keeping its current citizens out of poverty. this is the place that has been consecrated to god for almost a thousand of years people came here t

as the number one hurdle hampering any political solution to syria's almost three year old war sergei lavrov spoke exclusively to r.t. . with a whole year to cover there were lots of things to discuss it brought russia several diplomatic victories including the chemical arms deal with syria he would tell you is the next step according to mr elaborate of preconditions from the syrian opposition remain among the key obstacles including the one for president assad to step down something that the worst is now moving away from the threat of jihadists coming to power and setting up a caliphate is the number one problem and the realisation is dawning that regime change is not the way to resolve this problem oh western partners are becoming increasingly clear about this there are also changes in russia's relations with the west and apparently there are signals for more transparent and trustworthy times on both signs but a cold war mentality. it is still something that moscow has to deal with. some nato members have a phobia against russia which is really sad this leads to some of our european partne

diplomatic achievements already reached between the signs will be done and this is very dangerous sergey lavrov russia's foreign minister will seek a sure is that iran is fitness and of the deal to the next of iran's rehabilitation on the international arena could include syria in just a month's time diplomats have back to switzerland to participate in geneva two syria peace talks and at this stage all the major powers involved in the contact of prices in this midlist country will be there but not iran and this is something most who is very concerned about and wants to change it wants to get involved too that will be another important part of the discussions here integrand today when russia's foreign minister lavrov is expected to meet his counterpart and the president of iran as well. we'll have a joint news briefing later today from both countries' officials we'll keep you updated looking for that live in the iranian capital thank you. now transparency is are now being seen as essential to reach some sort of final binding deal on the enrichment program and one professor from the university of

assays correspondent maria for an audition is closely following sergei lavrov visit to iran check her twitter account for the latest. a potential source for intervention in syria was avoided in september after the government agreed to destroy its toxic arsenal efforts to rid the middle east of chemical weapons are being held up by israel and egypt refusal to join the international convention but we'll see where now on board there's a little space left for countries to maneuver as policy explain. this could soon be a fin of the past is radius queuing for gas masks in the pipeline a recommendation to the cabinet to stop manufacturing them for civilians so is dismantling of its chemical weapons also seems to have lifted the edge of israeli fears of a chemical strike well as a few months ago kids were spilling into the streets today the paranoia has died down. it comes after syria destroyed all of its chemical weapons production facilities the country's on track to eliminate its in trying stuff but the middle of next year the chemical weapons are among the most or of weapons ever known to

moving closer toward moscow stance on syria but some key issues with nato still need hammering out sergey lavrov spoke exclusively with r.t. about the years foreign policy achievements in europe risk and i was among those who interviewed the foreign minister. what. was on the list the labral things were finding the time to meet with us we have three channels here are spanish arty arabic and english. with a whole year to cover there were lots of things to discuss it brought russia several diplomatic victories including the chemical arms deal with syria geneva two is the next step and according to mr elaborate of preconditions from the syrian opposition remain among the key obstacles including the one for president assad to step down something that the west is now moving away from. the threat of jihad this coming to power in sitting at killie feet and the realization is doing that region change is not the way to resolve this problem our western partners are becoming increasingly clear about this. there are also changes in russia's relations with the west and apparently there are signals for more t

these protests if i were to make your requests over the airwaves state of the foreign minister sergei lavrov to come to washington and i would get a few thousand of my friends to occupy the white house in what is going to dresses there. i would go to prison for suggesting. so you can imagine how they would treat an actual attempt like that all that you lead with respect to walao brought this to lavrov coming year and also chorus with respect to me is just an american citizen. don't give up thank you very much and a few folds life radio producer of cpo and he's good to see thank you. we just received some breaking news here in all its international in the us state of color on it at least two people have reportedly being injured off the cover shorts but fun at a high school police report an active shooter is around the how to properly high school in the town of centennial. no we didn't do right now if any children have the injured were involved in this incident happened just down the road from the aurora in the beef is where i come home went on a massacre in twenty twelve will breed more on th

diplomatic achievements already reached between the signs will be done and this is very dangerous sergey lavrov russia's foreign minister will seek a sure is that iran is keeping its and off the deal to the next rehabilitation of the international union could include syria in just a month's time diplomats have back to switzerland to participate in geneva to syria peace talks and at this stage all the major powers involved in the protective crisis in this. country will be there but not iran and this is something most who is very concerned about and wants to change it wants to get around involved too that will be another important part of the discussions here integrand today. now a potential forceful intervention in syria was avoided in september after the government agreed to destroy its toxic arsenal but efforts to rid the middle east of chemical weapons are being held up by israel and egypt a refusal to join the international convention but with syria now on board as little space left for countries to maneuver as ati's polis leader explains. this could soon be a thing of the past is radios que

diplomatic achievements already reached between the signs will be done and this is very dangerous sergei lavrov russia's foreign minister will seek assurance that iran is keeping its end of the deal to the next. rehabilitation of the international media could include syria in just a month's time diplomats had back to switzerland to participate in geneva two syria peace talks and at this stage all the major powers involved in the protective crisis in this list country will be there but not iran and this is something most who is very concerned about and wants to change it wants to get to run involved too that will be another important part of the discussions here integrand today. that was our tears marina you know sheena. while russian president vladimir putin delivered his annual state of the nation address today and he focused on the economy and said the main slowdown for growth in the country comes from internal factors he also addressed the situations in ukraine and syria r.t. is igor piskun office in moscow with more. it's traditionally become the place to be to find out the president's visi

essentially ukrainian domestic affairs has drawn sharp criticism from russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov who said that this type of reaction is simply inadequate. due to the recent statements that have been voiced today on ukraine i consider for the. especially the hysterics that some european countries are going into the after ukraine used. and decided of this moment in time not to sign an agreement with the agreement but the experts i'm a government found not profitable you can see. at the same time there have been. in support of current president victor he knew caused it but so we haven't seen any of western politicians attending those protests and in fact there are some people who are saying that this is simply unthinkable a protest in ukraine are hardly different from those happening in european countries such as spain portugal or greece but you do not see western politicians coming there and talking with the opposition's leaders because if that wasn't the case indeed that would be essentially a political scandal. criteria i think as much for bringing us this update live from the uk

the sun and today russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was in brussels for talks and in at least both sides insisted that ukraine was free to make it onto it. as the game after all the riot in brussels some eu foreign ministers were making no secret of their frustration of what they see a small stone putting pressure on ukraine not to sign the eu trade deal the statement from the russian side is that they are going to the extensive propaganda campaign based on misinformation and sometimes awkward arts. participants it votes on to being very frank in the meeting between the eu foreign ministers and their russian counterparts. lavrov spoke briefly to journalists before returning to moscow bozo over with the bitter row with mr summers. if it doesn't include integrated if we're on the shadow of the peoples of which history shows us tobe able to develop the country. and fiji's foreign policy chief catherine ashton struck a positive note she was keen to downplay told that if ghana kuta beach which has signed the association agreement that could damage ties with the kremlin. it's signing it

essentially ukrainian domestic affairs has drawn sharp criticism from russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov who said that this type of reaction is simply inadequate the statements that have been voiced today in ukraine i consider for the. especially the hysterics that some european countries have gone into after ukraine used right and decided this moment in time not to sign an agreement the agreement that the experts i'm a government found not profitable for ukraine however we haven't seen western politicians attending a thousand strong rallies held here in support of. the current ukrainian president in fact a lot of observers are starting to raise their eyebrows at what they are calling a sort of an indignant behavior by western officials if western leaders have time to opposition rallies in countries such as this spain or portugal or greece where people are pouring out in the streets protesting against this terrorism measures that simply would be unthinkable. to a political scandal well ukraine's foreign minister is also commented on the. if limits involvement in kiev's affairs asking the

extraordinary we were having a bit of fun of this on twitter today and i can only compare it to if sergey lavrov turns up in glasgow and called on london to hear the voices of freedom in scotland and then aligned himself with a group of supporters who were trained by glasgow celtic or glasgow rangers you know it's just an extraordinary divisive form of politics but it's it cuts right across both my down and the digital media sphere as well if you look at the u.s. ambassador's twitter feed in the us ambassador to ukraine geoffrey pyatt his twitter feed reads like something from the orange revolution of two thousand and four p british ambassador so obviously it didn't have a twitter account until november twenty fifth and then coincidentally. suddenly got one just as the origin was just a very brief comment from there we haven't heard from me for a couple of minutes just what i've said just very briefly response to that. in the long term however i don't think we'll see the orange revolution redux because i think that there is a substantial percentage of ukrainian citizens who realize that neither

displaced focusing on after a few minutes of the protests in ukraine and russia foreign minister sergei lavrov described the actions and accusations leveled at kiev leadership by e.u. governments as hysterical. of those statements that have been voiced today on ukraine i consider unfitting for the meeting is specially the all in all hysterics that some european countries have gone into after ukraine used its sovereign right and decided of this moment in time not to sign an agreement the agreement that the experts ama government had found not profitable for ukraine. there expressing his concerns about how the preplanned regional security seven care was being used that's where several senior diplomats including assistant u.s. secretary of state victoria nuland right now in fact she encouraged the opposition's pro e.u. rallies. this is ukraine's moment to meet the aspirations of its people or to disappoint them and risk descending into chaos and violence there should be no doubt where the united states stands on all of this we stand with the people of ukraine who see their future in europe and wa

russian foreign minister sergei lavrov who was meeting his ukrainian counterpart denounced the european response calling it an overreaction and bordering on hysteria. i'm very surprised by the speeches with her this morning that seemed out of place just like pointing the finger. unacceptable for the osce to be doing this and it contrasts strongly with the principles of the organization the protesters outside all of the verbal exchange with interest. but without any great folks. the government in kiev is sticking to its progress in math and appeal to the opposition to change course. you who believe in it that this is no doubt a temporary problem. we say to those occupying buildings they're breaking the law this is not the european approach. and we're appealing to them to resolve the issues in dispute at the negotiating table the snowstorm. deputy prime minister said the arkansas has not ruled out fresh elections the protesters are unlikely to be persuaded by state wages. they vow to stay put until the government has resigned. during chunky in my car's hundred and nine michael was a chang

extraordinary we were having a bit of fun of this on twitter today and i can only compare it to if sergey lavrov turns up in glasgow and called on london to hear the voices of freedom in scotland and then aligned himself with a group of supporters who are trained by glasgow celtic or glasgow rangers. reports following the developments in the capital on air and online also on our website r.t. dot com you can find the most dramatic photos and videos from the ongoing protests that. tens of thousands of people could see their crimes pardoned under new amnesty proposal by vladimir putin it would mark twenty years since russia adopted its constitution and is intended to bring the state and its people closer together but in a question of reports. some fresh high profile prisoners as well as so those awaiting trial will be following the passage of this a lot very closely as they along with the twenty five thousand others may see the charges against them dropped the end of their records are wiped clean now this amnesty has been proposed to by the russian president lies human evolution and it also marks t