david stern in kiev for us, steve rosenberg in moscow. steve, cease-fire not a cease-fire. any more clarity on what the two presidents may have said to each other? >> not really. not for first time we're left scratching our heads really trying to interpret some of the statements coming out of moscow and kiev. this all started earlier this morning when the kremlin announced there had bp a telephone conversation between president putin and president poroshenko and the president said the viewpoints coincide greatly on how to solve the crisis. there was no talk of a cease-fire. then we heard the announcement by president poroshenko in kiev of an agreement on a permanent cease-fire and mutual understanding of peace. then we heard again from the kremlin saying, well, russia couldn't have agreed to a cease-fire because russia is not a party to this conflict, despite all the evidence in recent weeks, but russia is in some way involved and evidence of increasing russian military activity across the border. then, the word permanent seemed to disappear from the original statement of p

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. >> now to a mission a decade in the making. the rosetta spacecraft was launched with a mission to explore a comment 250 miles from north. in two months it could make history by landing on the comet. our science editor has all of the details. >> a strange barren world seen in greater detail than ever before. it's hard to imagine comets might have helped life start here on earth. but we're now closer to seeing f that's true. the european space agency mapped its comment and picked a site to land. marked here as j, another site as backup. no one knows if this is going to be possible. the extraordinary feat of touching down on a comet first dreamt up 20 years ago is now within sight. this mission is at a critical phase. not only flying alongside the comet but planning to send a lander on it as well, incredible challenge. let's look at the biggest danger, surface. it's totally unknown. some parts are extremely rough. others are smooth. but may turn out to be soft like quick sand. the plan is for the rosetta spacecraft, which is orbit

steve rosenberg joins us from moscow. steve, so who said what? where are we with this? >> i'm afraid i can't provide too much clarity. it remains a very confused situation. the first indications that the positions of moscow have moved closer came early this morning when the kremlin announced there would be a television conversation between president putin and president poroshenko. and the kremlin said that the viewpoints of the two presidents had coincided greatly on how to solve this difficult crisis. after that, we heard a very short statement from president poroshenko who claimed that there had been an agreement on a permanent cease-fire in the donbass in eastern ukraine. he talked about mutual understanding had been reached on the steps needed to achieve peace. well, after that, we heard again from the kremlin. the kremlin denied there had been an agreement on a cease-fire, because as the kremlin pointed out, russia is not a party to this conflict. despite the growing evidence in recent days that russia is a party to the conflict, and that there has been increased r

our correspondent steve rosenberg is there. steve, has there been any response from the government there to this report? >> well, there's been some reaction today. a few minutes ago, the deputy head of russia's air transport agency went on russian state television. he said -- he stressed this was only a preliminary report. he said there was much more work to be done before a full report could be issued. he said there needs to be examination of the crash site, of the wreckage. he said there needs to be a comprehensive study of forensic data, too, and he said without a comprehensive study of all these kind of things, it would be impossible to reach a conclusion about who was responsible for this crash. he also said a lot of time had been lost, and that some aspects of the crash will be difficult to actually piece together. >> okay. steve rosenberg there in moscow, thanks very much indeed. for more detail on the report, you can go to the website where we have a full breakdown, a background into what we know already, and what these

steve rosenberg there. >>> do stay with us here on "bbc world news." still to come -- taking lessons from quebec. what scotland could learn from the french-speaking province in canada. [ male announcer ] ours was the first modern airliner, revolutionary by every standard. and that became our passion. to always build something better, airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. that redefine comfort and connect the world like never before. after all, you can't turn dreams into airplanes unless your passion for innovation is nonstop. ♪ >>> the referendum on whether scotland should leave the united kingdom has taken on new ump us the -- impetus after a poll suggested for the first time that more people would like to leave the union than stay in it. it gave the yes side a two-point advantage and this result has caused concern among the no side that wants to keep the nations of the united kingdom together. so let's take a look at how the newspapers in the wider uk and how scotland have been reporting the story. only ten days left to save britain. t

steve rosenberg, bbc news in southern russia. >>> stay with us, because coming up in the next half-hourere on "gmt," as we've just heard, a major anti-terror operation in australia is just another example of the influence the i.s. seems to have even far away from its bases in iraq and syria. coming up, i'll be speaking to the director of the washington, d.c. office, the muslim public affairs council about the global recruitment of fighters. stay with us for that here on "gmt." ♪ [ female announcer ] we love our smartphones. and now telcos using hp big data solutions are feeling the love, too. by offering things like on-the-spot data upgrades -- an idea that reduced overcharge complaints by 98%. no matter how fast your business needs to adapt, if hp big data solutions can keep wireless customers smiling, imagine what they can do for yours. make it matter. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, ishopping online is asdo easy as it gets. carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit

steve rosenberg told me more about russia's response to these possible new sanctions. >> moscow made it quite clear on friday evening that if the eu was to push ahead with further sanctions, then russia would respond, the russian foreign ministry issued a very strong and angry statement on friday evening, and today, in an interview that the russian prime minister dmitri medvedev had given -- what the russian response may be. he said that russia may close its air space to western carriers. that would mean that european airlines, for example, that fly to asia would have to go around russia. that would make the trips longer and more expensive, and mr. medvedev says that would lead to the bankruptcy of a number of western airlines. he also said that sanctions wouldn't work, wouldn't bring peace to ukraine. he also used china as an example of a country which also faced western sanctions after 1989, but didn't change its course. in other words, to say that sanctions wouldn't force russia to change its course on ukraine. >> and russia possibly building its own warships similar to the french