ukraine. she talks about u.s. support for ukraine and the effects sanctions are having on russia. this was at the american enterprise institute. it is an hour. >> i remember that both you and strobe were quite pleased, even happy if this is the right emotion for dip plo mats and the reason for that was the so-called budapest memorandum on security assurances to ukraine signed by the united states, the uk, russia. and ukraine, just two months before in december of 1994, in exchange for ukraine's asession to the treaty on the nonproliferation to nuclear weapons and the pledge to transfer the soviet era nuclear weapons to russia, the cig that tears, i quote, reaffirm their commitment to ukraine's independence on sovereignty and existing borders. refrain from the threat of use of force against territorial integrity or political independence of ukraine. and from economic coercion to subordinate to their interests the exercise by ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty. that's a pretty com

and ukraine, just two months before in december of '94, in exchange for ukraine's asession to the treaty on the nonproliferation to nuclear weapons and the pledge to transfer the soviet era nuclear weapons to russia, the signatories, i quote, reaffirm their commitment to ukraine's independence on sovereignty and existing borders. refrain from the threat of use of force against territorial integrity or political independence of ukraine. and from economic coercion to subordinate to their interests the exercise by ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty. that's a pretty comprehensive list, congratulations, but, but things have changed and where do you think the change has come from and why? >> well, first of all, leon, it's great to be here with you. it's great to be back at aei with so many friends. thank you for coming out. and it is truly interesting to think back that it was 20 years ago that we met and at that point we had so much hope about being able to knit a reforming democratizing russia into the international system that we could lift all boats including the lives of 15

/ukraine relations and russia's violation of the territorial integrity of ukraine. it should get under way momentarily here live on c-span3. meanwhile, back up on capitol hill, the house and senate both coming in today at 2:00 p.m. eastern. the house will take up a number of measures, including one providing short-term drought relief for the state of california, a measure which the administration is opposing. senate comes in at 2:00 p.m. eastern as well. a couple of nomination votes up this afternoon. follow the senate on c-span2 and the house here on c-span. >>> waiting to hear from the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, jeff pyatt. it should be just a moment or two. while we have the chance we'll tell you about some upcoming coverage up on capitol hill on the c-span networks. tomorrow the house oversight committee is meeting to hear from jonathan gruber, an economist at m.i.t. who served as an adviser on both the massachusetts and the affordable care act. he has said that administration officials had intentionally obscured details on the passage of the 2010 law. we will

join nato giving russia cause forward. >> ukraine moving toward nato or nato moving into ukraine couldmething like a cause belly, not for a small conflict that contains somewhere the east of ukraine but to a much, much larger conflict that may effect western countries. >> reporter: just how russia will react to that eventuality will be occupying the minds of putin and his military planners since the crisis began nearly a year ago. the decision by kiev to scrap its nonaligned neutral status has provoked an anticipated angry reaction from the kremlin. the russian prime minister chose his words carefully when he said an application for nato membership will turn ukraine into a potential military opponent. peter sharp, al jazeera in moscow. >>> joining me from birmingham in the u k is richard and political economy at the university of berming ham and member for east european studies and thanks for coming on to the program. how is ukraine's vision today likely to effect the current crisis in the country east where in theory there is supposed to be a ceasefire at the moment. >> yes, on one ha

it's not crisis in ukraine. it is war. it is a russian aggression against ukraine. the question is why many u.s. officials, sometimes in colluding you prefer to use the term crisis instead of using the more correct and appropriate term, aggression and war. and why not use it from today at least? second, three days ago there was the 20th anniversary of the budapest memorandum. ukraine is a little bit bitter feeling about this. don't you think the mechanisms of the budapest memorandum could be used at this moment? for example, in consultations provided by article vi or in other ways? >> all right. last one right there. then you have 30 seconds for each, jeff. >> thank you. eir news. as much assistance as ukraine might need now from the united states and allies abroad the reality is the u.s. policy in the ukraine has nothing to do with ukraine. >> a question, not a statement. >> with destabilizing russia. i'm sure you listened to president putin's remarks at the bicameral address a couple of days ago when he warned -- >> you have 15 seconds. >> he warned the internatio

you gave an upbeat presentation on why this ukraine is not the ukraine of the orange revolution. and i think you're probably right. but you also noted one very important factor which is a negative and you quoted someone who said the votes in the rada reflect moneyed interests. so how in this new ukraine where civil society has greater power than ten years ago do we make sure -- and by we i mean ukraine authorities but people also as well how do we make sure that those monied interests don't hijack the agenda? >> easy question to begin with. a couple of thoughts. and you put your finger on one important aspect of it, which is the resilience of ukrainian civil society, which has been a source of inspiration i think to all of us who have watched ukraine's political evolution over these many months. and again, it's important to note that this coalition agreement which i alluded to was developed with extensive input from ukrainian sil society in a way that would not be unfamiliar to washington. i think part of the answer to this question of how to break the olegark politics nexus lies

/ukraine relations and russia's violation of the territorial integrity of ukraine.is is about an hour. >>> good afternoon, everyone. let me ask you to take your seats and get started. if you haven't turned off your cell phones, please do. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. executive vice president here at the atlantic council. i'm delighted to welcome you today for a discussion with an exceptional front line diplomat. u.s. ambassador to ukraine, geoff pyatt. our conversation today is about the future of ukraine at an existential moment for the country. i would like to offer a special welcome to our distinguished speaker and audience watching online especially all of those in ukraine who tuned in to our live broadcast. i also want to welcome the ambassador of ukraine who is with us. the swedish ambassador as well and other distinguished colleagues. thanks for being with us. ambassador pyatt was sworn in in july of 2013. from the start he's been extraordinarily committed to supporting the ukrainian people's right to choose -- with an independent and secure ukraine.

other countries, compared to a lot of these ex soviet have done better than ukraine has. >> ukraine wanted to engage with the europeans even under former ou ousted president yanukovych. so that's the issue. ukraine is the ugly stepchild. nobody's really interested in it. now we say that we're supporting them. we've got a #diploma #diplomacy for kiev. with all of the visits the cia director the various secretaries going over the european heads of state inviting them to the nato summit, the ukrainian president could be forgiven that he could actually win, that he could defeat the russians militarily in his backyard. that was never going to happen. and that unfortunately is the mistake of the policy we have to live with. >> up next, russia's influence extends far and wide. let russia ." >> like it are onot, the crisis in ukraine is pushing america and the west into a new cold war with russia. in crimea, the peninsula russia seized from ukraine last summer, ukrainian banks have shut their doors in that region. nearly $2 billion in loans have gone delinquent and russia had to compensate

and the way ukraine goes will impact not only the neighborhood and the space between ukraine and the european union and nato space but i think will also have an impact on the kind of future that the people of russia can have. so it is profoundly in the united states' interest that ukraine succeed in its aspiration to be democratic, to be more prosperous to be unified to be more european, to integrate with our economies and to beat the cancer of corruption that has plagued it for so long. and that is why we are putting so much effort into it. it is why we are working so intensively with our european partners and allies, partly with the eeu on increased economic support for ukraine now and that's why we welcome the decision of the congress in a bipartisan fashion to signal its support as well. >> okay. i'll return to corruption and congress. you were in ukraine, i think, first week of october? what did you see? >> you mean this past trip with vice president? >> right. >> i think i've been in ukraine nine times in the last calendar year in various ways, both with bosses and on my own. t

it's struggled against ukraine but because ukraine is not georgia. ukraine is a much bigger entity to take on. i think it's a mistake to continue as we have in the past to sweep these threats and sweep this talk under the rug and say, oh, that's russia being hero. -- being russia. it has too be taken more serious his particularly when putin says i could be in kiev or warsaw in two hours. ... >> and. >>. [laughter] [applause] >> the zen gentleman will come as you make your way back from lunch. if you are just joining us when the egg second director at the foreign policy initiative. welcome to the foreign and defense policy conference we will start off this afternoon first looking at the crisis of the middle east than moving to a panel discussion about russia. that we could not have a more distinguished panel with our ambassador. but was it is framed as the crisis as it progressed it is the chaos of the middle east. to moderate this conversation we have the founder and president of the institute for the study of for an organization whose work i highly

the only scenario i could see is return crimea to ukraine, get out of eastern ukraine, and then maybe we could talk about a finland divinization of ukraine. right now, the fact on the ground are does anyone believe vladimir putin is ready to return crimea which, by the way, was part of a solemn agreement made in budapest when they gave up their nuclear inventory. the territorial integrity of ukraine will be respected including crimea. but some of us knew that as soon as yanukovych amerco and could not live without controlling and that was at risk. it was predict the bowl what vladimir putin would do. i'm predicting it to you now again. maybe the price of oil will have a significant effect on his behavior but it won't be soon. unless he thinks there is a very heavy price to pay, moldova is next. if you talk to the president of estonia and the other baltic countries, you will hear there is enormous pressure. they went into estonia, captured a guy, took him back to russia. does any american know about that? thanks cold war stuff. anyway. i believe that it would be a workable agreement if

ambassador to the ukraine earlier today. 's deputyy the ukraine foreign has accused the u.s.f trying to bring down ukraine. that is echoed by vladimir putin. are they right? >> not at all. our interest is with these grainy and people, helping them to advance their choice to move to closer integration with european institutions. this is not anti-russia. this is pro-ukraine. >> so many people have died. what hope do you hold out for these peace talks that are supposed to restart this week? >> as you say, one of the great tragedies are the hundreds of casualties that have happened since september 5 when the minsk agreement was framed. russia, implemented by it provides a path toward de-escalation. done so.s not it has not withdrawn his forces and heavy weapons. it has not released all the prisoners. talks can gethese the minsk agreement back on track. says het poroshenko will declare a day of silence tomorrow, regardless of what happens in the talks. we hope that happens. there has been too much violence and suffering because of russia's actions. >> russia is facing sanctions fr

it struggled against ukraine, but because ukraine is not georgia, ukraine is a much bigger entity to take on, i think it's a mistake to continue as we have in the past to sweep these threats and talks under the recalling rug and say that's russia being russia, it has to be taken much more seriously, particularly when putin says to poroshenko or barroso, i could be in kiev or riga, or warsaw in two hours. >> let's divide ukraine in half. >> or his defense of the moltov ribbon pact with it secret protocols dividing europe. with response to the questions about the baltic, that's what would make me nervous is putin's talk like that. again, we tend to just say, oh, that's putin being putin. well, putin's a liar. denying the russian forces in crimea and then he admitted he lied. but there are certain things we should pay serious attention to and attention to of people under him. maccar raf is no longer the chair of the [ applause[ applause ] >>> we are live at the newseum in washington, d.c., today, this event hosted by the foreign policy initiative, their annual forum, a group of u.s. amb

part of that is ukraine cutting off banking sources. hospitals do run mostly because staff have been volunteering. people do not have services. a few pensioners who are getting paid are the ones who have managed to reregister in towns under government control to it i asked the ukrainian ambassador to france, i said why doesn't ukraine send money? is not going to turn the east against kiev? he says we cannot send it, it is almost logistically impossible to ensure the money is getting into the right hands. that is the problem the talks have to address. how do you get the economy functioning and the fighting stopping? how do you get all the people, over one million displaced and more than one million outside ukraine, how do you get them back to the region? even to a slight semblance of mahmoudiya. >> thank you. -- even to a slight sibilance of normality. >> thank you. a dozen children have been killed in a militant attack. militants in assam say militants pulled villagers from their homes before shooting them at point blank range. rebels h

there are things in america, you know, ukraine and other countries, ukraine has a large country, has big population acknowledge chuck hagel is leaving and chuck hagel was one of the principal architects. he wrote a report back in 2008, after georgia civil war, he was one of the early advocates of the defense policy, because you had secretary of defense in the first place who didn't believe in it. and now there are changes also in washington. so that might help because ultimately that is world order we are talking about. >> what about the understanding that the west wouldn't press too close to russia, the pressure is put on russia because many of its neighbors are nato members and it's cornered in. >> it's not about we irritated russia, there are lots of useful idiots in the west that are saying, that was our fault. hitler had his interests, we should understand. putin was doing before second world war and saying what was -- he was saying before second world war. so the reality is that putin would have gone aggressive and no matter what, from the very beginning he proclaimed this was

the approach to russia and ukraine?> i think right now it has worked towards the i wanted of year and as a consequence of broader . the wist got the motivation when a plane was shot down in ukraine by pro-russian separatists. those sanctions did not bite and did not have a punitive affect on russia's economy until later this year. the reason they did, one, russia was already entering a recession in the beginning of the year. prices had been in a downward to trajectory all year long, and it hurt the budget. these made moves independent of us brought the economic crisis upon russia. that and russia's old central bank mismanaged the crisis. it was only at the end of the year that the financial sanctions have compressed the situation of russia so much that it evolved into a currency crisis. a currency crisis that they probably would not have had otherwise. >> now this year has marked russia being much more interested in what used to be the near abroad. places like belarus and ukraine, does it mean that it's taken its eye of

eight months of fighting in eastern ukraine.alks in the belarus capital were expected to resume on friday but now postponed indefinitely emma hayward reports. >> reporter: representatives from both sides make the final check for the hands over of prisoners in eastern ukraine fox, some here the ordeal is over. and they are finally able to come home. >> they picked me up at the check point of i came to visit me brother and they picked me up. i ended up at the airport where they tortured me. >> reporter: this is a step forward in easing the hostilities that engulfed eastern ukraine for months. it's taking place against a backdrop of a garage ill ceasefire. in a conflict that has left more than 4 1/2 thousand people dead. moscow has long denied backing the rebels who are still in control of parts of eastern ukraine. kiev says it's still fighting against what it believes is russian influence. >> translator: they have transformed ukraine from their extrstrategic partner to their a teaming i object enemy. we will not forgive them. neit

one would for priorities, it's ukraine. vladimir putin told the we were journalist "i'm a tiger, this is my forest and jungle" here i can do whatever much that is a jungle law introduced in all the world. he's implementing it. the problem is there can be no deal. vladimir putin says you care about i.s.i.s., i care about the country. the only problem is when he goes after a country, he's going after the west. he's seeing it as against the united states and the west. that's how the deal cannot be made. there's a major discrepancy out there. when he sees it as the west, the irony is ukraine, like georgia, is not a member of the e.u., and is not a member of the n.a.t.o. they get so much support from the west. it's a careful ploy. >> well, this is complicated situation. west has a lot of liver ridge, what can be done? lots of things. they start to work. reality - oil price is key to the situation. the west can implement lower or keep the oil price at a level or bring it a little lower. if it stays, goes to 60, vladimir putin dea

ukraine is nowhere near that.t doesn't mean it's impossible or that it can't have nato aspirations in the long run, but ukraine has to recognize that this is a long way away, and i think that's something that nato recognizes and there's nothing wrong with acknowledging it. in the mean tile they can do whatever they need to do to join nato that would be a smart move on its part. >> what is russia going to do in 2015? i mean essentially the facts on the ground in ukraine and crimea and eastern ukraine are frozen. ukraine continues to edge back on any dealings it has with eastern ukraine, at the same time russia is not recognizing that'sern ukraine will be part of russia. is that how i stays for 2015? or is there some resolution to come? >> well, there's still fighting in east ukraine. right? there are still people dying in east ukraine. it's cold. people are having trouble staying warm. there are huge refugee flows. this is a hot conflict and i think that -- and there are continuing talks and conversations. they jus

join nato and giving russia cause forward. >> ukraine moving toward nato or nato moving into ukrainesomething like a cause belly, not for a small conflict, contained somewhere in the east of ukraine but to a much larger conflict that may effect western countries. >> reporter: just how russia will react to that will occupy putin and planners since the crisis began nearly a year ago and the decision of kiev to scrap the neutral status has an angry reaction from the kremlin. the russian prime minister chose his words carefully when he said an application for nato membership will turn ukraine into a potential military opponent. peter sharp, al jazeera in moscow. >>> russia prime minister says his country is at risk of falling into a deep recession if the government abandons its spending plans, on monday russian regulators forced to bail out a leading retail bank and western sanctions and crumbling oil prices hit the economy hard. the rubble plunged to record lows last week and central bank forced to raise interest rate. yan randolph is the director of sovereign risk analysis of ihs at gl

crimea wasn't looking to break-away from ukraine. crimea was part of ukraine since 1954. and putin wants to revisit all the international agreements and understandings, particularly in the post cold war period which opens up an enormous pandora's box. we shouldn't facilitate that. we should take the same approach toward crimea that we did toward the baltic states after they were absorbed by the soviet union where we never recognized their annexation and we should maintain that position and keep the sanctions in place until crimea returns to ukraine. the first sanctions were imposed in march of this year because of russia's annexation of ukraine. and until that's undone, i don't see any reason to lift those sap sanctions, i don't see any reason to recognize crimea as part of ukraine. you can't even pretend -- part of russia. you can't even pretend that the referendum was serious. no one can organize a referendum in two weeks. and give than there were troops on the ground even if they weren't wearing identifying insignia, people are intimidated by that very kind of environm

would benefit ukraine. >> ukraine is subject to attacks from its neighbour. annexation of part of that territory. it's understandable why a country stand to be a defense ialliance. in order to defend itself and its sovereignty. >> that said, this is a long way from ukraine joining n.a.t.o. it's removing something imposed drg anna cove itch years, but to join n.a.t.o., it would have to meat the arnds of membership and all would have to agree by consensus. >>> russia's foreign minister warped that it would heighten texture in the east. >> what would be behind the objections to kiev joining n.a.t.o. >> russia developed a response that it wants to have a say over all its adjoining saint. it wans a say over the affairs of neighbouring estates. for ukraine to assert its own independence and sovereign way, nighs in the face for the russian imperial agenda. russia maintained the negative image. n.a.t.o. moved on, deal with crisis around the world. russia maintained the enemy image of n.a.t.o., seeing ukraine would then bring n.a.t.o. closer to russia's borders and ru

of russian reservists in ukraine itself. the president's point of view, again, i think robust in his defense of why he feels russia needs to be involved and his concern about the fallout following what he described as the coup d'etat, whichever side of the fence you sit on this, putin is effectively restated the view that he thinks it is in russia's national interests and in the interests of those russian speakers in the east to be protected. the president did, though, i think, put out an olive branch of sorts when he talked about moscow wanting to be involved in negotiating a settlement or a resolution. but, again, just coming back to his comments on ukraine, so much of it is about national pride and about russia taking an active role in being seen to defend russian speakers in the east of ukraine and just to quote what he had to say, and he used this bear analogy, should a bear just sit quietly and eat honey, it would be perceived, i think he said, as a stuffed bear if it didn't act. the comments clearly on the ukraine hav

i think there's a lot of confusion in minsk and ukraine itself. petro porashenko announced in the last 12 hours that the talks will go ahead. but if you talk to the donetsk people's republic, the rebels who will be part of the talks, there doesn't seem to be a framework for this important talk to get together. don't forget it was in september of this year that the first minsk talks came up with a shaky ceasefire, and abortive ceasefire, and 4,700 died. the pressure is on to make them come to the table and sit down. ordering to petro porashenko, the talks are due to start tomorrow. there'll be a day off for christmas day and they'll finish on the 26th. no indication as to whether this plan will go ahead. >> thank you, peter sharp. >> algerian forces killed the leader of the group behind the killing of a french tourist. he was killed 30km east of algiers, a veteran of the armed insurgency in the 1990s, and is accused of abducting a frenchman and beheading him in september >>> india's ruling hindu national ist b.j.p. party secured 25 seats in indian

the only scenario i could see is return crimea to ukraine, get out of eastern ukraine, and then maybeould talk about a finland divinization of ukraine. right now, the fact on the ground are does anyone believe vladimir putin is ready to return crimea which, by the way, was part of a solemn agreement made in budapest when they gave up their nuclear inventory. the territorial integrity of ukraine will be respected including crimea. but some of us knew that as soon as yanukovych amerco and could not live without controlling and that was at risk. it was predict the bowl what vladimir putin would do. i'm predicting it to you now again. maybe the price of oil will have a significant effect on his behavior but it won't be soon. unless he thinks there is a very heavy price to pay, moldova is next. if you talk to the president of estonia and the other baltic countries, you will hear there is enormous pressure. they went into estonia, captured a guy, took him back to russia. does any american know about that? thanks cold war stuff. anyway. i believe that it would be a workable agreement if some

moscow accuses ukraine of threatening peace in europe. kiev announced securities and concerns when they announced the suspension of all transportation services to the career and peninsula -- to the crime year an they did not say how long they would be in effect. >> let's go live to the region. we will be talking to our correspondent in the ukraine. first, to our bureau chief. the previous military doctrine talked about international terrorism, political extremism as the main threats to the country. now, he is calling nato a major threat. how should we be interpreting this? >> it is the expansion to the east that they consider a major threat as well as destabilization of several regions of the world. ukraine, syria, and they identify meddling into internal affairs of russia as a key risk factor. this new doctrine reflects a mood of anxiety within the kremlin that president vladimir could be toppled in russia. this is not so much a doctrine which poses a threat to global peace. >> so, worries within the kremlin, it seems that it is ever mor

ukraine is not asking the u.s. to defend it against russia but instead to provide it with the means with which it can defend its people and its sovereignty. but the administration has refused to do so. instead, restricting u.s. assistance to small amounts of nonlethal goods and equipment. as ukraine's president said when he addressed us in congress in september, one cannot win a war with blankets. ukraine is clearly in need of urgent military assistance. the administration must act quickly to equip it with the means, not just to clothe its soldiers, but to stop tanks as well. the assault on ukraine isn't being carried out by military means alone. putin has also attempted to use economic coercion on ukraine. he has used russia's supply of energy to ukraine and to other countries including many in the european union as a political weapon, shutting off deliveries in the middle of winter. the united states and our friends and allies in europe and around the world are taking action to ensure that he and his regime pay a

it's not crisis in ukraine. it is war. it is a russian aggression against ukraine. the question is why many u.s. officials, sometimes including you, prefer to use the term crisis instead of using the more correct and appropriate term aggression and war. and why not use it from today at least? second, three days ago there was the 20th anniversary of the budapest memorandum. ukraine is a little bit bitter feeling about this. don't you think the mechanisms of the budapest memorandum could be used at this moment, for example, in consultations provided by article vi or in some other ways? all right. last one right there. then you have 30 seconds for each, jeff. >> thank you. eir news. as much assistance as ukraine might need right now from the united states and allies abroad, the reality is the u.s. policy in the ukraine has nothing to do with ukraine. >> a question, not a statement. >> it has everything to do with destabilizing russia.[7r)o cf1 o i'm sure you listened to president putin's remarks at the bicameral address a couple of days ago when he warned -- >> you hav

they cross into ukraine at a border crossing controlled by separatists.m the taxi they're taking to their destination, they can see the debris of war all around. elina is to stay in luhansk and help organise humanitarian aid. russian volunteer fighters have gathered in abandoned apartments here. their residents, presumably ukrainians opposed to the pro-russian separatists, have long since fled. the men set off for the front, which is just half an hour away. the volunteer batallion "dawn" comprises about 500 fighters. one unit of about fifty men has set up camp in a derelict factory compound. all the tanks but one are out of commission. yura arrived yesterday, with valentin. it is his first time on the frontline. he is shown how to use a kalashnikov assault rifle. as a youngster he had military training, but that was many years ago. yura says he does not know how long he will stay here. yura is not a good shot. but professionalism is secondary to commitment here. >> i came because i could not bear stand by and watch what is going on. i came as fast as i co

they cross into ukraine at a border crossing controlled by separatists.m the taxi they're taking to their destination, they can see the debris of war all around. elina is to stay in luhansk and help organise humanitarian aid. russian volunteer fighters have gathered in abandoned apartments here. their residents, presumably ukrainians opposed to the pro-russian separatists, have long since fled. the men set off for the front, which is just half an hour away. the volunteer batallion "dawn" comprises about 500 fighters. one unit of about fifty men has set up camp in a derelict factory compound. all the tanks but one are out of commission. yura arrived yesterday, with valentin. it is his first time on the frontline. he is shown how to use a kalashnikov assault rifle. as a youngster he had military training, but that was many years ago. yura says he does not know how long he will stay here. yura is not a good shot. but professionalism is secondary to commitment here. >> i came because i could not bear stand by and watch what is going on. i came as fast as i co

that paved the way for ukraine's possible entry into the ukraine. >> what do the warring parties hope to achieve at these talks? monitoring developments from moscow for us. and they outlined the topics up for discussion. >> we must not forget that these talks are preliminary talks that could pave the way for a second meeting on friday. what we will try to discuss is a prisoner swap. a withdrawal of arms and troops from the front lines and most important, to make sure that key of lift the embargo against the regions in eastern ukraine. and they'll try to achieve special status for this region. this is the most controversial issue and it makes these peace talks so difficult. >> the central asian nation of courage or stand has signed an agreement to become a member of the eeu. >> it aims to boost free trade and coordinate financial systems among its members. it has strong links to moscow, thousands of citizens working in russia. >> the russian ruble losing so much value in recent weeks, many have been returning home. >> for years, he worked in russia. until now, the money made it worth t

none of this existed two months ago until ukraine decided to take control of its border with russia. >> do you see any movement on the other side? >> no, it's all quiet. >> the aim is to isolate rebels and the tour russian incursions into ukraine which kiev claims are commonplace. the defenses include ditches and vehicle barriers with the military alleging progress is monitored by moscow. >> a day does not go by with a helicopter flying at low altitude for verification. >> the barrier also veers into ukrainian territory, cutting of separatists who control the cities of donetsk and others. instead, kiev is using economic warfare. no pensions or public salaries are being paid, and so every morning people go into the city's only open bank trying to withdraw the last of their money. >> so what do you live on? >> i saw the last of my savings. >> construction will take 54 months but there is no estimate for how long the barrier will remain. >> the countdown is on to what nasa is hailing as the first death in mankind's journey to mars. in just a few minutes time, the orion spacecraft is exp

i see it spreading, and i don't see near-term solution for problems in ukraine. no, i wouldn't be relaxing. >> thank you for joining us for "inside story." steve hanke, please stay with us. the set of jet fuel has increased the price of flying. when we come back, the cost of >> welcome back to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. with the winter holidays just around the corner. you're probably thinking all of this talk about low oil prices might make it a good time to buy airplane tickets. but that may not be the case. airline profits are expected to grow 26%, to $25 billion worldwide. the extra money goes into planned overhead, maintaining and buying flames, expanding flight networks. airfares may drop but not by much. some on capitol hill are curious how legal that is. >> oil prices, which is half the cost of running an airline are way down. why are prices way up. i'm asking the department of transportation and the department of justice to fully investigate why airline prices aren't following oil prices and going down when oil prices makeup about 50% of the airlines

we are proud of the partnership with ukraine. i would point out ukraine is a global leader. ukraine's role in president obama's nuclear security summit was one of the most important of any country. it is a country which has made the right choices on nuclear disarmament and the world is a safer place as a result of the choices ukraine has made. it is important that we do all we can to up uphold and help ukraine to defend its own territorial integrity. that's why president obama has led the international effort in imposing a cost on russia for its violation of ukraine 's territorial integrity. that's why we have worked as hard as we have on the sanctions regime. which is intended to affect russia's calculation. on the question of russia i would note i have been clear on the record from the days of my confirmation we think over the long term russia should see this as a win-win proposition which is anchored in european institutions with access to european markets should represent an economic community for companies. president poroshenko head a free trade zone in the donbass regi

without ukraine, it is difficult to envision that new russia. i do not think it was a mistake to enter those negotiations. and i don't know which one of us is willing to suppress the operations of other peoples for the same freedoms we enjoy in the united states. >> senator mendez, sometimes i think i am watching changing parties. this was a fascinating discussion. thank you so much for joining us. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] close in just about an hour in louisiana. statewide on the ballot, the u.s. senate seat currently held by democrat mary landrieu. her challenger is republican congressman bill cassidy. we plan to bring you the results revealed tonight. that is tonight on c-span. event on law enforcement training at use of force was at the national law enforcement museum. discuss flaws in the justice system. they also discuss militarization of police departments and betwee

the criterion will be what's happening on the ground in ukraine. and the -- there's not enough additional bad stuff happening, i think, to persuade certainly germany and the other european governments that now is the time to increase sanctions further. they're not ready to lift it, either. >> on a trade basis, if we see hikened rates again, would that say that the ruble is a buying opportunity, even if the micex might want be? >> absolutely. i think this becomes more .more interesting. i mentioned earlier on the show that the situation on the ground in southeastern ukraine is actually improving, relative. obviously, in humanitarian terms, it's still desperate. but there are steps to resolve the conflict. meanwhile, oil has had its fall. who is to say that there would be further action. but clearly, some kind of market derivative seems to be found. meanwhile, the central bank in europe is pumping out liquidity. the european union, especially turkey, but russia is waiting there with a fantastic rates trade if the drivers allow it. >> chris thanks ver

u were in ukraine,hink, rsweek ofcter what did y see? >> u an ts pastri wit vice president -- yeah,right. >> i think' been ukraine eight,ine times the last calendar year. vioay bthit boes and on my n. this lastri was, follow the --as in november wh vice esent biden, ande were there afr t electns athe raia we working to rm aovnmt. wet that poin advocang a broad coalition gernment with a very strong reform program. as you s abo a week later, that governmenwas formewith larg number ofechnocrats wi ls exrice in the econom inarticular. asyou saw, the government t forward a relativelyobt and concre reform aendancdi things like cutting the plic sect by10 including bad decerazaon of tax auory, includingstng measures again rruption. th ukrainian parliament enrsed that which wa by a very we margin which speaks t stro sport acrs raia parties toeler on what the ukrainian peop ask aforn those elecon now theyav t impme, and as th ilentwe have to ctinue to supporthe >> let's talk about the u.s. rategy. when y spo to the sate ren ratns committee thi pas

russian ballet stars dazzle to help young dancers in war-torn ukraine. the greek parliament passes its latest parliament despite protests and opposition. ♪ first, syria has accused israel of bombing its main international airport in damascus. it went on to ask the u.n. to slap sanctions on israel calling the strike a heinous crime against it. israel has launched a series of similar airstrikes inside syria since the war began three years ago. israeli raids are targeting iranian targets bound for militant group hezbollah. let's bring in our correspondent. israel is still neither conforming or denying it is behind these strikes. >> absolutely. this has been the case ever since these allegations happened. allegations, according to which the israeli air force conducted airstrikes on to syria. the nature of the targets is not very clear. every time there are reports of those being linked to military activity perhaps. no confirmation, no denial from israeli officials. probably going to stay that way. the only thing you can get from those israelis who do speak w

he said he's not changing his position on ukraine. do you pick up indications of perhaps he's more willing to at least talk? >> the prime minister said the other day that it was up to the ukrainian people to decide whether they wanted con federation or autonomy or whatever. another interesting shift. those who watch the ceasefire are reporting for the last week and a half that it is held. that particularly on the separatist side, where we had a lot of violations, it seems to be holding. i would look at these as signs and pour tents of the possibility for -- portents for the possibility of change ratified today by the statements about the president. >> the white house has today signed legislation that would allow for more sanctions. >> it would. >> should the west keep up the pressure and put more sanctions? >> i think the west should keep up the pressure but i'd like to see a little more designing of the doors. we would like to see mr. putin walk through. including putting together a program for rebuilding ukraine's economy. after all