that was an unfortunate development of the viktor yanukovych years. at this point there's a consensus on a road ahead involving the revision of the constitution and meaningful devaluation of authority. there was a depp utation by the deputy prime minister who is leading the effort to advance the goal of devery well use. and as the deputy prime minister puts it to build structures of garchance that look like other european democracies. >> the talks are going forward without participation from the pro-russians actions and the government said it doesn't want to net with groups with blood on their hands. how can the talks succeed without their involved. they showed a lot of independence arguably from vladimir putin and russia. >> an important thing to remember is a small number of people with guns in the government buildings, in the east of donetsk and lugansk do not speak for all the people, not for all of ukraine, they are not elected. the elected authorities, the politic political leaders participated actively in the roundtable. they speak for the ukra

mr viktor yanukovych said he wanted to postpone the signing of the agreement with the e.u.e didn't cancel it, he postponed it. he suggested trilateral negotiations between the e.u., ukraine and moscow. a reasonable step. at the time the e.u. said no, we'll only talk to kiev. so these negotiations took place recently in geneva, but it was too late. so many tragic events happened. the top lipping of viktor yanukovych, the russian take over - we needed the tragic event for the side to start talking. >> in geneva, the west, they refused to see the representatives. they said we are only going to talk to russia, and the west delayed. whatever we speak or say about the uprising in the east of ukraine, there may be gun men, but there are lots of civilians. if you watch the western television, you can't avoid seeing that request bility a lot of people protesting much. these are old women, children, middle age women who don't trust the new government. >> thank you for joining us from moscow. i want to go to odessa, we have more after the fire on friday. let's talk to jonah hull, who

the west felt were trumped up by viktor yanukovych. who is now in russia. she wants closer ties with russia. the person that she is fighting for second or third place with according to the polls of last week is someone interest the east. critical of crack downs in the east, what is called terrorist and wants the rights of the russian speakers defenders. he's less pro-european union. they are broadly the three main candidates. 17 in total, two on the far right garnering no more than 1%, making for a wide choice for the voters. there's probably only about three people in the running seriously. >> thank you very much. nick spicer in the ukranian capital. >>> let's go to the east of the country, this is where we were expecting so much tension. hoda abdel-hamid is live for us in an area close to donetsk, the unofficial capital of this part of the country. how are people turning out. are they managing to cast their votes? . >> reporter: well there are few that made their way to the ballot boxes and this polling station, 10% of the registered

from a tilt towards moscow in kiev to counterdemonstrations that pulled down the government of viktor yanukovycho a creeping russia, to the eruption of protests across eastern ukraine, to what we have today, a situation inching closer to all-out fighting to russian alined irregular forces and ukranian military forces. as uptions and storming the buildings spread, the kiev government threatened retaliation and publicly acknowledged it lost before the fighting began. when the ukrainian government fought back, russia, a foreign country, warned ukraine about trying to reoccupy its open government buildings on its own soil. the tempo of fighting is increasing and people continue to die. >> reporter: pro-russian forces brought down two military helicopters in slovyansk - one using a sophisticated surface-to-air missile. this man is said to be a survivor. two other helicopter crew members were killed, along with a pro-russian militiaman. it was the first sign of the kiev government's counteroffensive to reclaim the eastern part of the country. >>. >> operations are ongoing, casualties mounting as an of

it is the first vote since viktor yanukovych was removed from power. president putin aggravated he would respect the outcome. joining us, it's good to have you on the program. i know its late--well, it's first thing in the morning there, so thank you for staying up with us. take a moment here and assess for me the threat to this election this weekend from the pro russian militants in the eastern part of the country. >> well, i don't think that they are a threat to the election overall. they are active in two of the eight russian speaking regions of eastern and southern ukraine, so we're talking about 25 districts. there are estimates if it could be polled in the polling regio s of doneskt and luhansk. >> how likely is it thin that a mostly successful, mostly pauseful election could actually be a turning point in this crisis? well, it's a turning point in the sense that it varies in history the president who fled bacback to russia. he can no longer say that he is the legitimate elected president of ukraine. they can begin to start a new chapter. that's

he would be ukraine's first elected official since the ousting of viktor yanukovych in february. that's what kicked this whole thing off. ukraine will have a whole lot on their played. erect economy, pro russian separatists in the east and ultra nationalists in the west. and a whopping gas bill that ukraine owes the gas company in russia. many think that poroshenko is pragmatic enough to negotiate the political minefield and tensions in russia. >> he needs her vote and the country probably does need something like a savior. petro poroshenko is far ahead in the polls but still doing retail politics. >> just the firshe won't be ukrt billionaire president. just the first one who didn't become one while being president. >> his money comes from people's sweet tooth and the chocolate and candy brand. he said he'll sell that company if elected but not his tv channel. it's coverage of the protest in kiev last winter saved the country. his stand for the demonstrators and his stand before the police gained the respect of many. in 2004 he helped viktor yanukovych lead the orange revolution,

. >> professor, in the weeks after the ouster of viktor yanukovych there was a lot of reluctance on the part of vladimir putin's government to even talk to anybody in kiev. will they be more prepared to talk to whoever is thosen in the may 25th ballot when the time comes. well with there be a chance now to have more normal relations between these two neighbors. it is possible do say that was the main point. the next point is to say this has to be a system that is flexible enough to allow for the minority. to express themselves. and they could say the points are made, and they have already been speaking more with leaders of the ukrainian can establishment. and those conversations have been about ways in which the constitutional order might be changes in ukraine. which russia would satisfy both the ethnic question, the matter of russian speaker whose feel more aligned with russia, but have also satisfy russia's political question, which is to give them the pretext for being further involved down the road if necessary. so there are already signs of that. >> mr. knicks, your organization is

he belongs to the same party as viktor yanukovych, the former president. he'll not garner most votes, and then the chocolate king, petro porashenko. this guy has a lot of traction. his team and private briefings tells me that he's polling not only 48%, but closer to 60% and they think he's a good chance of getting this on the first round. he has made a lot of promises to everyone. increased security, he will beef up the military, deal with the separatists, deal with russia, poll the country closer to europe and told me yesterday in a question when he met with some of the e.u. foreign ministers when i asked him about n.a.t.o., he said it's possible if security worsens they'll look at joining n.a.t.o. he made a lot of promises, but the people want massive government transformation. he has ukraine, russia an one hand giving them a big challenge in the east, and internally in the country. the demonstrators have not gone away, and they will not wait long. he ipp her its the presidency -- inherits the presidency, but has massive challenges ahead of him in office

polls isfeature of the a region of ukraine as people used to vote for viktor yanukovych. now it seems very disappointing. they don't really know who to vote for. how they should vote. reports show that more than 60% arehe voters in ukraine saying that they won't vote or they are not decided yet. they do not have any candidate who they can support. actually, if you look at the candidates, one person represents the former presidential party. one of them used to working government. theof them used to be governor of one of the regions. the radicals could be represented by these candidates. people seem to be disappointed with the former government. and havel do not know not found anything new. they think about who could represent them. this is in the eastern region. is the most undecided. in eastern ukraine, there are mike or regions -- micro regions. not all of them will it be able to vote. they could travel to other parts of ukraine. they have these checkpoints. it could be really dangerous. also in crimea, there is an opportunity for people who want to vote in the elections

sunday's vote decides who replaces the regime of viktor yanukovych.sia's president, vladimir putin saying he will respect the will of the people. >> reporter: there was a fight between two militias today. there was a proukrainian militia that was newly formed, was traveling along a road about 20 kilometers outside of donetsk when it says it was ambushed by another militia, this one being pro-russian. there was a fierce battle between the two. each side said the other side had the highest toll of casualties. certainly when we arrived at the scene several hours later, we did see at least one body still laying on the ground. it was the body of one of the pro-ukrainians and the pro-russians were accusing him of being from the ultra right groups, the, quote unquote, fascists that are ruling kiev. but this underlines one of the biggest threats that you have a lot of weapons in the hands of a lot of militias, and they are more willing to fight each other than perhaps the government forces are willing to tackle on these pro-russian separatists. >> hoda abdel

. >> you chase the government of viktor yanukovych out. ukranian forces, but with massive western support. >> absolutely. >> there were scheduled presidential elections for 2015. if you guys in the west wanted to help us get rid of viktor yanukovych, why not wait and let the democratic process work. >> interesting. >> so, you know, it's di, the whole thing. >> the question becomes, the factive president was willing to localize the power. eastern ukrainians were granted more control and minority rights to the ethnic russians, is that the solution. >> it's a huge part of the solution. when they go into the direction of moscow, they say we are not necessarily interested in the independence of this region, and then joining the russian federation the way crimea did. this is a different story, a much larger area. very expensive to do this. for russia to ab sorb this pleas. there's a discrepancy for what russia pays for pensions for retirees and crimea. oil and gas, military pensions. oil and gas in the donetsk region has to be lowered. russia st

a minister under ousted president viktor yanukovych has become an ardent supporter of the revolutionary movement. >> i will fight for the support of the international community to ensure security in eastern ukraine and to bring crimea back home. >> this message has garnered him widespread support among ukrainian voters. the self-made billionaire is known as a moderate and pragmatist, but the ukrainian army and security forces loyal to kiev cannot guarantee voters will be able to cast their ballots in safety in eastern ukraine. in breakaway donetsk, only half of all polling locations are expected to open. staff at other locations say they will stay home because of separatist threats. >> these tensions between ukraine and russia have ramifications for the german business community, forcing executives to look at more than just their bottom line. >> germany is deeply invested in the russian market, and it is a delicate act here, balancing geopolitics and balance sheets. >> here is more from the international forum in st. petersburg. >> there was never any question he was going to st. peters

the state of affairs in the east, and said they have been ignored since the former president viktor yanukovych had been ousted and they blamed them for the things that have engulfed this region. you find less and less on the street who are willing open to tell you their opinion, you have to go to a side road and then they speak to you. >> interesting. lots of grievances they be in that part of the ukraine. that's hoda abdel-hamid. that's north-west of donetsk in the east of ukraine. let's move to other news and there are more anti-coup demonstrations in thailand where people are taking to the streets, despite a warning from the army chief not to join the demonstrations. >> i want you to avoid joining the protests. right now the usual democratic system cannot operate normally. as for the transfers of civil servants, police and military personnel we insist there was no intention to dishonour them or an agency. it was necessary to decrease the pressure. >> scott heidler has more from bangkok. >> reporter: defying orders from the government several hundred protesters against the coup gathered in t

ukrainians will be voting in the first election since the ousting of president viktor yanukovych in februarybut there are already signs that pro-russian militants could disrupt the process. half of the election districts in the east have been unable to prepare because their offices have either been seized or blocked by armed men. with so much at stake, the vote is crucial for the legitimacy of the government in kiev. >> final preparations in kiev, election officials are trying to make sure that alex make it to every polling station in the country. voters are being asked to choose who ukraine's next president from among 19 candidates. there is optimism. think a lot of people are willing to vote because they lots came to our polling station to check whether there are voters lists. >> but tensions remain high in ukraine's east amid reports that pro-russian militants are intimidating voters and wrecking polling stations. is that these elections are bloody elections. blood has been spilt, and no one is being held accountable. how can we trust the current government when they are in a state that h

he backed the pro-european uprising that ousted pro-russian president viktor yanukovych in february. however, his may not be a cross-country victory. separatists in some places have vowed to block voting. european election monitors are appealing for calm. >> we ask for stopping the bloodshed. we ask for the cessation of all violence. >> reporter: but some eastern residents are doubtful, so they've formed offense units to form checkpoints and keep the separatists out. they, like many others, blame russian leaders for fueling this unrest. president vladimir putin has denied that, and this week he announced thousands of russian troops parked at the border with ukraine would return to their bases. it appears a pullout is under way, but nato's top commander in europe says it's too early to tell. >> what we do know is that the force that remains on the border is very large, and it's very capable and remains in a very coercive posture. >> reporter: and so after six months of turmoil, normalcy in ukraine seems a long way off. the only clear result of sunday's presidential vote is that the wi

in a hotly disputed move, moscow raised gas prices in february after ukraine's then president viktor yanukovych was ousted from power. >> about 500 african migrants successfully stormed a spanish enclave on the border with morocco early this morning. >> the city mayor says a section of a tall wire border and had partially collapsed, enabling some to cross. many of those who made it over then headed to the city's temporary migration center to have their cases process. >> spain recently beefed up security in the area because of increased attempts by migrants trying to enter to get into the european union. >> hundreds of refugees stream through the streets. first, they will be registered as an immigration center. then some of them may be sent to the spanish mainland. the outlook there is bleak with austerity in place and high unemployment. but it is apparently a vast improvement on conditions these people have left behind. the region lies on the northern coast of africa, one of two spanish exclaims on the continent. both port towns are under heavy security, patrolled by both spanish and moroccan p

the first and only billionaire, oligarch, if you will, to join the protesters in calling for viktor yanukovych to step down. this guy has thrived in a variety of environments. president putin, and he thinks he is someone that he can deal with. clearly, with the conflict between the ukraine and russia, that will be challenging. >> there is also an increase, and unrest, since the elections, ryan? >> that is right. he made it very clear he plans to unite ukrainians, and the first thing he did, even though he is not the commander-in-chief just yet, just the president elect, but sign off on a ratcheting up of operations in the east of the country, which is interesting because the kremlin warned them not to do that. the ukrainians have not just ground troops, but they have warplanes, helicopter gun ships, and they have been fighting rebels in the east of the country very actively, reporting that they have killed dozens of rebels just today, in addition to taking back a regional air force -- airport that the separatists took yesterday. he is showing he will not roll over in this conflict and not let

are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened in crimea after the fall of pro-moscow president viktor yanukovych. voters there held a referendum in march, and decided to join russia. then, president vladimir putin annexed the republic. he's accused of sending in arms and agents to fuel the unrest so he could eventually send in troops under the pretense of protecting ethnic russians. putin and members of his administration have denied that again and again. he said in a statement that ukraine must withdraw all military units from the southeast, stop the violence, and immediately start a national dialogue that would involve all regions and all political forces. ukrainian soldiers have been manning checkpoints on the outskirts of the occupied area. but in the capital, they held an exercise to test the response to a threat on a government building. the head of the state guard said they performed a task well. farther west, police and volunteers set up checkpoints on roads leading to leveu. they're trying to prevent pro-russian separatists from entering the city. residents know it's unlikely this will

demonstrators camped out there for months and ended up driving former president viktor yanukovych from office. u.s. secretary of state john kerry spoke over the phone with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. they discussed the separatist movement in eastern ukraine. kerry pressed lavrov to end all support for the militants. >> he also urged russia to reach out to president-elect poroshenko and begin working to the to de-escalate the conflict. >> she said kerry pushed lavrov to get the militants to lay down their arms. >>> egypt's former army chief has won a divisive victory to become the country's new president, but some of abdel fattah al sisi's opponents are questioning the results. local media said with most of the ballots counted, sisi had won more than 92% of the vote. but they say fewer than half of eligible voters turned out. and sisi faced only one other contender. >> translator: egypt's economy will now develop. >> translator: cheers to the country's new leader. i will follow his ideas. >> sisi led a group of generals last july that overthrew then-president mohamed morsi.

polls to elect a new president months after they rose up and ousted their pro-russian president viktor yanukovychbut there are serious questions about whether the country will be able to hold a legitimate election. pro-russian separatists who have been rising up against the central government say they will block the vote from happening and have been seen smashing ballot boxes in the eastern part of the country. meanwhile here in kiev, though preparations have been finalized, observers and international officials are on hand to observe the voting process tomorrow, but not everyone is happy about the political landscape that has emerged in ukraine after the revolution. in fact some of the most notable revolutionaries that have demonstrated here in kiev have actually complained that the candidates running in tomorrow's election don't represent the change that they want and in fact represent the past corrupt system. meanwhile, russia's president, vladimir putin, made a surprise announcement today saying his country, russia, would respect and deal with the winner of tomorrow's election. lester. >> aym

capital, kiev, to independence square, where protesters were demanding the ouster of president viktor yanukovych. widely criticized as a corrupt leader, he had rejected a trade deal with the european union in favor of one with his close ally, russian president vladimir putin. one of the first people i met was dmytro holubnychy. the 16-year-old student told me what he'd experienced a few days before in the square still haunted him. >> (translated): i can't sleep. whenever i try to sleep, smoke appears before my eyes and the image of that man being killed. >> jones: dmytro told me how he'd come to the square to join the protestors. early on his first morning, fighting broke out with riot police. (police shouting commands) dmytro's father filmed what happened to him and his son. >> i woke up at 6:00, and they told me we were under attack from the riot police. i didn't expect my father to come, but he found me and he started filming it all. i found a wooden shield and told my friend to follow me because he's smaller than me. so we started moving forward with the shield and with molotov cocktails, an

> so the president elect, petro poroshenko is from the same party as the out offed president viktor yanukovych. what makes him different? >> he is the consummate political chameleon and politician. he served in the cabinet of viktor uchenka, in the orange revolution in twown. 2004. i think that reflects an ability to compromise. on the other hand, maybe it reflects the degree to which people can trust him. >> he has to walk this very delicate line doesn't he, the line, where he needs to improve the security situation in his country. will he be able to square that circle? >> that remains to be he be seen. if they are going to put ukraine back together again in any meaningful sense, i think the bigger challenge will be as we saw on the introduction, what he does with respect to the east, particularity luhansk and donetske. does he sit down and negotiate with these people over decentralization if not federalization of the country, the status of the russian language, a neutral status for ukraine and so forth. >> i got to ask you, it's been a while since you've been on the program. in previous conv

he is nicknamed the chocolate king, but was a minister in the government of viktor yanukovych. he is believed to be pro-russian. known as a pragmatist is vladimir putin's recent more conciliatory tone because of petro porashenko, that he's more comfortable and what he may mean for the future? >> that's a good question. no one that i have talked to, and certainly not i, can understand what is going on in mr vladimir putin's head. i don't know what is making him move back and say he's moving his troops back, and say that he things that his elections on sunday are a step in the right direction. what is drew is that mr petro porashenko represents a moderate middle. as you say, he's served on both sides of recent administrations. he is widely regarded as a good economist, as a good manager. there's no allegations that i have heard of corruption in his past. i think mr putin will have a good inter-locketture there when they discussion. >> it's the third time he said he pulled back troops. let's hope this time is the charm, and the troops move back, elections move forward and i wish y

it's had been two months since activists forced viktor yanukovych to flee, sparking a crisis that nearly plunged ukraine into still war. as they head to the polls, they must face the option of more violence. a clash at a checkpoint, a face-off levelling two dead. evidence of the deadly violence in the week ahead of the vote - another incident that raised doubt about whether the presidential election could or should go forward. amid so many efforts to block it. ukranian authorities set up polling places in the eastern region, at donetsk and lugansk. still al jazeera's dan allowize finds it casting a shadow. >> when you look at the economics, the country has been frozen for months. they want a president in place, to fire the existing parliament and hold new elections in september or october, and move towards an economic union with the yooeuropean union, trying t get the prices back. people are desperate to get the economy working, back to work, and trying to get prices back to normal. this is balanced against a harsh reality that many believe will not stop and continue to stir instability

ukraine is hours away from the country's first president shall election since the ousting of viktor yanukovych. it could be a monumental day. as dana lewis reports, more is happening in kiev. >> reporter: in this kiev subject this truck blares a message "give a gift to ukraine, elect petero poroshenko, don't elect criminals", his supporters and polls say the 48-year-old has victory in the bag. on the last day of the campaign petero poroshenko already talking like ukraine's leader. he's the candyman, the king of chocolate stores and factories, who unlike many businessmen seem to have built the empire in an honest and transparent way. crisscrossing the country, he promised it all. saying he will rebuild the economy and turn ukraine away from russia. and security - he'll rebuild the army to deal with separatists who refuse to lay down lessons. he tells us amnesty for some, not all. >> we have talks with people in the street, the terrorists. >> people are on the street on the east. we are willing to have a talk. people with their arms - not. >> petero poroshenko has somehow emerged unscathed from

ukraine, southern port city of odessa, the deadliest day in ukraine, since the ousting of you viktor yanukovych. an attempt to reclaim eastern cities from pro-russian separatists. >> as forces battle to regain erin ukraine territory, more are dead and the region is further engulfed had flames. riot police overwhelmed in donetske, fell back, letting a pro-russian mob take over the office of the state prosecutor. moscow claims these are ordinary activists. kyiv charges at the very least, russia is pulling the strings, and some of those in the back are be russians, is at least two ukrainian helicopters were shot down by missiles today and two pilots killed. further evidence says kyiv of russian military involvement. well beyond the capabilities of, quote, civilian activists. and violence spread to the southern port city of oh decembeodessa.journalists reporg between pro-russian and prokyiv supporters. more than 30 died there most apparently by smoke inhalation. in the flash city of slovyansk, the focus of insurgency, part of what kyiv says is a continuing anti-terror operation. late tonight, there

. >> we begin with the deadliest day of ukraine since the toppling of viktor yanukovych in february. 33 people killed after a fire engulfed a building inning odessa. battling in the streets with ukraine loyalists. police say most died of smoke inhalation, while others were killed jumping from windows. the dramatic explosion of violence started early friday when two ukrainian military helicopters were shot down and at least three people killed after ukrainian forces launched their first major force in be slovyansk, a spokesman for russian president vladimir putin called the offense a criminal act and called for a special united nations meetings. at the white house, president obama and angela merkel displayed a voice of unity against russia. >> you got 28 countries and some are more vulnerable than others to potential russian retaliation and we have to take those into account. not every country is going to be in exactly the same place. but what has been remarkable is the degree to which all countries agree that russian russian -- -- russia has violated international law, violated the t

for more than three months now ever since they drove out the corrupt regime of viktor yanukovych, putinn trying to get back and continue to claim that there is no legitimate government in kiev. and the principle domestic origin of this is the precedent is too close to home for putin. here you have the society rising up against a corrupt regime. what mr. putin is really afraid of is a similar movement against his regime in russia. in 2011, 2012, we had hundreds of thousands of people protesting against mr. putin's regime. so his idea now is to try to sabotage -- >> let me stop you right there. because we had an expert on this program a couple of times who has talked about it is nato's aggression that has inspired what vladimir putin is doing today. what do you think of that? >> well, of course that's the classic kremlin propaganda line. and what is most amazing for me as a russian is the level of hypocrisy. you heard putin urging for a quote federallization of ukraine. when it was putin that destroyed the federalization in russia. >> are the sanctions having an impact in russia? you have

imagine what the reaction here in washington would have been had it been the ousted president viktor yanukovych on leashing tanks against civilians but now roles are reversed and we see a very different approach now ukraine in southeast regions have been defying the interim government in kiev since the february. people are preoccupied and government buildings in over a dozen cities across the region trying to make their voices heard in the capital and what they've been calling for is actually a federal system of rule that would give the people in the region the right to choose their own government another issue is the me the east makes up the lion's share of ukraine's industry as it stands that money goes to kiev which then decides how much to send back people want the region to control its own finances also over eighty percent of people there speak russian and while the language to be recognized formally for the control of defense and foreign policy will still be down to kiev. and with the ukrainian army apparently now shooting to killed in the southeastern regions the support of the interim a

even quite significantly the former ukrainian president viktor yanukovych who insists he's still the legitimate president of ukraine. he says he too will respect the outcome of the ukrainian election that the difficult time for the country. for that, it effectively puts end to discussion about whether or not he could have a claim on the presidency and reinforces the fact that petro poroshenko will be the new man. they want to start a new chapter. >> does this look like the beginning of the end of the crisis? >> it's not the end of the crisis yet. for regions that didn't vote where rebels are in control. there's been more trouble at donetsk airport. where they're declaring they're a republic, they haven't been recognized by russia. every time russia talk t temperaturthe -- talks about this, they always say they have reservations about this military operation in the east. that should end. what is interesting is they're swift to say they want talks on equal terms, direct talks with the new team in kiev. it seems moscow at this point doesn't want to escalate the tension further. >> thank

first presidential elizabeth since the ousting of -- election since the ousting of president viktor yanukovych. it comes amid violence in the east and tensions. mike viqueira, what is russia saying? >> there are two critical event coming up. it's important to look at remarks made by vladimir putin at an international economic conference in st. petersburg. first confrontational words about president obama by vladimir putin. he was asked by an american reporter what do you say what it's said you don't tell the truth. vladimir putin said who is president obama to judge, he should sit in a court room. more significantly were conciliatory remarks. why did he make them? the may 26th elections on sunday. this is the threshold. the west set a threshold. if russia and vladimir putin are seen as undermining the election, say the g7 and the e.u., harder sanctions will be put in place. that's number one. the g7 meeting coming up, president obama flies to brussels in a week and a half, where some things will be decided, and if russia and putin are seen as interfering with the elections, he could be in for

petro porashenko, a chocolate magnate was a minister under viktor yanukovych.houldn't this calm vladimir putin down when he talks about protecting russians in other parts of eastern europe? >> i think vladimir putin made it clear, including saying he doesn't want to own ukraine or take it over. it's too big, the economy is a mess. it's deeply fractured. i think he wants to destabilize it so ukraine is not strong enough to reorientate itself in trading relationships. he wants a ukraine dependent on russia, that's why you see that gazprom, the russian stit company is open reply trying to intimidate ukrainians by demanding money for back payments, by hiking the price of national gas. these are the reactions of a government stabilizing the country. the two leading candidates are people who understand that ukraine needs to have a relationship with russia, that it needs to have a working relationship, but hopefully it can have a relationship with the european union as well. as they have saying, a ukranian that looks east and west. >> petro porashenko has been central