vladimir scholz, a german from the volga region, a graduate of the ryazan airborne school in 1998, retired from the russian army, went to germany, was replaced by walter, who became an employee of german intelligence specializing in the evacuation of failed agents. this information was obtained from our military counterintelligence. comrade captain of the first rank, in this area we had training exercises several times, there really isn’t, but there is an old hunting lodge. the springs know these places very well. operation failed. i'm on point at one in the morning turn on the suppression of the control equipment of the border guards for 10 minutes. enough for me to go wait for me. near the village of kalina end of communication yes, you wait. are you okay body armor? once again you stick your head in, i personally understood to you, there may be more traps in the house. and i see one. maybe i'm from the street shoot calm down my. done come on. blue in the calculation, i'm sorry that i didn't have time to see you seagull . well , got up? it was great to work with you. thank you and let's

vladimir putin, to press for that cease-fire. that is what the two leaders did. a source says that president macron and chancellor scholzn that point emphasizing the growing cost of the war to russia and urging him, therefore, to change his calculation. now, when i asked the source what the feeling had been about the state of mind of vladimir putin, the answer came that he seemed as determined as ever. the last time vladimir putin and emmauel macron and olaf scholz had spoken it was on thursday. that determination to carry on and get his objectives in ukraine seemed, said the source, undimmed. so on that front, not much hope and yet the source was keen to point out that if president macron continues to have these regular phone calls with putin and since vladimir putin continues to engage, the reading of that from the french presidency is that the russian president must believe that a diplomatic solution may at some point be possible. vladimir putin seems determined, but the french continue to believe that there's still point in talking. because for the time being there's been no agreement on that cease-fire and what the

i asked a source what state of mind president macron and chancellor scholz had found vladimir putin in this afternoon when they spoke to him. the answer came, determined. determined, they said, to carry out hobjectives in ukraine. it does not bode well and led the french source to say what the europeans will do next week is push ahead if a fresh round of sanctions. they'll look at punishing the russian economy further to bring an end to the bombings, bring an end to that advance we're seeing, apparently relentless advance towards kyiv with everything it would mean. macron said yesterday speaking at the summit of the 27 european leaders, that should kyiv come under attack, there would be some very harsh sanctions specifically because of that. essentially what the sanctions are doing, seeking to punish vladimir putin every step of the way. >> u.s. officials have expressed little optimism that diplomatic channels can end this bloodshed. jeremy herb is in new york. what options are there at this point to ending the war? >> reporter: i think that's the problem, anderson. both u.s. and europ

vladimir putin to declare a cease-fire in ukraine. the french president, emmanuel macron, and the german chancellor olaf scholz appealed to vladimir putinurce added mr. putin still seemed determined to achieve his objectives in ukraine, but the fact he's still talking means a diplomatic solution is not out of the question. i guess that's the best we can hope for now. melissa bell joins us live now from paris with the details. so obviously disappointing outcome, a disappointing assessment of the call. >> we know what the source was willing to say. so as you mentioned the idea that in the end he seemed determined, it had been just a couple of days since olaf scholz and emmanuel macron spoke to president putin. the idea is that some dialogue is better than none, so there was little tangible progress, but the did some sense of his state of mind. determined was how it was described, one adjective used but also the source said this time the rhetoric had changed a little bit. there was no talk of denazification which had been such a theme of vladimir putin's when he spoke of ukraine. and the source suggested there seemed to be some progress in

vladimir putin and german federal chancellor olaf scholz exchanged views during a telephone conversationtion with the talks held in istanbul between russian and ukrainian representatives. they also discussed the transition to rubles in the calculations for russian gas. vladimir putin explained this decision was made due to the fact that the strange european union in violation of international law, they froze foreign exchange reserves. bank of russia changes in the payment procedure should not lead to a deterioration in the terms of contracts. the same topics were touched upon in a telephone conversation between the russian president and the chairman of the council of ministers of italy, mario draghe, today the third ministerial conference of neighboring countries will be held in china tunna, afghanistan will discuss humanitarian aid kobul and issues of countering the threats of the spread of terrorism and drug trafficking that comes from the afghan territory, our delegation is headed by sergey lavrov, he has already arrived in china the day before and held talks with the heads of the thr

kailey: we are getting some headlines from the kremlin saying that vladimir putin and olaf scholz havec options. we will continue to monitor what is happening in geopolitics. let's get back to the markets because kkr was among the first of the big credit investors to dive into turmoil in early 2020. it is no different now, despite the geopolitical risk. the firm is looking at high-yield as many investors are rushing for the exits. joining us is kkr's credit director tal reback and bloomberg's sonali basak. sonali: my sources are telling me that kkr has spent $5.5 billion in credit opportunities this year alone. what are you seeing, especially in high-yield, that others might be walking away from? tal: the volatility we started to see in january was very rate induced, something we thought market participants should have known about given the more hawkish fed tone, and what we are really mindful of our opportunities in more high quality parts of high-yield, especially in large capital structures that have reason lee taken a leg down. a little more duration risk is something we start to l

scholz. and i'm telling you, yes, vladimir well, you launched a special operation against ukraine, this is aumanitarian catastrophe. it needs to be stopped urgently. now you're putin let's eh give and if i were the scholtsy, by the way, i would say something else, i would say, vladimir, you started a special operation, but you you don't win it. here we see that everything is happening much more complicated, much slower than you planned it, it means that something is not so calculated for you. so, maybe those people who gave you advice on ukraine, dear vladimir , maybe they don’t understand ukraine so well if you failed in the first maidan with the second maidan, if in the fourteenth year you didn’t carry out small bloodshed, and generally without all the losses that you are now trying to carry out at such a monstrous cost to your economy. maybe do you think vladimir maybe these people are still not quite professional and somehow we will try to stop. but i don’t know what vladimir replied to this. i give you a five. that is, in place. only beautifully beautiful was now, but in fact the scholz

>>> french president emmanuel macron and olaf scholz urged vladimir putin to call an immediate cease-firethe diplomatic channels can deliver a way out. jeremy herb joins me now. vladimir putin actually accusing the ukrainians of violating humanitarian law. you can't make this orwellian stuff up. >> that's right, bianna. officials don't see a diplomatic path out of this war at this point in time. that doesn't mean there vchbt been multiple channels to try to get diplomatic talks going. you mentioned the call with the germany and french leaders. that's the second time they've held a joint call with president biden t-- president putin this week. there were talks in turkey earlier this week which were the highest level talks to date since the war started. those talks haven't yielded any progress, including on humanitarian issues, like you said, such as establishing a corridor for citizens to try to be evacuated. that hasn't come to fruition yet. now u.s. officials are in touch with all of these countries that are trying to put these efforts together, the israeli prime minister, is another ave

secretary dmitry peskov said following a yesterday's conversation between vladimir putin and german chancellors olaf and scholz government reported that payments from russian fuel would be made in euros through gazprombank, which would convert them into rubles. according to peskov, this option is considered as one of the main ones for all western countries, not only for germany, for recipients of russian gas, which pay for these coasters, in fact, there will be no changes in any case, they purchase rubles for the same currency that is indicated in the contracts. russia remains committed to all its obligations under existing contracts and agreements, both in terms of quantity and price. after a short pause, we will return to the air and tell you that sales of vouchers to children's camps with cashback have started in russia, and in russia and belarus, from april 1, they will cancel the fee for incoming calls about it. not only in a couple of minutes at 14:55 on the russia channel, alpha-bank supports entrepreneurs, we register a business and open current accounts for free , accept and execute payments around th

scholz is looking to build on that. he and president erdogan have already talked to vladimir putin several times since the war began.rdogan is seen as someone who understands the kremlin. whether it will help means to be seen, but the german and turkish leaders agree they want a cease-fire as soon as possible. >> each day with each bomb, russia is distancing itself more and more from the global community we formed together. therefore, our joint appeal to the russian president, pause to reflect. there can only be a diplomatic solution to this conflict. reporter: an appeal that seems unlikely to impress the russian leader. there will probably be many more meetings like this before there is an end to the violence in ukraine. brent: our correspondent was at that press conference in the turkish capital today, good evening to you. what stood out to you in what these two leaders had to say? we have the leader of germany and leader of turkey, both nato members -- are they on the same page? reporter: whastood out me were the words by olaf scholz, how he emphasized that the turkish president and he agree on a need for iediate

in a phone call to russian president vladimir putin, german chancellor olaf scholz today pressed forommitments to a cease-fire and improvement in the humanitarian situation in ukraine. the kremlin says putin told the german chancellor that ukraine is stalling peace talks with unrealistic proposals. three russian cosmonauts have blasted off, headed for the international space station, where they will join a mission that includes u.s. astronauts. what ration in space is continuing for now despite u.s.-russia relations hitting their lowest point in decades because, course, of the war in ukraine. back here on earth, russian president vladimir putin held a rally in moscow today to mark eight years since the illegal annexation of crimea. putin praised what he is calling his country's special operation in ukraine. and he again pushed his narrative that this is a mission to rid ukraine of neo-nazis. tens of thousands were inside the stadium today, but there are some reports that people working in the public sector may have been pressured to attend. reporter: so many turned up for the event t

in rubles today, vladimir putin spoke with the german chancellor and scholz of the italian prime minister yesterday. uh. this topic was raised in the course of a conversation with emmanuel macron putin and manuel macron. well, uh, europe is still saying that it is not ready to switch to rubles to prepare for the worst-case scenario, namely shutdown or interruption of russian gas supplies, but on the other hand on the other hand. russia says that we hope to reach an agreement today sergei ryabkov, deputy foreign minister, said that a compromise is possible and russia will work for this compromise, and the presidential press secretary. dmitry peskov said that the negotiations will not end on march 31, but prod. some kind of a longer time and uh, i want to ask vasily georgievich. do you think we can still agree on this issue? or have not agreed, we will certainly agree on this issue , uh, the european union well, the countries of the european union that have permanent agreements with gazprom, they will have to pay in rubles. you will have to circumvent your own sanctions. and they have alrea

vladimir putin has been talking to olaf scholz and mario draghi about the istanbul peace talks. your assessment of how much progress is being made? what is your assessment of the situation on the ground? melinda: yesterday was theater. there was not any real progress made. the only discernible progress is that the ukrainians put out a couple of trial balloons and we are waiting to hear what vladimir putin thinks. in terms of real progress it is going to take weeks and vladimir putin is in no mood to negotiate. he is emotional, angry. it is good they are talking because it is good to put a humanitarian corridor into place but nothing meaningful came out of yesterday. kailey: we got headlines earlier that russia fulfilled its goal in kharkiv and will shift toward the donbas region. do you really think putin went into this conflict intending regime change or have a moscow friendly government in ukraine? now he may be is going to settle for the east? melinda: no, he is not going to settle for the east. this is nonsense. vladimir putin says phase i is complete and we are moving to ph

russian troops, including a child, in a suburb of kyiv today, vladimir putin spoke with french president macron and german chancellor scholz, but the call ended with no indication the russian president had any intent of stopping the war. and his soldiers aren't holding their fire 14-year-old caterina was shot in the hand friday trying to escape "we were driving and they just started shooting." that 40-mile-long russian convoy north of kyiv has started to disperse, according to uk defense officials, possibly getting into position to encircle the capital. in the besieged city of mariupol, the foreign ministry says a mosque housing 80 civilians was attacked this morning. yesterday, a residential building today ukrainian president zelenskyy making a plea to russian mothers not to send their sons to war. also today, russia sending a new warning to the u.s russia's deputy foreign minister said the u.s. sending weapons to ukraine turns convoys into legitimate targets the white house announcing saturday the u.s. is sending an additional $200 million in arms and equipment, including missiles for taking out war planes and tanks. >>

are new talks happening between french president emmanuel macron and chancellor olaf scholz of germany with vladimir putin. we'll have the latest from the war zone coming up. >>> first, that winter weather alert here at home, a major storm rapidly intensifying as it moves up the east coast overnight. tens of thousands without power in the south as snow causes slick streets and accidents. tornados, heavy snow, rain, and damaging winds. >> 75 million people in that storm's path. rob is tracking it for us. good morning to you, rob. >> good morning, eva. this is an expansive storm and it's intensifying further. it will rapidly intensify in the next 12 to 20 hours. this thing up and down the east coast. it already did damage as far as the snow is concerned across the central u.s. now we have tornado watches up for parts of florida and just added now the carolinas. look at the winter storm warnings all the way down into the deep south. let's look at the threat for violent storms, goes all the way into central florida, but as we go through the afternoon, that watch up until 1:00 for charleston, wilmington,

happening as we come on the air, french president emmanuel macron and chancellor olaf scholz of germany with vladimir putin. we will have more on that as we get it. >>> the situation in ukraine becoming more dire by the minute. as russian attacks on cities intensify, forces edging closer to kyiv. abc's maggie rulli is in lviv with the latest. maggie, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, janai, good morning. we've been getting reports of shellings and bombings happening overnight in many cities across the country and now this morning there's news that president putin is meeting with the leaders of france and germany. those leaders desperately trying to negotiate some kind of peace but, janai, first so many ukrainians, the thousands of people that show up at this train station every day, these talks can feel like they're happening too late. this morning, local officials calling russia's widening attacks on key ukrainian cities an armageddon. in the south in mariupol, the mayor saying his city is being shelled every 30 minutes claiming thousands have now been killed. in the capital of kyiv, new satell

french president, emmanuel macron, as well as german chancellor, olaf scholz, i spoke to vladimir todayone. and amid a cease-fire, but putin gave no indication that he intended to stop the fighting. the humanitarian crisis is worsening day by day. more than two and a half million ukrainians have now fled their homeland. the u.s. embassy, for its part, is urging americans to get out of ukraine. but as the russian bombing campaign escalates, escape routes are increasingly dangerous. seven people, including one child, we are killed after russian forces fired on an evacuation convoy, it tempting to flee the village of peremoha. the sad fact is that despite the danger sheltering in place maybe the safest option for some ukrainians. let's begin our coverage, excuse me. let's go first to nbc's ali arouzi, who's on the ground in ukraine. ali, you interviewed some evacuees in lviv today, who are trying to get out of ukraine, including a grandmother. what can you tell us about their experience that they shared with you? >> that's right, ayman. just before i tell you that, i just wanted to give yo

just on the diplomacy such as it is, james, we have seen ongoing talks with 0laf scholz, emmanuel macron with vladimir out of that, but those conversation channels will continue? that has to be a better — channels will continue? that has to be a better than _ channels will continue? that has to be a better than nothing _ channels will continue? that has to be a better than nothing scenario, | be a better than nothing scenario, at least mr putin is engaging in conversations with the west. however unprofitable and lacking in progress they are, that clearly has to be a good sign. 0ne they are, that clearly has to be a good sign. one or two interesting noises from ukrainian negotiators, those talks that happen every so often between ukrainian and russian officials on the ballot racine border, occasionally one gets a positive noise instead of denunciations and people talking across each other, they are talking about this concrete issue. we are very much at the early stages on all of that because of the scale of the fighting at the moment and its intensity. i think we are a long way off any negotiated settl

many see the invasion of the country by vladimir putin as a pivotal moment in history. the german chancellor, olaf scholzuences for many nations and how they work together. our special correspondent allan little has been assessing how the war is redrawing the world. the war in ukraine has changed the world. we are in new and more dangerous times. the post—cold war era is over. it has been brewing a long time. it is nearly 20 years since vladimir putin first sent troops to occupy parts of georgia, and eight since he occupied parts of ukraine. he has sent spies into british cities armed with nerve agents to murder exiled russians. but the western democracies did not disengage. europe built up an unhealthy dependence on russian gas. even now, europe buys russia's gas at $1 billion a day. london became a safe place for russia's wealthy elites to park money. they built prestigious property empires. few questions were asked about where the money came from. but putin has misread the world catastrophically. first in his view that ukrainian is a bogus identity. ukrainians have proved it is an identity they are re

. >> russian president vladimir putin spoke with the german chancellor, olaf scholz, on friday. germany says mr. putin told the chancellor that a third round of talks between russia and ukraine is scheduled for the weekend. >>> now, from the attack on the nuclear power plant to the increasing civilian casualties, oren liebermann has more on where things stand here in ukraine. >> reporter: the unthinkable now another step in russia's invasion of ukraine. russian forces fired on the largest nuclear power plant in europe, seizing control of the zaporizhzhia facility early friday morning. ukraine says the russians fired on the plant from all sides, setting fire to a building near the reactor and threatening to cause a nuclear disaster. >> russian federation continued shooting at the nuclear power plant. unit one, unit two have damage. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the plant says the fighting and the fire have stopped. the international atomic energy agency says radiation levels are normal and workers are being allowed in to continue operating the plant at gunpoint, says the head o

my pleasure- _ many see the invasion of ukraine by vladimir putin as a pivotal moment in history. the german chancellor, olaf scholzether. our special correspondent allan little provides his take on how the war is redrawing the world. the war in ukraine has changed the world. we are in new and more dangerous times. the post—cold war era is over. it has been brewing a long time. it is nearly 20 years since vladimir putin first sent troops to occupy parts of georgia, and eight since he occupied parts of ukraine. he has sent spies into british cities armed with nerve agents to murder exiled russians. but the western democracies did not disengage. europe built up an unhealthy dependence on russian gas. even now, europe buys russia's gas at $1 billion a day. london became a safe place for russia's wealthy elites to park money. they built prestigious property empires. few questions were asked about where the money came from. but putin has misread the world catastrophically. first in his view that ukrainian is a bogus identity. ukrainians have proved it is an identity they are ready to fight and die for. putin's plan for

after french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor olaf scholz held a more than one hour-long phone call with ssian president vladimirench official said that there was no willingness on putin's part to end hostilities. about 2.5 million ukrainians have now fled the country, most to neighboring countries, according to the united nations' refugee agency. >> sreenivasan: the western city of lviv, about an hour from the border with poland, has become a makeshift staging area for people both leaving and entering ukraine, and for multiple humanitarian relief efforts. itv news correspondent romilly weeks has this report. >> reporter: in a concert hall in lviv in the west, a vast volunteer effort is underway. 200 people a day signing up here to pack and deliver clothes, medical supplies, and food for those who've fled from, and those heading in to fight. >> we are working with people who came from kyiv, and they came to lviv with nothing, really, and they need clothes, they need od. >> reporter: as the attacks on ukraine become more intense and more brutal, the need that centers like this are trying to supply is growing by t

chancellor olaf scholz spoke by phone with russian president vladimir putin on wednesday. the two reportedly agreed to a deal that would see germany make payments to gazprom bank in russia, which will then convert the western currency to rubles. gazprom bank, which services russia's oil and gas sector, is not on a list of russian banks sanctioned by the european union. kentucky's republican-controlled legislature has approved a bill banning abortion after just 15 weeks of pregnancy. the kentucky bill is similar to mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, which is under review by the supreme court. democratic governor andy beshear has not said whether he'll sign the legislation, though republicans say they have enough votes to override a veto. also wednesday, arizona's republican governor doug ducey signed a similar ban on abortions after 15 weeks. governor ducey also signed legislation wednesday that prohibits gender-affirming care for arizona trans children, while banning trans girls from school sports teams that align with their gender identity. in a statement, the aclu of ar

russian president vladimir putin speaking with the leaders of france and germany today. president macron and chancellor scholz urging an "immediate cease-fire" and a move toward a diplomatic solution, vowing more sanctions. as concern grows putin may resort to chemical weapons if he fails to make significant gains on the ground. ukraine knows the utter devastation the russians are capable of. to the south, new images from the besieged city of mariupol, russian tanks with that "z" marking bombarding residential areas. this apartment building hit, the mayor there calling it "armageddon." in this hospital corridor, unspeakable loss. anastaysia, losing one child, clinging to the one that survived. through her tears she says, "i don't know where to run to. who will bring back our children?" to the north, residents huddled in basements for weeks, sheltering from the heavy fighting. while above ground, their city reduced to ruins. and in mykolaiv, the strategic southern stronghold just east of odesa, more rounds of shelling. video circulating on social media showing several explosions near an apartment complex there

have hurd in the last ten minutes or so from german chancellor 0laf scholz that emmanuel macron has begun his latest phone call with vladimirt a readout about that when that call is over. let's see what is happening now in the city of lviv, which is very close to the border with poland. my colleague yalda hakim is there. this is a world unesco heritage site. it is an old city, and the people here, the mayor and the citizens of the city are extremely worried that up until now it hasn't been touched by the russian bombardment, butjust to give you a sense of our last 2a hours. air raid sirens have been going off across this country and western ukraine has not been excluded from that. from the early hours of this morning, from about 3am, we have been in an underground bunker because of the air raid sirens, because there was a strike on lutsk. that is just north—west from here. and ivano—frankivsk, which is also in the western part of the country. in the last a8 hours, we have seen strikes in the western part of the country. this part of western ukraine is preparing itself for that. everywhere you go, whether it's a gymnasium or

they were liberating a population of oppression and genocide as vladimir putin told them and other leaders in the world. he told olaf scholzw weeks ago. i was in kharkiv t second largest city in this country it's a russian-speaking majority city, and a lot of people that i spoke with said, yes, we have relatives in russia, we studied in russia, some said they were born in russia, but they said they were willing to die for ukraine. it's surprising vladimir putin would think they would be welcome in a place like kharkiv. clearly they weren't, and now they're just bombarding it and bombarding the civilian population that's no way to greet a population who you are pretending at least to be liberating >> and taking out the frustration, no doubt, of an insanely miscalculation by vladimir putin of the ukrainian people being ukrainian matt bradley glad you're safe glad you're on. >>> president biden vowed to, quote, inflict pain on russian president putin over his invasions, targeting his oligarchs, biden using his speak speech to target the biggest priorities including combatting inflation and trying to revive his stalled economi

hearing that france's president, emmanuel macron, and germany's chancellor olaf scholz have had a telephone call with vladimirscenes. you are watching bbc news. hello. changeable weather this weekend. we will all get to season rain at times but it definitely won't be raining all the time. there will be sunshine occasionally too. today, afterfor will be sunshine occasionally too. today, after for many a will be sunshine occasionally too. today, afterfor many a damp will be sunshine occasionally too. today, after for many a damp start, it is a brightening up story now and there will be sunny spells with the chance of a shower. throughout the weekend it is windy, and getting windier still, particularly close to this area of low pressure which moves into south—west england and south west wales first this afternoon. we have an area of rain that has been pushing northwards overnight and into this morning, this afternoon, it is into northern scotland. still raining during the end of the afternoon into the northern isles. elsewhere there is a lot of fine weather, broken cloud and sunshine, the chance of catching and

russian president vladimir putin speaking with the leaders of france and germany saturday. president macron and chancellor scholz urging a cease-fire and a move toward a diplomatic solution, bowing more sanctions as concerns wrote that putin may resort to a chemical weapons attack if yo fails to make significant gains. counterattacks have taken a huge toll on russian forces. zelensky saying his country has dealt the biggest blow to the russian army in decades. a u.s. official saying as many as 6000 russian soldiers have died, another 15,000 wounded since the war began. meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis continues to grow as these ukrainian women and children arrive at this train station in poland. they find dozens of strollers donated by local families who no longer need them. refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, including hungary and moldova, crossing the border to romania. >> i cannot speak without tears. i'm sorry, i'm really sorry for my country. karina: more than 2.5 million people have fled ukraine since the war began. dion: as the war war war war many here in the bay area are continuing to assist th

conflict in ukraine, french president emmanuel macron, german chancellor olaf scholz spent about 75 minutes on the phone with vladimirputin gave no indication he intends to stop this war. earlier today, ukrainian president zelenskyy speaking on where negotiations with russia stand. >> translator: a group of ukrainians and russian representatives, they are discussing certain issues. they have discussed real things and not just throw ultimatums at us. i know there should be a fundamentally different approach, and it should be so. i believe that our western partners are not sufficiently involved in that process. >> meantime, in ukraine, russia is intensifying its attacks as forces close in on the capital city of kyiv. in mariupol, ukraine is accusing russia of shelling a mosque that was sheltering more than 80 civilians. residents of that city have been trapped for more than a week now without food, electricity, or water. and this just in. moments ago. ebay has temporarily suspended all transactions involving russian addresses. the company says that this decision comes as a result of service interruptions by payment ven

call with president zelensky after the meeting with vladimir putin and he is now flying to berlin where he will speak to the german chancellor 0laf scholzs and they have said in their words with the blessing of the white house so it gives you some indication as to the seriousness with which the israelis are taking this, how far they think they can position themselves with mediators and how extraordinary these talks are given russia's growing diplomatic isolation. the question emerges, even if you have a mediator, what substance is there at the moment to be mediated over? that is the question we don't have an answer to and we don't have the details of the talks and we know on monday there are due to be further discussions between ukrainian and russian officials, taking place discussing things like humanitarian corridors but so far in terms of the overarching discussions between the two countries, if the israelis can position themselves as brokers, it seems that the moment there are not high hopes as to what exactly can be discussed. around 200,000 people are desperate to leave mariupol in the south of ukraine but directs it to safety has

couple of months, the concert of germany and scholz, called putin and asked him to explain in writing the new ruble payment scheme for gas. russian president vladimir said this afternoon in a telephone conversation. he demanded that a law be adopted, according to which, from april 1 , gas at the rate should be paid in rubles, while he stressed that nothing would change for european partners. payments. as before, they will be carried out exclusively in euros and will be transferred. in normal regime at gazprombank, which is not subject to sanctions, then the bank converts the money. in rubles, chancellor scholz, did not agree to this procedure in a conversation, but only requested written information for a more accurate understanding of the procedure , the g7 agreement remains in force, energy supplies are paid exclusively in euros or dollars, as indicated in the contracts, while before the phone at gazprom offices in germany were searched, officials visited the offices of gazprom, which accounts for about 20% of the german market, they told sources who asked not to be named. because the information is private according to sources. the raid comes at

french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor olaf scholz demanded an immediate ceasefire during a phone call with russian president vladimir president volodymyr zelenskyy floated the idea of meeting face-to-face with putin, possibly in israel. >> translator: i'm not even talking about technical meeting, but about meeting at the level of heads of state and maybe israel could be such a country, especially jerusalem. that's my opinion. and this is what i told him. as

, i mean, he and france, like 0laf scholz in germany, they are imposing sanctions on russia, they are supporting the military in ukraine but, they say, in case vladimirable to talk, negotiate realistically, then it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready and so, emmanuel macron has said you know, these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. katya adler with the european perspective. 0n the day that putin invaded ukraine, i was going about my in russia, the kremlin continues to try to control its narrative for the russian public about what it calls a �*special military operation'. in the last three weeks, thousands of people have been detained for protesting against the war. but there is strong support among some, for the reassertion of russia's influence in the region. 0ur moscow correspondent, caroline davies, reports. upbeat music scroll through russian—run social media, and these are the sorts of videos you might see. upbeat russian patriotism, as the country becomes more isolated. in russia, even cheese can be political. the owner of this factory posted a video on social media praising president putin. his business wou

, i mean, he and france, like olaf scholz in germany, they are imposing sanctions on russia, they are supporting the military in ukraine but, they say, in case vladimir to talk, negotiate realistically, then it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready and so, emmanuel macron has said you know, these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. katya adler with the european perspective. the number of people arriving in moldova to escape the war in ukraine is so high that every eighth child in the country is a refugee. the moldovan government says its infrastructure is already saturated. our correspondent, lucy williamson, has more. sometimes, the long, cold journey from ukraine ends here. in the emergency department of moldova's ignatenco children's hospital. within the last week alexey has fled a war, left family and is living in a new country as a refugee. a high temperature almost counts as normal. around a dozen refugee children arrive here every day, often suffering from dehydration or breathing problems. tanya came straight here from the border. her daughter sofia caught pneumonia on theirjourney from dnipro in central ukrai

, i mean, he and france, like 0laf scholz in germany, they are imposing sanctions on russia, they are supporting the military in ukraine but, they say, in case vladimir he is available to talk, negotiate realistically, then it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready and so, emmanuel macron has said you know, these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. katya adler with the european perspective. the russian military have installed a new mayor in melitopol after video on friday appeared to show the previous mayor being kidnapped. this was the footage showing the previous mayor, ivan fedorov, being led away by russian soldiers wiht a bag over his head. he had refused to co—operate with russian troops who have ta ken over the city. a former member of the city council called galina danilchenko is now the acting mayor — she has appeared on local television to urge residents not to take part in what she called "extremist actions". in russia, the kremlin continues to try to control its narrative for the russian public about what it calls a �*special military operation�*. in the last three weeks, thousands of people have been detai

he in france, like olaf scholz in germany, they are imposing sanctions on russia, they are supporting the military in ukraine but they say in case vladimir, if he is ——off ramp ready for a cease—fire, when he is available to talk, negotiate realistically that it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready. and so emmanuel macron said these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. president zelensky says abouti,300 ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of russia's invasion. he told journalists in kyiv, that far larger numbers of russian soldiers had died — perhaps 10 times as many, but those figures can't be verifed. as russian forces continued to shell kyiv, mr zelensky said, they'd have to destroy the capital and its population to occupy it. our security correspondent, frank gardner, has this assessment of russian�*s military strategy. it looks like, and it feels like, the beginning of the endgame — although who knows how long that's going to last? if we look at the map here on day 17, the red areas are where russian forces have taken control. in the south, they continue to make advances. they are pushi

french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor olaf scholz demanded an immediate ceasefire during a phone call with russian president vladimir putin. but a french official reported that putin gave no sign that he would stop the war. and earlier today, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy floated the idea of meeting face-to-face with putin, possibly in israel. >> translator: i'm not even talking about technical meeting, but about meeting at the level of heads of state and maybe israel could be such a country, especially jerusalem. that's my opinion. and this is what i told him. as for details, his talks with the russian president, i cannot talk about that because he should, first of all, talk about those details and discuss with his own community. i don't have the right to do that. even though i know some things. this is why we have a positive attitude. >> amid all of these diplomatic efforts is a humanitarian crisis as ukrainians are trying to flee the country for their safety. more than 2.5 million people have fled so far, and many are facing violence during their journey. ukrainian officials are reporting that seven peo

vladimir putin for three hours. he then flew to berlin for talks with the german chancellor olaf scholz. more on this, hannas gold joins me. >> reporter: this is a completely surprised, unannounced trip. we only heard about it from the kremlin and israeli side as it was going on. it was done with the blessing of the united states according to israeli officials, coordinated with france and germany. i spoke with ukrainian ambassador to israel last night. he told me the ukrainians were also aware of the trip ahead of time and were supportive of it. as you noted, bennett flew to moscow saturday morning. i should note as an observant you, for bennett, flying on shabbat, on saturday, is a big deal, essentially breaks the rules of shabbat. many jews believe you can do so if it is to save a life. it shows the urgency of this trip. he spent three hours in the kremlin with putin. afterwards we know he had a phone call with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. then he took off to berlin, met with german chancellor olaf scholz. in terms of what was said, no immediate information on any outcome f

, i mean, he and france, like 0laf scholz in germany, they are imposing sanctions on russia, they are supporting the military in ukraine but, they say, in case vladimirable to talk, negotiate realistically, then it is important to keep these lines of communication open and ready and so, emmanuel macron has said you know, these calls to the kremlin, they will continue. katya adler with the european perspective. this is bbc news. a reminder of the headlines: fighting is intensifying near the ukrainian capital of kyiv, where they're preparing for an assault, possibly within days. satellite imagery shows some of the damage in the city of mariupol. the ukrainian government says it was unable to evacuate citizens again on saturday. president zelensky says about 1,300 ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of russia's invasion. he told journalists in kyiv that far larger numbers of russian soldiers had died, perhaps ten times as many, but those figures can't be verified. as russian forces continued to shell kyiv, mr zelensky said they'd have to destroy the capital and its population to occupy it. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner has this

vladimir putin said that moscow would continue to supply gas in volumes and at prices that are fixed in previously concluded contracts, since our country values ​​​​its reputation also putin and scholztopics covered, in particular exchanged views, and the russian-ukrainian talks held in istanbul, and today the russian leader had another telephone conversation with italian prime minister mario draghi on the same topic as the results of the talks in turkey and payment for russian gas in rubles. the next round of russian-ukrainian talks has become one of the main topics of today's meetings of sergey lavrov with foreign colleagues this morning, the head of our foreign ministry arrived in china, we regard the results of the talks that took place yesterday in istanbul as a positive step forward. it's not yet final result. but the fact that the ukrainian negotiators confirmed the need to ensure a non-nuclear non-block status of ukraine confirmed the need to ensure their security outside the framework of the north atlantic alliance. i consider this to be significant progress , just as i consider understanding progress, but by ukrainian colleagues. and the fact that the issues of crimea and

scholz chancellor, but the recession slowdown is mild. definition, in fact, it can be about depression itself, so they planned to do everything. cautiously, on wednesday, vladimirurned the table on which they neatly laid out their plans. gas. now for rubles. no one knows how to react the ruble will have to buy from the central bank by this putin will put the west in an extremely difficult position so western sanctions become absurd the ruble was one of, if not the main goal, of all their sanctions, devaluation of the russian currency, euro/dollar famine, disconnection from the global loan market, that's all. according to their calculations, this should lead the russian economy to default, but instead of the expected panic and surrender on all fronts, the enemy is raising the time stakes for a calm, systematic strangulation. no, they were counting on a little under strain to save on water and electricity to screw on the thermostats. maybe eat a little less meat and give up personal transport on the weekends and they will succeed, but no from a knockout reverse the effect of the sanctions will now not be able to wind around. unless in the end it will surprise you

in paris say, vladimir putin showed no willingness to end the war during a phone conversation with the french president and german chancellor this morning. emmanuel macron and olaf scholzork in poland for 18 months. the refugees will receive the right to access free health care and education, as well as social benefit. now on bbc news — it's time for unspun world with john simpson. hello and thank you forjoining me for the programme where we put the big questions of the moment to the bbc�*s large range of experts. the war in ukraine grinds on and though the russian forces have been pretty brutal, they haven't been all that successful so far.

scholz to say this in berlin. guy: we are waiting for your interview later on with the ukrainian foreign minister. vladimirutin talking to the belarusian leader saying that he sees positive signs coming out of the talks. foreign-policy experts say watch what he does, not what he says. what is the key question for the ukrainian foreign minister right now? annmarie: we want to get the ukraine response to what president putin is saying. he is saying that talks are happening every day and that he sees a positive momentum in these talks but that does not translate to what we are seeing, witnessing, journalist reports what is happening on the ground in ukraine. we want to get the ukrainian response on this because we will hear from the president of the united states. we are hearing from macron, the vice president of the united states. we are yet to hear from the ukrainians on what they think. we should also note hours before president putin came out and says he sees positive movement and diplomacy, he also had a call with his defense minister and they were talking about bringing in military individual personnel

russian president vladimir putin to declare an immediate cease-fire in ukraine during a 75-minute phone call saturday. now, french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor olaf scholzto mr. putin for a diplomatic solution, but a source said mr. macron was disappointed by the, quote, insincerity of his russian counterpart. now, earlier saturday, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said that after refusing to budge for days, russia had adopted a fundamentally different approach in the latest talks. jill dougherty is an adjunct professor at georgetown university. she is also a former cnn moscow bureau chief. and, jill, really such a beloved colleague of mine, it is good to see you back in washington. you were there for several weeks. as you have been doing for the better part of three decades, i might add, going back to russia. again, today, we have world leaders reaching out to vladimir putin. no signs of wavering, jill. do you believe that it is sanctions that may make the difference here? i mean putin, himself, has said that this is economic war. >> exactly. that's the word he uses, although you can't you know, talk about the war as war anymore in russia. but,