given russia's actions in crimea and ukraine is intimidating russia not a necessary and rational strategy? what's wrong with nato's policy? >> immediately after the cold war there was a surge of power in the west, we thought we could extract away sanctions we wanted. but now we are seeing the backlash. russia felt isolated and alone and increasingly surrounded by the united states. not just politically but even in terms of the nato alliance. there were outspoken calls in the united states and elsewhere for countries bordering on russia to join nato. we have already got russian miferlsmissiles peeking into estonia and latvia, now the area around russia has awakened russian nationalism, president putin's popularity ratings are going through the ceiling. >> i really hear you. but those people whose countries border russia, lath latvia, lithuania l estonia, poland, would supersede the rights of superpowers to have their buffer zones and their strategic debt. depth. >> i would say that's true but we live in the real world. i would say in the basket of countries you just mentioned countries. th

the ukraine/russia conflict. that will start shortly and we will take you there. >> here at the senate foreign relations committee will be a hearing about the ukraine conflict. federal officials will be testifying. there has been progress toward a cease-fire with russian backed rebels and creating a buffer zone in ukraine. the president of ukraine says they have pulled act from the frontline -- back from the front lines. we are waiting for the ranking member bob menendez. this should begin momentarily. >> the committee will come to order. we will begin this by expressing the condolences to the family of forest them solve. -- boris nemsov. he sought a better future for his people and we must remain committed to a democratic russia at peace with itself and its neighbors. he was critical of vladimir putin's aggression in ukraine. russia has continued its occupation of crimea and the destabilization of the region. we made a commitment in 1994 to ukraine -- defend ukraine. that has been under assault for more than a y

russia signed it, the separatist signed it, it is also a choice for russia. if fully implemented, it would bring back sovereignty and territorial it integrity. it doesn't obviously address crimea. now, we have to test. as i said, the record is mixed and we have to be ready. both for the opportunity for success but also to impose more significant costs on russia with our european partners if minsk is violated. either because the agreement is not implemented or because there is a further landgrab, or because the separatists are further armed. and that is what we are watching. >> what is wrong with laying out clearly exactly what we're going to do if that test fails? if this test fails, we will arm the ukrainians. by the way, as a sovereign country, ukraine has a right to defend itself against any aggression. in fact, we are trying to strengthen the writ of that government, part of that to provide for their own defense. we should be doing that anyways. is it the position of the administration that we are going to lay out a clear picture about what the specific s

the most gorgeous women are in russia. welcome to russia. na zdorovye. ♪ i'm trying to be kind of sober. united we stand. >> i prepared the special for you. russian tapas. specially for vodka drinking. with small pancakes like blinis then caviar. this looks like winter. salted cucumber with honey. this is baltic sprouts smoked one with beet root. and this is a muksun. this is a whitefish. whitefish frozen and you can eat it raw. >> thank you. i'm hitting the caviar and the blini. >> maybe some more vodka. >> thank you. >> what do you think? what is the perception of mr. putin these days? after 14 years he's in power. >> my perception? you really want to hear it? >> i'm not sure, but let's see. >> a former midlevel manager in a large corporation, short, i think that's very important. short. who has found himself master of the universe. and like a lot of short people, if you piss them off bad things happen to you. he likes to take his shirt off a lot. >> let's be serious. i mean -- >> he strikes me as a businessman. >> he is. >> a businessma

than russia, stronger with russia than the e.u. or equally strong? and for the nation as a whole less than half, 47%, said stronger with the e.u. almost half but less. so the largest number but still not a majority. and 34% said equally strong. 13% said stronger with russia. now, if you break these out by the regions, you see quite a bit of difference. now, with the west and the north, we are generally aggregating them, because they were within the margin of error. so they're really quite similar. when they are different, we will call it out. so in the west and the north you have 68% saying they want to be kleesser to -- closer to the european union, while in the south and the east, the most common position is that relations should be equally strong. and in the donbass area, the they said it should be stronger with russia. you see there's a very great difference in terms of the preference. the core point here is that you do not overall have a majority in favor of moving toward the e.u. and when you look at the different regions, it's only in the west

everyone says ukraine cannot beat russia. can russia take those weapons away from ukraine? what is our position on arming ukraine? >> thank you. and thank you for your support as ranking member of subcommittee. with regard to managing our response on ukraine, spend almost as much as time working with nato and you -- eu partners because the community is so important and it makes it impossible for the kremlin to divide up. all 28 nato allies have provided some form of security assistance to ukraine. that is one of the commitments we made to each other at wales. it can take the form of training. it can take the form of medical needs. the u.k. in poland just announced they will start training ukrainians along the lines of notifications that we have sent up to you all. where the divide happens and where the debate happens, and there are folks on both sides of the debate, is the question of the lee -- the question of the leaf ballot he of the weapons. -- lethality of the weapons. the president has discussed this with his partners, most notably with chancellor merkel. that convers

and russia, america and russia, the only two that matter. they are both armed to the teeth with 1,000 nuclear war pieces. >> it's our money, weapons organizations and commander. >> we have called this a new cold war. you have been talking about this for some time. when everyone else thought it was fine, you thought there was something. >> we began, expanding our military alliance, our cold war military alliance, n.a.t.o., like pak men, gobling up along the way. what has been driving the ukranian crisis, the worst in modern times - there's several factors. primary is the idea in the west that ukraine should be in n.a.t.o. that is more than the border, it's part of russia's civilisation in a broad way. >> why more so than latvia where there are russians, a quarter of the population or more. civilisation. >> russia does not argue that. those people ended up there through the soviet occupation during world war ii of the small baltics republics. that resentment is understandable. people say my aim were born there. they didn't want to go back to r

because too often russia equal putin, putin equal russia. there are a lot of different forces operating in russia today and i think some of that contributed to the murder of boris nemtsov. >> well let's talk about what some of those forces may have been. there are a number of theories floating around among the fact the people arrested vr are of chechen origin, this may be in retaliation of charlie hebdo one side of thing and meant to be destabilize to the putin regime what do you think? >> i was in mostly cloudy, meeting is with dimitri maratov some of their journalists have been killed, they had a investigative team they had just assembled he had just gone to the investigative commission, and given evidence that in fact the charlie hebdo murders contributed to the murder of boris nemtsov and there was a kill list and angered at the defamation of muslims in alliance with his friend mikhail hortokofski, around putin and the elite that they are angry that he is either not doubling down harder in ukraine or the economics are such they can't get

. >> let's go to russia now. we're getting lines coming in to us from russians foreign minister as part of the crisis between the west and russia over ukraine. fred is in moscow for us. russia is saying it has a right to deploy nuclear weapons in crimea. talk us through that, fred. >> on one level, of course, they're simply reiterating their message that crimea is now an integral part of russia and therefore, russia can do anything it likes on that territory, including stationing nuclear weapons. it should be noted that there is a major russian naval base there, sevastopol which has been through the years of ukrainian sovereignty, the headquarters of the black sea fleet and they probably did have nuclear weapons aboard the ships on that flight. on one level it's not that momentous, but on the other level, they are saying this annexation is permanent unchallengeable, and we will use crimea as the front line of russia's defense. if it was just out of context it might not be such a big deal, but russia today pulled

we have posed sanctions on russia. we sanctions officials supporting russia's economy. we have seen results. russia's economy has been taking on water and this is only been magnified by the recent dip in oil prices. these policies are good but only up to a point. they do not go far enough, and my opinion. russia's military gains in ukraine have slowed, but vladimir putin continues to grab land in violation of the minsk cease-fire agreement, which mandates that russia supported rebels pull back forces. the government in kiev has admitted to reform the leaders struggle every day to preserve sovereignty. while financial assistance has cap ukraine's economy afloat they still confront a bleak economic outlook and they are on the precipice of a financial meltdown. when ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in 1994, the united states made a commitment to help protect ukrainian territorial integrity. i can then was also made by russia, uk's, china, and others. our commitment is being tested. let me also say that i think nato made a grave mistake in 2008 when it refused to admit u

we have impose significant sanctions in russia was sanctioned official supporting russia's aggression in ukraine and targeted key sectors of the russian economy and have seen results. russia's economy has been taking on water, and this has only been magnified by the recent dip in oil prices his his policies are good but only up to a. russia's military gains of slowed but putin continues to grab land along the line of contact in violation of the cease-fire agreement which mandates russian supported rebels pull back the forces. the government is committed to reform but leaders struggle every day to preserve ukrainian sovereignty. while our financial assistance has kept ukraine economy afloat they still confront a bleak economic outlook and the risks of a financial meltdown loom large. when ukraine gave when ukraine give up its nuclear arsenal in 1994 the united states made a commitment a commitment to help protect ukrainian territorial integrity. that that commitment was also made by russia uk , china, other countries, but our commitment is being tested. let me also say i think nato mad

that's annexed into russia? ambassador nuland: well, as i said, congressman, the entire thrust of our policy is stop where it is and roll it back. that's why we've been imposing these increasingly tough sanctions and you see the russian economy suffering as a result, providing increasing amounts of security assistance albeit on the nonlethal side. mr. weber: but the sanctions haven't stopped the body bags from flowing both directions have they? ambassador nuland: they have not and this is what we continue to try to seek is a full implementation of the commitments that vladamir putin himself just made less -- two weeks ago in minsk. mr. weber: do you trust him? ambassador nuland: i don't think that's a good word. mr. weber: i think you're wise in that regard. you said it's difficult for russia to sustain their occupation of crimea. in your comments i recall. ambassador nuland: i didn't say it was difficult for them to sustain it. i said they were hemorrhaging money. extremely expensive for them to sustain it. mr.

russia denied their forces are involved. mr. poroshenko says his executioners were very afraid of this information being made public. there is a rally being held here in central kiev this sunday. it was originally a prayer for a pilot in prison in a russian jail. now, you can expect the spirit to reflect the mourning for boris nemtsov. russia refuses her of being behind the killing of two russian journalists at a check point in eastern ukraine last summer who were killed there. they say she crossed into russia as a refugee seeking asylum and was then detained there. kiev says she was kidnapped and is a prisoner of war. they say she will continue her fast, her starvation until she is released to ukraine or she dies in prison. this is why she has become a national national heroin. cnn, kiev. >>> ahead, through coup allegations by venezuela. the president there claims americans have been arrested. >>> plus a police chief who worked on the jonbenet ramsay case 20 years later. ale announcer ] only aveeno® positively radiant has an a

russia is working on it? >> as i said in my testimony, we have seen incomplete compliance in terms of osce access in debatseve, in terms of osce being able to verify the pullback of separatists and heavy weapons. when you get to the political phase of minsk, which is to follow this, the political jurisdiction of the special status zone does not include debaltseve. if the separatists comply, they should not be insisting on having political control of that area. >> secretary mckeon, we appreciate you coming to today and sitting on that side. secretary carter and the joint tissue and joint chief dempsey have talked about the fact that they'd like to see defensive weaponry supported. secretary nuland i know has advocated for that we passed that unanimously out of both houses. at least passed it unanimously out of the sfath, it came out of the house. there seemed to be some debate within the administration, and obviously the german ambassador thinks the president has made quiet commitments that were not going to d

russia alleges that she was a refugee, who had sought asylum in russia. and therefore she was dick taned on russian territory when she sought asylum. she was fighting for one of the ukrainian volunteer battalions as she says to defend her country against russian invasion. there is video of when shem she was picked up by pro russian rebels and interrogated by them prior to her arrival in russia. there is a confusing period as to how it was she crossed in to russia. kiev says she was kidnapped and is being held as a prisoner of war, a prison of war within a country who says they are not at war with ukraine. none of this international pressure none of the pressure from kiev has so far made any difference. her lawyers are still fighting for her release. she says she will continue this hunger strike until she is either allowed back to the ukraine or she will die in prison. she's being at the moment given liquids through an intravenous drip but she is past her 80th day in her hunger strike and her lawyer says she is very weak. >>> we move to the country of vene

russia is by no means the only government na does this. the listening post on the trol army that takes its marching order from the kremlin. >> reporter: when opposition leader boris nemtsov was murdered on february 27th two days later tens of thousands of russians took to the streets of moscow to protest. organized, galvanised online. it was the same story in 2011 when similar numbers protested against vladimir putin's decision to run for president. >> they did not pay much attention to the internet, and what was going on on the social media. facebook and twitter. that's why the opposition could control. >> they started paying more attention to what was happening and insert themselves into that conversation. >> so you will see, friendships, news story breaks on twitter, facebook, and you'll see the masses of accounts start commenting on what happened using the exact same sentence. this may look like an innocuous suburb in st. petersburg with employees on the way to work. according to numerous reports, within these buildings. the kremlin is

a busy week for all things russia. today, eu foreign ministers meet to discuss that fragile truce in ukraine. this wednesday marks the first anniversary of the annexation of crimea. the world has one question. where is putin? the russian president has not been seen since march 5. the internet a lot with speculation and rumor. if you believe any of that, the russian president has either been overthrown, has been with a lover, or has been struck down with a bout of flu. joining us to break through the noise is leonid. great to have you with us. where is putin and what is the significance of the fact that he hasn't been seen since march 5? guest: nobody really knows where he is. he is supposed to resurface today in st. petersburg. the president of kurdistan has flown there. i expect putin to show up. he's not likely to stand of the president of kurdistan especially their. where he's been for the last 10 days is a mystery. you pick the rumors that you want to believe. i guess the issue is, everybody gets worried when putin

mainly russia. the threat of terrorism and actions of the so-called islamic state in the context of libya. lastly, our negotiations are trade and that and -- and investment partnership. we have the three re: different challenges -- very different challenges. we are witnessing today calling into question our fundamental values like freedom and democracy and prosperity and political order. i want to make sure who uses propaganda against us and commit acts of violence and to violate the sovereignty of our neighbors. they want to weaken the policies of the weston word -- western world. today we can see with clarity they are trying to divide us in europe and america. when we are united, we will be able to put a stop to be aggressive policies of a -- russia and against neighbors. the past has shown when we were united, we were able to succeed against the fight against terrorism. we have acted together in the field of the economy and free trade. we achieved success. when it comes to getting agreement, it i

is also embroiled in tensions with russia over eastern ukraine. now that they're seeing i guess the iraqi forces taking of isil, which is something they always wanted to see, how much of a priority do you think they see the fight against isil as? >> well, they still consider it a very very key priority. it's probably the u.s.' top defense and national defense priority right now. just because we're seeing these positive developments happening in tikrit on wednesday does not mean that the pentagon believes that the iraqi military is fully capable of fighting it's fight by itself. they are already looking at bringing in more u.s. forces to help provide training and support for these troops. part of the reason why they need this legal authorization is to basically codify, put into writing exactly what it is that these u.s. forces would be able to do, partly in order to have legal cover and partly to get political cover. they want to make certain barbara, that people here in the united states, who frankly are tired of war under the very limited mission

he was killed because he incarnated the idea of another russia, a democratic and open russia. you can see the title. that is a reference to the viral hashtag, this cry for support in the wake of the charlie hebdo attack in paris. >> we don't know who was behind his killing. there is a lot of speculation in the present request that is but look at the editorial of "moscow times," a russian paper written in english. it says do not be fooled by conspiracy theories prove this was a cap deleted political act of violence. the article points out some have clean -- lender vladimir putin personally or his regime in general for creating a violent atmosphere in russia a finger-pointing where trigger-happy elements of society believe they can eliminate an enemy of the state patriotism. that is what the editorial in "moscow times" says. "the guardian" is focusing on this. the british paper talks about murder in the shadow of the kremlin. they are talking about vladimir putin, he has a sense of impunity dangerous to all of us. the editorial focuses on the fact he was killed right under the d

i asked how to deter russia. guest: i would agree tt unity is the most precious asset, but i think the alliance is more unified than it has ever been. at the beginning of the crisis last year, there were some allies in a bit of denial about whatat was going on in crimea. today, i think we are united in standing fm, making clear to the russians this is unacceptable behavior. they violated every rule in the book and are going to pay a price. i think general breedlove enjoys the support of e allies. there has been a comment he is a step ahead of some of the capitals and his public comments about theresence of russian forces in eastern ukraine. as he has pointed out he is drawing g on combined nato intelligence including from germany, the u.k., france, the u.s., and many other countries. he may see that information faster and it might catch people by surprise once in a while. he has total support and the speaking for all t the allies. vago: even the nations that helped negotiate the minsk accords have an uneasy feeli

and russia appears to become involved in for instance ukraine. his policies are very much in favor here. his recent approval rating was 88%. it's not about putin as it is about mourning of boris nemtsov. can you see that by the crowds that are gathering. almost nothing in the way of signs that people are carrying. there's more russian flags that people are carrying and flowers people are carrying, so this is very much a march that can display sadness and outrage over what happened and much less at this point, at least on the face of it, criticizing vladimir putin. >> frederik pleitgen is joining us from moscow on the phone attending this rally and covering it there in moscow after the death of boris nemtsov. thank you, fred. >>> let's go to cnn senior international correspondent matthew chance. he is live at the site where nemtsov was killed and where this rally will end, come to an end. matthew, i know that you've been talking to people there. what have they been telling you about whether they are going to attend and why they will not attend thi

russia is working on it? >> we have seen incomplete compliance in terms of osce access and in terms of osce being able to veigh phi the pullback of separatists, heavy weapons. but at the -- when you get to the political phase of minsk, to follow this the political jurisdiction of the special status zone does not include the town. that will be -- if the separatists comply they should be not insisting on having political control of that areackeon we appreciate you coming today and sitting on that side. secretary carter and our joint chief dempsey have both talked about the fact that they would like to see defensive weaponry supported. secretary nuland has advocated for that. we have passed that unanimously out of both houses. at least passed it out of the senate, came out the house. there seems to be e ss to be a debate out of the administration. what is the status of this debate within the administration where we're all getting mixed signals and very confused by the stance the administration has taken? >> sena

it's your russia. -- it's russia. the reality is that is not where our strength is. the center of gravity in all of this i think from a military perspective was described by general breedlove when he said our unity of effort with the europeans is that strength and is what putin didn't bank on. i want to give you the opportunity to discuss how important the coalition is to the success of ukraine. it's my feeling that, without that unity with the u.s., we are not going to be strong in our response and ukraine will not have the opportunity to move forward itself. could you comment on that because it is lost somewhere in today's hearing? ambassador nuland: thank you for that, congressman. i said earlier that we in the european bureau spend as much time working with europeans on ukraine as we do working with ukrainians on ukraine because this unity is essential and because that unity is constantly being questioned and probed by the kremlin. if they can split us, that is their best line to imperil ukraine. first and foremost on the economic side, where it has been a culmin

we are the same russia as moscow and other parts and regions. we are part of big, great country. >> reporter: but for the crimea issue being resolved someone will have to change their tune. ♪ either russia has to hand it back or ukraine and the west must swallow objections and recognize it as russian and neither of these seem particularly likely now rory in crimea. >>> russian president vladimir putin signed a treaty to bring the city under full russian control and broke way from georgia in 2008 after russia and georgia fought a five-day war and now it will be easier for them to become russian citizens. the white house has criticized benjamin netanyahu for using language during election campaign and a spokesman for barack obama says israel prime minister used rhetoric and we have more details from washington d.c. >> reporter: further proof some comments leading to israeli election have strained relationship with president barack obama and his administration. netanyahu comments that arabs were voting in mass and press secretary told reporters i

of russia. our matthew chance was alongside those marchers. >> reporter: thousands of people, as you can see, have turned out to pay their respects to boris nemtsov. the chant here is that russia will be free. that's what they're chanting as they march across this bridge. the bridge just in the shadow of the kremlin where boris nemtsov was gunned down on friday night, but what message do you think this killing has sent to russia? to russians? >> wake up. wake up. >> reporter: some of the messages on the signs have been very moving, indeed, one of them saying propaganda kills. a reference to this idea that whoever ordered the killing of boris nemtsov, whoever pulled the trigger, it's the atmosphere in russia that if you're opposed to the kremlin, it means you're an enemy of the state. it is the context in which he was killed. that's what people are most concerned about here. >> do you believe that mr. putin, president putin is responsible for this killing? >> we do believe in this, and we believe

ambassador to russia and known associate of the russia and eurasia program. great to have you with us this morning. try to put context around these events. horrific events. nemtsov's killing, how much of a blow is that to the alternative voice, the opposition voice, in russia? >> it is to spread fear. no one is safe, it says. this is in the most public possible place. security cameras on the whole time. heavily policed. security cameras were being repaired, so it didn't record anything. all sorts of complications for the reasons of who might have done it. >> people were speculating the reasons. >> i think the reasons and who is responsible is obvious. that is precisely what they are trying to conceal. it is clear that this was done by some and close to the regime. it was done by somebody who wished to appeal to the high leadership of the regime and is in the spirit of the regime. >> do you give any credence to this personal control that putin is to take over the investigation? >> the same way as personal control over the -- no one will know who is responsible

is nato ready to confront russia? we have seen some extraordinary military mobilization, snap exercises. i saw some statistics since , david cameron has been prime minister, russia has gotten very close to air sovereignty in the u.k. 43 times. are we ready to confront is this militarily? dr. fox: you added militarily at the end. i think our biggest problem is having the will to confront. you can have as much military capability as you want. if you do not have the will use it, a becomes largely redundant. of the two elements of nato, of its political capability and its military capability, it is the political one that i worry about. i think this is where the 2% comes in. it is not just the ability as far as military equipment, it is about the willingness to show our longer-term commitment to the alliance. only four of the nato allies meet the 2%. which, remember is the floor. that is supposed to be the floor of the spending, not the ceiling of the spending on defense. if you look at what is happening, for example in th

and because of this -- became aggressive hybrid war against russia to make russia slaves. russians understand this and this aggressive war against russia, it's very easily -- >> what's very interesting, you mentioned this has happened over 15 years, this support for president putin. but what's interesting is his approval ratings surged by 20 points since the annex annexation of crimea. is he using aggressive tactics to justify his position as russian president? >> in your question i see clear anti-russian propaganda. it was not annexation of crimea but joining it with its mother land. >> okay whatever but since it happened, there was a surge. how do you explain that? >> it's really easily. crimean people decided to leave ukraine because it was a militant group. we still have these illegal -- right now. they want ukraine to be democratic and not two countries. (unintelligible) (unintelligible). >> sir -- >> you will be killed by rocket missiles. >> certainly, if i can just interrupt you. the former -- >> genocide. >> opposition leader who was killed just on friday was plann

russia signed it, the separatist signed it, it is also a choice for russia. if fully implemented, it would bring back sovereignty and territorial integrity. now, we have to test. as i said, the record is mixed and we have to be ready. both for the opportunity for success but also to impose more significant costs on russia with our european partners if minsk is violated. either because the agreement is not implemented or because there is a further landgrab, or because the separatists are further armed. >> what is wrong with laying out clearly exactly what we're going to do if that test fails? if this test fails, we will arm the ukrainians. by the way, as a sovereign country, ukraine has a right to defend itself against any aggression. in fact, we are trying to strengthen the writ of that government, part of that to provide for their own defense. we should be doing that anyways. is it the position of the administration that we will lay out a clear picture about what the specific sanctions will be and what specific military aid we will provide if russia fails? >

how bad is the situation with russia right now? is any of the problems with russia follow to the feet of president obama? senator bradley: i think we have made mistakes with russia since the clinton administration. the expansion of nato was a problem. kosovo was a problem. i think we did things they asked us not to do and we did not build a certificate relationship with them. when putin went to munich in 2007 and laid out his disagreements, we did not take that seriously. therefore, we are where we are today. ukraine is more central to russia's interests than it is to the west interests. the more we try to debate things like sending military to ukraine we split the western alliance. the germans do not want that, the french do not want that, the polls want that. we have to understand what is at stake and take a long-term. i think president obama has done well on this. he came after a long period of time where the wrong policy was made ofon russia. he tried to reset it as problems -- i don't know what the relationship was -- mark: ar

what about moving closer to russia? you get 50% not acceptable and 79% in the west and north the north and 55% in the south opposing and moving closer to russia. in the east okay you don't have a majority. it's very important to note there is an assumption they want to move towards russia but that's not the case. though three quarters say they could tolerate it. and in the rebel held areas it is a rather popular view. ukraine here again largely geordie's overall and in the west end of the north of the majority of the south rejected barely a majority find it intolerable in the east but here you don't have a majority even in the rebel held areas for joining the eurasia customs unit this is the area we found the most consensus. ukraine affirming a natural individual position between the eu and russia and overall 63% say that it's at least tolerable and 71%, tolerable in the north but it's more divided than the west. this is one of the unusual cases where they are different so you have a kind of divided between non- accepta

we are the same russia as moscow and other parts and regions. we are part of big great country rich. >> reporter: but for the crimeian issue to be resolved, someone will have to change their tune. either russia has to hands it back or ukraine and the west must swallow their objections and recognize it as russian. neither of these seems particularly likely right now. rory challands, al jazerra crimea. >>> the russian president vladimir putin signed a treaty to bring. [ inaudible ] under full russian control. the region broke away from georgia in 2008, after russia and georgia fought a five-day war. it will now be easier for people there to become russian citizens. >>> our guy sought some of the strongest' at this tobacco laws in the world with tight retricks on his where cigarettes can be smoked and how they are sold. but in this report from the capital. the tobacco industry is starting for fight back. >> reporter: 80% of these packets are covered in warnings. rotting teeth sexual impotence damage to lungs and to unborn baby. for uruguay, they ar

how does this fit into the story of russia's desire to see a larger russia-dominated establishment of the hegemonic authorities it once had. how does this story sit side-by-side with that one? guest: i'm quite doubtful about that story. i think the way russia got into the ukrainian -- what can almost be described as a disaster -- was more or less by accident. they saw the fall of yanukovych. they feared a western hand in that. they were elected -- they reacted more or less instinctively to protect crimea by annexing it. they found themselves dragged into the insurrection in ukraine , and rather unwillingly have landed themselves in a war which they cannot afford to lose. all the signs at the moment to me are that they are very keen to make the second minsk agreement work and move towards peace in the region. therefore, gradual improvement of relations with the west. suggestions that they are interested in detail arising the baltic -- destabilizing the baltic states, i ask myself why they would want to do that. suggestions that they would want to see a land bridge to crimea in ukraine

it is important to note on russia and a lot of the european member states, the dealings with russia, also cyprus i have to say. >> a do not get the lifeblood of their funding from oil like russia does. >> no. their 50% based on oil and gas exports appear to be biting. there is also choice they are making domestically, places in russia rather than traveling elsewhere. >> cyprus has a lot of underdeveloped natural gas resources. what kinds of partnerships are you making with companies in the u.s. as well as abroad to exploit that. >> we have three majors. we also have noble energy from the u.s., who also have the largest we have all short -- offshore cyprus. during my visit in the u.s., i had sent -- intensive discussions and we will be visiting cyprus next week where we anticipate we will have good announcements to make. as we progress from the face of cyprus resources to the exploitation. hans was mentioning -- mentioning earlier he flies to cairo. we look at them being one of the most important customers for exporting our gas because in recent years, it has fallen behind in producin

russia signed it, the separatist signed it, it is also a choice for russia. if fully implemented, it would bring back sovereignty and territorial it integrity. now, we have to test. as i said, the record is mixed and we have to be ready. both for the opportunity for success but also to impose more significant costs on russia with our european partners if minsk is violated. either because the agreement is not implemented or because there is a further landgrab, or because the separatists are further armed. >> what is wrong with laying out clearly exactly what we're going to do if that test fails? if this test fails, we will arm the ukrainians. by the way, as a sovereign country, ukraine has a right to defend itself against any aggression. in fact, we are trying to strengthen the writ of that government, part of that to provide for their own defense. we should be doing that anyways. is it the position of the ministration that we will lay out a clear picture about what the specific sanctions will be and what specific military aid we will provide a fresh a fails?

is strengthening military ties with russia so what can russia sell china? what is the possibilities, this is the main theme here of a strengthened chinese military through new connections with the russian military and how should the u.s. respond to that? >> i think what we'll do is just work down the row and answer your questions and any concluding thoughts. folks may have. i'll begin with one thought on u.s. military spending. i don't want to peg things to a certain percentage looking out indefinitely to the future. even if sequestration occurs, i'm hopeful that the dynamics of the presidential race will change the calculus of the united states, so it wouldn't last more than two years, i would hope. i think there is a case for modest, real increases in the u.s. defense budget and here's a very, i hope, stark way to put it. that i hope is compelling. a paying part of the rebalance strategy, the pivot, the military girding of that is largely the u.s. navy and the central that makes much sense if the navy is stable in size or growing because otherwise you hav

, still carrying out a still very expansive arms export trade to russia? >> i'm not sure that i'm going to be able to answer technically the question why those licenses still extend. they are of course to the extent that they relate to export of military or dual-use goods to military end users, they will be superseded by the sanctions, the arms embargo. so the answer to your question, but i don't have it written down here i'll have to write to the committee. the answer to your question may well be a technical one, that it isn't necessary to cancel the licenses because they've actually been superseded by the embargo. but if i may i'll -- unless miraculously the answer to that question should come to me during the course of this hearing, in which case i'll inform the committee. if not, i will write. >> all i can hold out to you is you say superseded by the embargo. this is information provided by the business secretary on 15th of december last year, the 21st of january. so either you're saying that the business secretary's information is wildly out of date o

russia. one of those things the united states is deeply appreciative of is that the other arctic countries have stood shoulder to shoulder together in terms of their opposition to the lawful incurrings in the ukraine and russia's violation of ukraine's sovereignty. they have all adopted the sanctions and support the sanctions, and we as a one triare grateful. one thing we're analysis agreement on is the seven other arctic countries, united states and the other six minus russia all believe that we should for the good of the arctic for the environment, and other important issues, we need to keep russia in the fold and keep communication open. we are all committed to that. i have relayed the message that the military rhetoric, the actions by the russians in ukraine, are not helpful to keeping that line of communication open, yet we remain committed to doing that. i think, and i know secretary -- this is secretary kerry's belief and the president's belief-and it's something i just understand intu

my thoughts are with his family in russia. in his death, the struggle for free speech and human rights in russia has suffered another blow. when the soviet union collapsed boris nemtsov was one of russia's earliest political reformers, a champion of liberalization and democracy. his leadership of russia's laboratory of reform brought him to moscow, where he served as deputy prime minister and was once a favorite to the russian presidency. then russia took a dark turn when vladimir putin entered the kremlin, boris nemtsov was one -- were sealed in -- brioris yeltsin was one of the first to warn of the vladimir putin dictatorship. the grip on power tightened, and nemtsov spoke for russia. after multiple arrests, boris never stopped fighting corruption and lawlessness of the putin regime. never stop seeking to advance tomography, human rights, free speech, free market reforms, and the rule of law. in december 2011, boris nemtsov helped mobilize the largest anti-kremlin demonstrations since the early 1990's, leading tens of thousa