, the largest republic, russia was in freefall, influence in decline, life expectancy dropping, national self-evide -- self-esteem takin beating. china surged and became an engine of the world economy. china sucked in resources from every corner of the earth and sent out ships piled high with finished consumer goods. in big tower turns, the u.s. still had an open field to run in during the 1990s. nato expanded east into the old warsaw packet. parts of the empire joined the union. china became washington's banker buying a prod i knigious amount american debt but was not in a world power like the world meant it in the days of the cold war. now, it's the u.s. having trouble working its will in the world, china making new friends and buying new friends in africa and latin america and russia undergirding its economic by selling natural resources for top dollar. >> it took 10 years to cut a deal, but china and russia, two world powers and formerly bitter rivals came together when their energy and political interests merged. they both got what they wanted and needed including the visu

manager desk jockey turned expression of greater russia's hopes and dreams. he lets no opportunity to take his shirt off pass him by. pose with a large gun? he's there. and no matter how transparently autocratic, vengeful, oblivious to even a thin veneer of democracy, russians love him. they seem to feel about him like new yorkers used to feel about giuliani. he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch. it's february 2014, and the sochi olympics are just coming up when i arrive in moscow. it's a different moscow every time i come here. the '80s-style go-go capitalist conspicuous consumption see who can spend the most money disco-techno thing i encountered when i first came here in 2001, it's still going strong. in fact, these days moscow has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the world. but as never before, it's imperial russia now, a one-man rule. all power emanates, every decision must consider this guy. ♪ russia is full of characters with murky pasts and shadowy connections. one of them i've called a friend for more than a decade. >> tony! wow. >> i

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 offensive against the pro-russian insurgency unfolds. by early evening you withdrawn's acting president a --

events since the last diplomatic encounter which is the russia slr ukraine meeting in geneva and crucial 19 days from now until the may 25th presidential elections in ukraine. for a quick reminder about the commitments made in geneva. at its core, it was kind of a grand bargain that offered amnesty and deep and broad decentralization of power to ukraine's regions through national dialogue and constitutional reform if and as pro-russian separatists ended their violence and left sized buildings and gave up weapons, all of it to be guaranteed and overseen. as you know, the ukrainian government began implementing its part of geneva before the ink was barely dry on the text. it introduced a broad amnesty bill and authorities in kiev dismantling barricades and opening streets on april 14th and on the 29th the constitutional reform commission held public conferences to which all of the regions were invited by decentralization and reform. ukrainian security forces even instituted an easter pause in clearing operations and sent senior officials out to the east to try to talk to separatists and ge

greater russia's hopes and dreams. he lets no opportunity to take his shirt off pass him by. pose with a large gun? he's there. and no matter how transparently autocratic, vengeful, oblivious to even a thin veneer of democracy, russians love him. they seem to feel about him like new yorkers used to feel about giuliani. he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch. it's february 2014, and the sochi olympics are just coming up when i arrive in moscow. it's a different moscow every time i come here. the '80s-style go-go capitalist conspicuous consumption see who can spend the most money disco-techno thing i encountered when i first came here back in 2001, it's still going strong. in fact, these days moscow has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the world. but as never before, it's imperial russia now, a one-man rule. all power emanates, every decision must consider this guy. ♪ russia is full of characters with murky pasts and shadowy connections. but one of them i've called a friend for more than a decade. >> tony! wow. >> i guess i'm switching to vodka. zamir

, choose whether or not to imfor gas from europe, from russia, or otherit through mechanisms. so it is very important. as far as the efficiency rates, ma'am, there, you crane is very inefficient. and the department of energy together with us is working on ukraines to work with to see what we can do to increase efficiency rates. as many haves addressed the subsidy issue where gas is so cheap that don't want to conserve, but also to put in place the kind of mechanisms and will allow for more conservation, so they can do far more with less or with same amount. that's a program that we've done in other countries, d.o.e. and department of state work together on these issues and i think we have a number much proposals that could work rewell for ukraine. >> mr. smith, can we talk about ferk and the process there is i understand is under cumbersome and takes longer how the that interrelate with process that you have ongoing? >> thank you. to get too far into the details of the ferk process, i would not be able to characterize it appropriately, but in general the ferk has an important theof managing

this is why you should want your only job. russia turns its attention to the east with president present preparing to visit china and sign off on one of the largest trade deals in modern history. from threats and deportations took up seriously and accusations of terrorism will follow the latest case of russian journalists being prevented from doing their job in ukraine. meanwhile as the ukrainian army intensifies shelling in the restive east aussies on the front line to talk to voters who are ready to stop troops advancing into their cities at all. and discontent with the current leaders increase increases public support for kind of this who are willing to listen even if their political views remain a mystery. this is asking to national coming to hear live from moscow and welcome to the program russia and china are set to sign off on a benchmark says she is gas deal one of the largest in modern history should be finalized during a visit by the russian president to shanghai and is estimated to be worth around four hundred billion u.s. dollars oh she's k. to pill b. and reports now

in 1994 and the subsequent one in 1997 it was a necessary decision. >> how was it seen in russia at the time? how would you answer that question? i will answer it today the way they answered it in that time. one of my russian compatriots -- 9.celebrated v-day on may what happened after that? is part of the answer to your question. that ispened after stalin remained in power in the andem of which ignited participated in aggression 1993 -- against poland, that system in russia in the soviet union remains. that was the course of the cold war instead of the united in proper terms of not in technical terms of the word. then what happens today, the main problem is that russia has this.t bothered with stalin is referred to the approved or endorsed textbooks for our children. able -- as an manager. can you believe it happened in germany with hitler? an ableonsidered manager. that is basically what happened. that is basically the root of the problem today with the theine that is part of russian establishment. do you know what happened? 1994, russian elite, the ruling class, those who benefit

russia turns its attention to the store the president bruce in preparing to visit china and sign off on one of the biggest trade deals in modern history. from france and deportations took up to b.c. and accusations of terrorism would follow the latest case of russian child is being prevented from doing their job in ukraine. meanwhile as the ukrainian army intensified shelling in the restive east all she's on the front lines talked with those who are ready to start troops advancing into the sixty's at all costs. and discontent with the current leaders in greece increases public support for candidates who are willing to listen even of their political policies remain a mystery. and a very warm welcome to are seeing to national with me. thanks for joining us russia and china are said to sign off on a benchmark fleshy a gas deal one of the largest in modern history should be finalized during a visit by the russian president to shanghai the two nations are seeking to dramatically increase their economic and technological tani's and our correspondents are in the region ahead of the sign

. considering meet to -- to consider widening sanctions against russia. this is as eastern ukraine votes to self-rule. >> and xi says china needs to adapt to a pace of slower expansion. welcome to "the pulse," live from bloomberg european headquarters in london. i am mark barton. >> and i am caroline hyde. also coming up, the father of wearable computing joins us on "the pulse." he has been wearing a cyborg eye for 30 years. >> rupert murdoch is reviving a plan to build a european paid tv empire by combining sky dortch land and sky italian. y georgia land -- deut scheland and sky italia. what is murdoch's land here. >> broken by my colleague sitting right next to you, it is to take 20th century fox, one of the two companies that murdoch now has, and to have it, through his control of b-sky-b, take full ownership of sky d eutscheland and sky italia. it has a 100% stake, fox foxrols this aspect of it, has that stake. you combine them together and what you would really bring is a pan-european company that can negotiate on sports, advertising, and it can combine all of those subscribers. deutee

u.s.-russia policies dating back to the end of the cold war, specifically questions about whether the clinton published -- president bush 43 and obama administration fundamentally mishandled russia. they failed to properly acknowledge it interests and humiliated in ways that haunt us today or today try too hard to accommodate a russia that acts in ways contrary to international stability? how does this change the way we think about the salience of nuclear weapons? second, russia's coercive and successful use of diplomacy, operational operations -- informational operations has raised security about other states in russia's periphery, including nato allies belarus, moldova, poland, and others. today, the united states has responded with small-scale rotations of its forces in its -- and its nato allies have done likewise. diplomatic messaging has occurred, sanctions have been taken, but they have had very little impact on russia's decision-making. moreover, it has raised questions about nato's long-term ability to stand up to the challenge. secretary of defense chuck hagel suggested

beautiful day. >> pony ride. >> absolutely. now we're coming to the most fascination side of russia, the forest of birch. oh, what a place. >> all hail the maximum leader. now let's dance. ♪ >> okay. thank you. >> well. >>> whatever you think of this guy, his dead effectless eyes, he want going anywhere. look at him he's the russian superman. the kgb middle manager desk jockey turned expression of greater russia's hopes and dreams. he lets no opportunity to take his shirt off pass him by. pose with a large gun? he's there. and no matter how transparentally autocratic, vengeful, oblivious, even the thin veneer of democracies, russians love him. they seem to feel about him like new yorkers used to feel about giuliani. he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch. it's february 2014 and the sochi olympics are just coming up when i arrive in moscow. it's a different moscow every time i come here. the most discotheque know thing i encountered in 2001, it's still going strong. in fact, these days, moscow has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the world. but

russia and ukraine which reeks like ukrainian idea not just torture law yes you reiterated that the kremlin has so far refused to fulfill the promises made in geneva on april seventeen to de escalate tensions by withdrawing russian special services unit fomenting unrest in the mouth nato secretary general anders for the region has again called on russia to stop supporting the protest in ukraine and scaled back troops from ukraine porter writes recent aggression in escalating the crisis from the start and should start living up to its international commitment russian president what you're putting on a seven announced it yet pull back troops from the ukrainian border. however nato and us pentagon hours later to attend the thousands of russian troops remain on euclid corridor us city leaders have also had the kremlin to stop supporting armed insurgents in eastern and southern ukraine a charge kremlin leaders did not despite evidence to the contrary provided by different state security service a kremlin backed rebellion in eastern ukraine has raised the prospect that ukraine could be ca

peace to the ukrainian land and ease tensions with russia which has been accused of backing the separatist movement there. >> russian president vladimir putin expressed the support saturday saying he would respect any choice made by the ukrainian people. joining me now from washington is victoria nuland. >> she is the assistant secretary of state for european and eurasian affairs, welcome. >> thank you, david for having me. >> so, tell me, there is this election in ukraine has important, for ukrainians but what about u.s.-russian repopulations which has been in a ditch for months now. >> you are right, david it was a spectacular day for the people of ukraine who went out in force to choose a new president and to say to their government and to the world that they want a future that is unified, that is democratic, that is process sphrows and that is rooted in europe. >> in terms of the u.s.-russia relationship, i think time will tell. the president of russia says he will respect the results and work with the elected president so if that is in fact the case and the things begin to

the highway to didn't meet with some of the journalists from russia's channel five. when about ten people and they were about ten can you meet this from beneath trumka to ukrainian a.p.c. with about ten. troops from the national guard from the ukrainian national god. basically seemingly out of nowhere because the area is currently under the control of the vienna forces and began shooting into as very close to them obviously the driver that that was driving the car that they would. have to break suddenly and the which caused the cars the breakdown thankfully everybody who was that was fine older the people who i spoke to the put you to just thirty minutes ago and she said that it wasn't just them he was being shot that all shot very close to the. ukrainian national god also shooting towards an ice cream van that was in the area basically these two these just sped down the road sausage shooting for no apparent reason and then sped off. and very very quickly thankfully that car was repaired and i'm out on the way back to. the. well lizzie this is not the first on a roughly. has been c

ashton have called the margin leaders to stop fomenting unrest in the region. the diplomat said russia would potentially face further sanctions if it interferes with ukraine's national elections scheduled for may twenty fifth japanese prime minister shinzo ave has again urged russia to respect the results of the upcoming presidential elections in ukraine. speaking after a meeting at me to take orders to rustle up they said his country would not tolerate the use of force in ukraine nato secretary general anders phone ross mitcham said the alliance was ready to take further steps if one of its members was to be trapped in the european union japan and the united states have placed a piece that made him an asset freeze that spawned dozens of individual song close to russia president what he referred to him but have held back on wider trade sanctions. it's like an escalation of the crisis in ukraine both japan and the united states have emphasized the importance of ukraine carrying out free elections by march twenty fifth to give people the democratic choice of who should succeed pro russia

emerging in the western media which say chechen fighters from russia are on the ground in ukraine. one truck was different full of gunmen from chechnya what you're about to hear is a startling insight into how involved russia may be here these men i'm not totally chechen and so russian citizens but one said he was a russian spy. but. i think secondly because he. doesn't do the cuts to get the stuff. the republican leader or those says he is surprised by the reports claiming the forces in his command have not left russia. where belief is if there are chechens there i know nothing about it but if this information is correct i'd love to know who exactly is that and why if the west wants to portray this as though we was sending our guys that well off itas our own i made renewed violence in ukraine's east the country is waiting for the final results of the presidential race we'll bring you more on that later this hour. bahraini human rights activist and builder job is back in the battle for democracy in his country after having served a two year prison term for taking part in mass prot

being dubbed a political earthquake. plus among the week's top stories russia and china strike a landmark deal worth four hundred billion dollars in small schools largest energy contract in decades as it turns its business priorities eastward. has just gone seven am this monday morning here in moscow good morning you're watching our international i mean on the. our top story italy's foreign ministry is demanding answers from kiev over the death of an italian journalist in the village of three africa in eastern ukraine during a mortar attack and that is the first reporter to have been killed in the conflict the thirty year old was covering the events in ukraine us a photo journalist for the news agency he was with his interpreter on a french colleague when their car came under fire the interpreter was also killed injured and managed to get to hospital let's hear what he and the taxi driver and i was transporting the three men had to say about. i knew what. they got out of the car and started taking photographs and that's when the shooting began i got scared and jumped into a ditch

events in ukraine and russia. nato expansion is again being scrutinized. today's topic into the fold or out in the cold could not be more timely or fit better with what the wilson center does well our kennan institute headed by matt who is was sitting in the corner right here was founded by the kennan family and boasts over 1400 scholar alumni, 100 of which are currently on the ground in ukraine and our global europe program headed by christian osterman are here has hundreds of scholar alumni bordering the conflict zone. we have assembled the program today including former officials from russia and poland who were key roles in 1994. wolfgang is injured who is of policy planning at the german foreign office the deputy assistant secretary of nato and the wilson center global fellow cheryl cross. news our star margaret warner right over there will moderate but here to keynote kickoff our conversation is secretary of defense chuck hagel who was elected to the senate in 1997 and voted for nato expansion. i checked. after his remarks he will take a few questions from the audience. secretar

so many young people are risking their lives on russia's railways. if you drive people away from the dollar many people now it must be sitting there saying gosh if we have u.s. dollars and the u.s. decides they don't like us they're going to put sanctions on us so people more and more people would say maybe i shouldn't use the u.s. dollars. now ukraine could be in for a sugar rush with more than half of the ballot now counted these are the latest partial results putting the country's chocolate king or the guard. in the lead with over fifty percent of the vote in ukraine's presidential election with his main rival former prime minister yulia tymoshenko trailing some way behind. is keeping the school. but we are hearing from the kiev government they are declaring these elections a success the number of people legible to vote that turned out in fact stands at sixty percent but the important point needs to be made that this was not reflected in the east of the country there the number of voters is a quarter that figure only fifteen percent of people costing their ballots most people

but just as a military intervention loomed large a diplomatic breakthrough was brokered by russia which helped persuade syria to give up its chemical arsenal damascus began getting rid of its stockpiles in october and is expected to complete the handover ahead of the deadline in june and the next step to the ask allay the crisis came in geneva where syrian government and the opposition officials said down for talks for the first time but the negotiations ultimately failed to break the deadlock as both sides resumed hostilities and now tensions have again escalated where the white house hosting the syrian opposition leader and support and pledging fresh support for the insurgency let's not discuss further the situation with academic and political analyst. thank you so much mr amazon for joining us here on r.t. to talk about this well as we heard earlier a top u.s. commander says syria will remain in chaos if leaves to what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement. actually this is the main goal of the united states since the beginning of the syrian crisis in two thousand

of the u.s.-russia relations ship, i think time will tell. the president of russia said that you will risk that the result and work with whoever elected. it will be good for russian relations with the rest of the world. time will tell. >> he snatched away crimea. that seems not even in question anymore and there seems to some extent to be a retreat. his popularity has shot up through the roof. he has one on has terms, has he not? >> i don't think it's wise for anyone to get in the head of president putin the given what has happened just in the last four months. let me take issue with one thing you said there with regards to crimea. neither united states nor most of the civilized world has recognized what russia did in crimea. we still respect the territorial integrity. that will continue. with regard to where it goes from here, as i said, i think we just don't know yet. it will depend very much on whether he decides to reach out to president-elect poroshenko and whether he's interested in the escalating. we have now seen russian troops on the border surrounding ukraine begin to move b

risk their lives russia's trains. hello you're watching international we're coming to you live from moscow it's ten am here in the russian capital good to have you with us the two thousand and fourteen european election has ended in triumph for euro skeptic far right parties in britain and france but the pro a huge center ground in the blocs most populated state germany and also in a chilly but did little to undermine the success of the skeptics whose presence in the next european parliament is now expected to double the results have dealt a blow to a number of governments the french prime minister for instance has called it a political earthquake more details now from. well as the results begin to formulate we are seeing a rise in the amount of europeans that voted for the right wing or euro skeptic parties these organizations have seen a great bump in the polls compared to the last time around when you have a look at the figures right now if we look at countries like france we've seen twenty five percent of the vote there that was six percent back in the last election it was held

television show. the janusz bugajski show. and he has written no less than 19 bucks on europe, russia, and the trans-atlantic relationship. and i would just give you the title of his most recent book his most recent one is conflict zones, the western balkans compared. in our next speaker will be ariel cohen. he is the senior research fellow in russian and eurasian studies and international elegy energy policy and national defense policy here at the heritage foundation. ariel cohen has served as a consultant to the executive branch and private vector with russia and central europe and central asia. finally speaking today and authentic ukrainian perspective, we are very lucky to have her as a visiting fellow hear the heritage foundation. she is a core fellow at the center for international trade and economics. she was previously at the institute of economic research and policy at the national university of tf. without further ado, we thank you. please stand if you feel more comfortable. >> i feel comfortable. i will go handstand. why not. >> okay, thank you so much for inviting me. it's

. russia slapping on a western backed un resolution to fuel the syrian conflict. coming presidential election. you're watching r.t. we're coming to you live from moscow in the russian capital it's good to have you with us graham phillips the british journalist reporting has been released by the ukrainian authorities he spent almost thirty six hours in custody. between various administrative offices the national guard arrested graham in the east of the country before moving him to the capital in what he described as hostage like conditions. right mid day leaving mary pollard they were approaching the checkpoint the blog post and started filming and then suddenly you know the soldiers were sort of over and they were interrogating and and suddenly asking questions looking through the car and more tips in more detail than the done before they found the bullet proof vest i've been given is the line of duty here so you know the conflict situation here and then seemed to kind of escalate things a bullet proof vest i did this to ask me who i work with explained it was r t c russian canal and

hatreds dating back decades between fellow ukrainians. >> (chanting): russia! russia! >> narrator: watching as the former soviet country veers to the brink of civil war. it's provoked one of the biggest confrontations between russia and the united states since the cold war. >> jones: it was late february when i came to the 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 hi

market in china gin jiang region. >>> when you look at what has happened in russia, if you don't have the guts to invest here, you better stay at home. you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. >>> a warm welcome today, this is "worldwide exchange." we'll be in ukraine and st. petersburg fairly shortly. the health of the ecb. the flash composite pmi coming in at 53.9, exactly as expected according to the reuters poll. it was 54 in april. the composite output price index, 58.7. flash pmi 52.5. that's a dip down from april. it was 53.2 in the poll. the services pmi 53.5. it's a tick higher from the 53 in the reuters poll. it's weaker than we might have expected. but that all means that the composite number has come out on the same. it's worth pointing out this morning that the french composite pmi flash was estimated at 49 3. in the first quarter we saw france was flat gdp growth. the german composite pmi number estimated at 56.1. and that was the manufacturing component came in weaker. let's get some breakdown with this with the man wh

monday in jail to the referendum. and disliked and dismal sanctions on russia has sent ukrainians you can lead to his stupidity continues. moscow by the way blowing hot and cold for mr said the law frost warning is french counterpart it would be quote senseless up for ukraine to hold in the twenty fifth presidential action omelette skip all that government forces from the east and starts a dialogue on a new constitution. here in france v e day commemorated on the eighth. now the ninth of may as it is the east of europe president paul scored on taking the opportunity to state that russia's president is still very much invited to next month's commemorations of the seventieth anniversary of d day the white house putting to rest any hope of any one on one meeting between barack obama and biden are put in during those commemorations. indeed a chance for or tongs in the current context to hammer home the need for united europe. commemorations began the atrocities in general do cool stuff cheap. and president assad on to proceedings in the presence of the former president's grandson the vehi

to ukraine i think it is that the west overlooks russia's very strong interest in ukraine as as we became involved and push for a more openness in democracy and we need to be very conscious of russia's very close involvement with ukraine going forward and finding a solution for ukraine. you're watching outing to national is good to have you with. ukraine must was draw is troops from its southeast regions and start a nationwide dialogue that's the view of russia's president vladimir putin discussed the ongoing ukrainian crisis over the phone with the german chancellor angela merkel has requested russia's help in efforts to the release the. observers who are being detained in eastern ukraine meanwhile ukraine's state security and special forces have held military drills in the capital under the cover of night armored vehicles were seen passing through the streets of kiev armed men were reportedly spotted entering the parliament building but despite this the country's defense ministry deny is the government took part in any operation this comes after ukraine's interim prime minister a

exposure for them but if they have to do this for the first quarter, what does it mean for russia going forward? >> we have figures from carlsberg. the biggest russian brewer. we will have more of that shortly. david is in headquarters in berlin. of newse a lot coming out of siemens. you have first-quarter earnings and more importantly you have this strategic review, an entire level of bureaucracy taken out of siemens. four sectors becoming nine units. the health-care care sector, speculations that will be separated just like we saw within finian. you have the turbine business from rolls-royce. a lot going on. i will be back with my interview with the ceo of little bit later. >> we will get back to that shortly. in paris, you are watching ahlstrom have a bidding war getting more politically -- more political. conference is just about to start behind me the focus will be on whether i'll strom -- i'll strum -- al will put up for the 70 billion on the energy unit. will this -- the share holders vote on the energy units in the fourth quarter. thisl bring you this with with figures from the

bills and makes it harder for russia to do business with the less but maybe it's time to look eastward here's why journos come a long way since being one of the poorest countries in the world back in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight today. it's the second largest economy in the world after the u.s. so how do the numbers add up with annual g.d.p. growth of around nine percent china has now left europe's powerhouse germany far behind and it's expanding at double the pace of america's economy meaning it's likely to catch up with it in just a decade so what's the secret well there is the attractive climate for foreign investment impressive production rates cheap experienced labor and all of that has resulted in china becoming the world's largest exporter a title that the u.s. had held for decades so the question now is whether america can sustain its economic leadership while it's widely predicted that by twenty twenty eight that crown will go to china. well moscow and beijing are close but they might get even closer they're expected to clinch an enormous gastrell this week

ukraine. all of this is coming just after russia warned ukraine and not to initiate military out rations, saying that would be a loss mistake. the ukraine president elect pushing to clear that area of rebels. >> the follow-up question is, how is russia reacting to the crackdown on those rebels? >> the russians have reiterated their demand that the youth lenience cease their operations in the east of the country. in the last 24 hours, we have seen several pro-russian fighters move into the east of the country. many of the men describing themselves as volunteers. the ukraine accused the russian government of funding and allowing these to come into the ukraine. they are studying the situation and are definitely not pleased and warned the ukraine not to go forward with this. we will have to keep an eye on that very carefully. >> thank you. let's look at u.s. reaction to the victory. bloomberg news foreign policy reporter joins us now in washington. .ell us more how will they deal with him? off to norself-made who grew up under soviet ukraine and eventually made his $1 billion in choc

issue. you have spoken out forcefully and against russia's illegal actions in ukraine and you have been a leader in the european union as well as an indispensable partner in the g7. your presence here today is a reminder that our nations stand united. we are united in our determination on coordinated sanctions. we are united on our unwavering article five commitment to the security of our nato allies including german aircraft joining nato patrols over the baltics. we are united in our support for ukraine including the very important imf program approved this week to help them stabilize and reform its economy. as ukrainian forces move to restore order in eastern ukraine, it is obvious to the world that these russian groups are not peaceful protesters. they are heavily armed militants who are receiving significant support from russia. the ukrainian government has the right and responsibility to uphold law and order within its territory and russia needs to use its influence over these paramilitary groups of they disarm and stop. evoking provoking violence. let me say that we are also

being described by careless terrorists russia's dismissed the claims as ridiculous and the russian foreign ministry has said it's so outrageous that key of continues to bar european security officials from getting access to the journalists representatives from the organization for security and cooperation in europe have been attempting to miss the crew for two days now with no luck international pressure has been mounting on the ukrainian authorities to release the journalists human rights watch also drawing the release efforts voicing their concerns for the for their well being they're worried about their treatment or were worried about their status we believe they should be immediately released if there are some if there are specific concrete legal accusations against them let those like those charges be known but meanwhile they should be released pending any investigation if there indeed needs to be an investigation. even the u.s. state department who initially by accusations has since taken something of a stand by. we would condemn any unlawful detention of journalists and call

-- russia and china signed a landmark energy deal. could it be a geopolitical game changer? >> with nigeria still reeling from yesterday's attacks, there are reports of more killings by militants. >> and we will take a look at some of the favorites at the cannes film festival. >> russia and china have signed an energy deal that promises to be a global game changer. a 30-year oil and gas contract that would pump hundreds of billions into kremlin coffers. >> it's far more than simply a trade pact. >> it was more than a decade in the making, and it is a political triumph for president vladimir putin, who was courting partners in asia as the west seeks to isolate him over his ukraine policy. >> russia's president vladimir putin was determined not to end his visit to china without a big deal. a few strokes of a pen by the two countries signal successful conclusion. the agreement with china's national petroleum organization will run over 30 years. the russian president hailed the agreement. >> this is the biggest contract in the history of the gas industry in the former ussr and the russi

sunday despite moscow's calls for delay. russia accuses nato and the pentagon of misinforming the world about what's really happening on its borders with ukraine while of the same time boosting their military and east to the year of. the rain on the victory day parade to the only growing stand all deal rails the majority of the stitches across ukraine marking down the wall water. plants called green the red planet the ambitious miles one portrait prepares pioneers willing to become the science human emotions such as and never return to. and welcome to all to international twenty four hour news life. thanks for joining us on to government protests of the nice to ukraine are refusing to postpone sunday's referendum on greater autonomy from key of the decision to go ahead was made by recently formed people's councils in the main centers of unrest the city is open and lugansk the russian president had called for the vote to be delayed policy is in donetsk for us with more. people here are very pleased with the announcement that they are going to go ahead with the referendum this sunday may

greater freedoms for their regions. meanwhile the crisis sparked a key blame game in new york as russia and the u.s. failed to find common ground at an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council. and angela merkel and barack obama warned further sanctions could be on their way for russia if the situation crane deteriorates further. are you watching r.t. international now the deadly standoff in ukraine has spread to the country's south casualties and scores of injured people have been reported in ukraine's biggest port city of odessa which on the whole had remained relatively peaceful following february's coup in kiev these are the latest pictures from local television from outside the trade unions building where supporters of greater autonomy are trying to seek shelter a thousand strong more besieged the building attempting to force out anyone hiding inside men in black clothes were seen threatening people on the streets with machine guns and scores of injured people have been seen lying in the streets crying for help several people have been. hilde you talk as a mostly football fan

between russia and ukraine. russia's military move quote shatter the myth that the end of the cold war meant an end to insecurity at least in europe. speaking in washington he says the european nato members need bolster their expense effort because they will test the 28-nation lead alliance. we expect remarks to get underway in just a moment here at the wilson center. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> morning. >> good morning. >> morning, everyone and welcome to the wilson center. i am jane harmon the president and ceo. i am delighted to introduce our first event this morning. let me welcome the cochair and former chair and ambassadors from countries and our speakers for the next panel which is going to be introduced later. i have to recognize the former german ambassador who is a scholar at the wilson center. in 1997, my daughter hillary then a princeton senior majoring in politics picked nato as her thesis topic. she called her mom, me in my third term of congress, to get my assessment. nato expansion was agreed

nuclear weapon through sanctions and diplomacy, or punishing and isolating russia for its actions in crimea in its effort to destabilize -- >> he did not mention crimea. >> he mentioned ukraine. >> not crimea. >> crimea, we believe, is part of ukraine. >> they had a referendum today announced that it is russia offered >> it is not. >> are they going to say, we will withdraw? >> i don't know if the sanctions, in the near-term, cause russia to be crimea. several things have happened that are important. first of all, russia's economy as a result of the sanctions, has stopped growing. it is close to negative growth. the capital outflow was unprecedented. over $100 billion in just the first few months of this year. the major banks in russia are losing value and profit. >> at the same time, they just signed a 30 year gas deal with china. >> which had been long in the works. it will be very interesting to learn what price the chinese agreed to pay for that gas. i'm willing to bet money was a bargain for the chinese. beyond that, russia is paying a significant price in terms of this internat

vowing to come down harder on russia if moscow does not quit meddling in ukraine. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." the world lead. as pro russia protesters shoot helicopters out of the sky, germany's chancellor angela merkel talks about squeezing more sanctions on russia. >> jeb, if you need some advice, give me a call. >> increasingly it seems that republican donors may be inclined to and the pop culture lead, do you think this gives you a respectability that you didn't have before? >> absolutely not. >> joel mchale has something to make fun of, us, the host of "the soup" and the star of "the community" drops by "the lead" ahead of the white house correspondents' dinner. good afternoon, everyone. i'm jake tapper. we'll begin with the world lead. death in ukraine. 31 people died at a trade union building while the cause is not perfectly clear, odessa is currently being torn apart by rioting and clashes between ukrainian royalists and pro-russia activists with thousands positioned near the eastern border. but right here in the u.s., president obama and german chancellor angela merkel