russia. let's take a closer look at what putin's motives might be. russian president vladimir putin feels snubbed by the west, and wants to make russia great again. the war in syria has given him another opportunity to show his country is a world power. the ongoing and -- airstrikes are aimed at securing russian influence in the region with, or without bashar al-assad. hisn does not want to lose country's net -- mediterranean naval base. russia also has agreements with syria to export oil and gas reserves. putin says hitting the opponents is striking a blow against terrorism. terrorist.who is a and the president will achieve one other thing with military action in syria. thousands more civilians are now fleeing further bombardment, as the flood of refugees swell, europe grows ever more divided during is it all part of a grand strategy? alan, here is something i don't really get. before the latest environment -- bombardment, when putin was willing to sit down with talks, people were saying, ru

>> russia. >> is it putin or president obama? >> russia has stepped in, has changed the tide. i think our side was approaching its last legs. the iranians has been bleeding in there. the russians came into the air power and really did something with it, they pounded the rebels and -- >> russia has been an historic ally of syria. i would say let russia have at it and obama should keep on what he's doing, which is not very much. >> sounds like bernie sanders, too, and hillary clinton i think. [ everyone talking at once ] >> nobody wants to send u.s. troops. >> exit question, has the time come for obama to cut his losses in syria and embrace the assad regime? >> no. >> i think that's a good question. if the moderate rebels are defeated, we should try to get a cease-fire and get them protected and out. >> the diplomatic settlement will be on the condition that assad is removed. >> that would be perfect. i worry that's possible. >> eventually. >> assad is not going anywhere. we had four or five years to make that happen. it didn't happen. >> good. i'm glad. predictions. (maintenanc

badly for russia. but an argument can be made that russia's forces that are assisting syria's army, have helped assad gain the upper hand in the civil war. >> they certainly help the assad force he pish bacs force backfo. stuck there for many, many years if they continue their action. >> how does one balance the quagmire issue with the fact that this intervention from russia's perspective has made them the dominant power in the region? >> it looks good domestically for vladimir putin, everything he's doing in syria. and it's certainly true that the agreement of the last day or so it looks really good, it looks like russia's get whrag they want. but that's not a reason for the u.s. not to support it. it could yield benefits for us as well. >> and by the way, putin gets to play the idea that they maintained their sea port in the mearched anmediterranean, and. >> and that helps his view at home. >> larger stake and greater bargaining power in negotiation in order to 19 russia to reengage with the internat

russia says the u.s. is trying to put a halt. russia u.s. is firing back that russia is already doing it. it's ready, aim and fire at inside story >>> welcome to inside story. in syria you can't keep track of the players even with a score card. there are so many of them shifting alliances cricketry war aims - contradikt ry war aims. many countries, i.s.i.l., at this late date even with much of syria in ruins and hundreds of thousands dead, it is hard to imagine an outcome that would allow the warring parties to disengage rather than wait for a resolution, masses of syrians fleeing for their life have now headed north an west, further internationalising the refugee crisis which has long burdened syria's neighbours. through weeks of bloody fighting and a human surge tide out of syria, does the promise to ceasefire carry hopes of at least a pause. a breather. al jazeera's omar alsalah reports from southern turkey. >> reporter: on the offensive and making gains, i.s.i.l. fighters say they can control i.s.i.l. in the aleppo countryside. the group

turkey is blaming russia for one of the attacks. we're following events on turk turkey's border in syria. here are the reports. >> reporter: there is no red line in syria's war. that seems to be the attack where a school, a hospital, and other buildings were hit. among the casualties were recently displaced syrians who escaped the fighting across aleppo province. turkey has called azaz a red line and vowed to not allow the town to fall not only because it is being held by the opposition but it is being threatened by the ypg, an opposition group that is called terrorists. >> the ypg has stepped back from azaz and it's area. if they come closer they'll see the most severe reaction. we will not allow azaz to fall. the whole world should know this. >> turkey has been attacking ypg positions to prevent further advances. they have captured many areas held by the oppositions taking advantage of the government offensive against the rebels across aleppo province. the ypg and it's allies have rejected its ultimatum to recapture areas, instead

not just american writing on russia, but writing by anyone on russia. i never have told this story but jim came to speak at the university of north drilling when i was an undergraduate a couple years after the icon and acts occurred and we had to read, it was the hot new book in the field and we started out by reading that book which i'm not sure as a sophomore at university at the time photographs. but jim kane and lectured and that was the night i decided i really wanted to understand russia. so when we talk, we talk a lot about people influence other people there but it's often through private moments like that that the world is changed one decision at a time. and jim scholarship i think really begins to capture the importance of that one thought at a time transforming the world. it is an approach that begins of course with history, and jim, like george kennan, understood we can speak about contemporary russian affairs with any wisdom or intelligence unless we carry within us -- we can't -- extensive knowledge of the russian past. not that we know fa

they say russia is changing its posture, russia is not just trying to rewrite the rule book, they're trying to create new rules. he said, russia went into ukraine, crossed an international border, annexed crimea. none of these things stand up to international law. on top of that, nato sees russia developing what's known as antiarea access denial, which are combined air, sea, and land missile systems, all the way from the north of europe, petersburg, crimea, all the way down to where russian forces are in the north of syria. so he said what nato sees, russia clustering these a2ad complex military systems in these areas. and they see that as not particularly a friendly gesture towards nato and nato countries. so i said, doesn't that amount to a slippage towards a cold war? he said, look, from our perspective and nato's perspective, we are not trying to head in that direction, but the implication is, across the border, russia is upping these measures, annexing countries and crossing international borders. >> i know we just heard from medvedev there, but some people may not have understo

ambassador to russia, jim collins. vartan get gore january, the one and only vartan gregorian, president of -- for sure, forever -- president of the carnegie association. ismail serageldin, and they're joining us to celebrate your service. we're also lucky to be joined by latvian ambassador to the united states, the latvian ambassador, acting librarian of congress, david mao, and jane mcauliffe, the library's director of outreach and a delegate to our board. grace mckennan -- i haven't seen grace. there she is. hi, grace. grace's family has done so much to shape this institution. and diana davis spencer who has been such a friend to our work. gatherings like this remind me just what an impact the center has with friends and alumni around the globe including hundreds from russia and ukraine even now, we put the best scholars and brilliant staff to work on the most important issues. we learned that from you, jim. you always put scholarship at the heart of our work. no one who knows you would be surprised. some may alread

will russia stop bombing aleppo? the agreement calls for the cessation of hostilities among the warring parties, and that targeting by the air would only be allowed against isil and the al nusra front, an al-qaeda affiliate. russia has identified a much larger group of people as being part of the opposition. the main objective. the flo. >> jamie, are there any provisions in place, anything to prevent a flare-up in the fighting that could completely derail the goal of having the cease-fire by saturday? >> right now the big interest is in difficultying of the humanitarian aid. even russia has been at odds with the united states over many aspects in the fighting of syria has agreed. there is a great hope that this cessation of hostilities will hold long enough to provide real relief for the long-suffering syrian people. >> let's shift gears and talk about guantanamo. increasing the pressure in closing gitmo. >> they got hung up over what to do with the detainees that the united states believes cannot be prosecuted in cr

is an important sphere area for cooperation within the framework of the group of strategic vision, russia, islamic world, which was set up in cooperation with the organization of islamic cooperation. we can say that specific crisis and conflict is in the region, but we did the on the basis of the joint principles which situate the recognition of the people still to find their destiny, the destiny of the countries and they need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the states in the region. under this vision we consider the efforts of the international community in which also russia takes part and the countries of arab world to help regulate the crisis in syria, yemen and libya, to normalize the position in iraq, somalia and other countries of the region. all the three participants of the conference are the members of the nation group to support syria and we today confirm the adherence to the disagreements which were reached within the framework of the so-called vienna group within the framework of the security council of u.n. and we confirm the support of the russian

>> well, russia went to syria for several goals but the key objective for russia is political. the conflict in ukraine led to russia being isolated and in confrontation with a much wealthier and stronger west. and it was a position of weakness for russia so the kremlin decided to go into the middle east to syria where it could according to the kremlin's planners win militarily and come back to the negotiating table with the west from a position of strength. and that's what's ultimately the kremlin trying to pursue that. >> so in this terribly cynical chess game that we have currently going on, we're seeing hospitals and schools bein bein. a flagrant violation of international law, says the u.n. if russia is behind those strikes what is the strategy? would they say that's deliberate, that it's a mistake, how would they rationalize that? >> well, the decision makers in the kremlin or the ministry of defense in russia, they don't care about the cost of human life, whether it's in syria or whether it was in eastern ukraine or whether it was in russian soil in chec chesh chec. up to

says russia rarely strikes i.s.i.l. targets and instead has been primarily focused on groups opposed to the assad regime. russia insists it's battling bag terrorism, a lot rides on who is labeled a terrorist. >> if this can be qualified as aggression, then yeah, probably. >> are pentagon continues to queues russia of bombing recklessly and lying about it. the pentagon says the temporary cessation of hostilities agreement, largely because it provides for the immediate flow of humanitarian aid and it could lead to a more permanent ceasefire in the future. but moscow sees this as a good win, it gives, flow of humanitarian aid and leefsd bashar al-assad even more firmly in power. antonio. >> the discussions have had no effect on syria, at least not yet. zeina khodr explains. >> rebel fighters understand the need to hold ground on this front line. if they are defeated the syrian government and its allies will be one step further. after losing much territory in this northern province the opposition is trying to freefnt second

rather, russia has to stop bombing civilians around aleppo, that russia is continuing to bacon support by al assad, even though the russian foreign minister a couple days ago agreed to a cessation of hostilities in syria in less than a week's time now. so that's why i think we're hearing the russian prime minister is getting a little hot under the collar about the pressure he's taking here. >> all right. nick reportsson, thank ythank y >>> and kim, you just heard the nato commander's response. should nato and the white house take this cold war rhetoric very seriously? >> i think they understand that it is rhetoric. russia watchers say they're less in a cold war than a hot peace. you don't have both powers pointing nuclear weapons at each other as they once did in the cold war. what you have instead is russia using force to protect its clients states or its client communities on the ground, and the u.s. and nato pushing back. only today secretary of state john kerry again called russia aggressive. so when you have that kind of language, you have to expect it to come back from the other

russia takes some pride in that. anchor: this is the most concerted international attempt to try and stop the fighting in syria. what are the consequences if it completely falls apart? >> yesterday, president obama said history would judge harshly if we did not do our part in trying to end this terrible conflict with diplomacy. i wish he said that five years ago. the president should have been much more engaged, not waiting after 400,000 people have been killed. half the population has been displaced, and we see a terrible conflict in the middle east with refugee flows going to europe. we should have been much more engaged in this conflict, including creating a safe zone in syria. anchor: have the americans been outmaneuvered by the russians? the russians were willing to use military on behalf of president assad. >> sadly, i think we have. it goes back to 2013 one president obama did not follow through on his use of chemical weapons. president putin stepped in and looked like a diplomat. he has flexed his muscles sin

airstrikes russia's u.n. ambassador says that is the u.s. and the un security council exploiting humanitarian issues and making it difficult in the process to find any political solution to this process. >> what is the strategy? can there be a cease-fire? can there be any talk settle? >> here is the basic contradiction. sincerely saying that it wants to be a broker for peace. thatnts to go to negotiation table and to bring the assad government and representatives to promote and foster a political solution. same time you have the military campaign when you are a blitz rating and blowing to smithereens any remaining vestiges of rubble resistance -- rebel resistance. i am using that word loosely. rebels,there are good bad rebels, and terrorists. for russia, they tend to be all terrorists right now. on the groundrts that people will agree with that they are not going to finish until they have finished the battle. the military campaign has neutralized if not crushed those pockets of resistance giving bashar al-ass

russia for example. it puts a cap to some degree what iran would get from being back in a global economy and selling their oil. but it also poses some risks as well. i've heard european counterparents say that they're really worried about an aggressive russia but they're even more worried about an economic basket case russia. so from the intel side, if you look at intel and threats, take a little bit about the prospect of low oil prices and any negatives associated with that please. >> well, i think you've painted the picture pretty well, senator cane. it's working i guess you could say, one could say to our advantage. spoke about that earlier in the price, current price of euro crude for example is $28 a barrel. when russia's planning factor for their national budget is $50 a barrel. this has affected -- for example, they have been unable to invest in the arctic. so it's had profound impact and will i think for some time. just structurally in russia. venezuela's another case. a country that was -- it's

could russia be holding a powerful card here? >> we think russia is a wild card. if you look at 2015, they surprised many analysts by being are they going ed to be up or down. if they are up, everyone will have to take their oil forecast down. what i think is interesting is the we are getting some russian producers coming out and saying maybe we should consider cutting production. >> reporter: some say it's much easier said than done. >> i don't really see russia being the one that's more willing to cut production on its side. you have a lot of disagreements amongst russian energy officials as well. >> reporter: several analysts say russia's role in an oil production cut is a side show, and russia is trying to talk up the oil market even if it does want to cut production without saudi arabia's cooperation, it will be all talk and little action. >> there's a lot of distress there. i think the saudi's will be much more focused on u.s. production than coordination talks with russia. >> reporter: some argue russia will do whatever it can to get other country's coopera

modern russia is such a place. the murder of opposition leader a year ago is still a source of grief and anger for many. >> translation: this atrocious crime made him an icon of opposition, a political icon in our country. >> reporter: now there is no real opposition in russia, all parliamentary opposition parties are artificial. you can buy your party membership and the future of russia can only depend on the ordinary people who come out to rallies like this one expressing their civil position. >> reporter: russia without putin was one of the chants and also russia will be free. reminder that the former deputy prime minister is a thorn in the kremlin side, a beacon to those who don't like the road their country is taking. >> reporter: for the many thousands of people who have come here today, he represented a russia that might have been. of course, that begs the question can that dream survive with his death. judging by the numbers here there are a good mm-hmm people trying to keep it alive. >> reporter: five men

russia deal to temporarily end fighting in syria. bashar al-assad says he will not stop combat operations until he controls the whole country. >> translator: we have fully believed in negotiations and political action since the beginning of the crisis. however, if we negotiate, it does not mean we stop fighting. >> russia also said this morning, it will continue, quote, fighting terrorism during the pause in fighting, and there are already reports today of more russian air strikes. jamie mcintyre is live from the pentagon. it's clear nobody is on the same page right now. syria and russia saying they will continue fighting, when there is supposed to be this full pause. so is this deal really not a deal? >> reporter: there's going to be this period, where they are going to have to work out what the terms of this cessation of hostilities is. a ceasefire has a more technical definition and denotes something more permanent. russia has said it is willing to work toward a goal of instituting that pause in the fighting by the end of the week

russia and saudi have agreed to freezing production. we will get more of that breaking news as we get it. let's get to the bloomberg business flash with nejra cehic. nejra: thanks. vodafone and liberty global have agreed to set up a 50-50 venture to combine their mobile and broadband businesses of maryland's. -- businesses in the netherlands. vodafone will make a cash payment to liberty of one billion euros to reflects the different valuations of their local unit. lkswagen's diesel emissions scandal ways on them for a fifth straight month. it fell in january from 25.6% a year earlier. competitors picked up share in fiat chrysler and ford. european carmakers climbed in january. anglo-american has raised its target for disposal this year and will cut thadebt. the embattled mining company is hoping to sell a billion dollars in assets by year-end. in 2015, $5.62 billion news that comes after their credit rating was cut to junk last night. that is your bloomberg business flash. francine: thank you so much. the man in charge of financial stab

russia annexed crimea. nato sees and observes increasingly dense-growing clusters of russian military, sophisticated military air, land, and sea defense systems from the north to the south essentially of the russia/russian interests, nato, nato countries. from the north to the north of syria, one of these missile systems is being install thursday. russian missile system is being installed there. it denies area access to land forces, to potential attack by air, to the sea, as well. so from his perspective, he says that nato doesn't feel like it's in a cold war with russia. russia's open to its own interpretation. this is what he told me. >> isn't this by definition the cold war arms build-up? >> well, they are entitled to their understanding of this. and their description of this. we in nato do not want to see a cold war. we do not talk about it. it is not what we want to have happen or anticipate happening. we're a defensive alliance who are arraying ourselves to face a challenge. and we see that challenge

hardly anyone wants to invest in russia these days. not far away is moscow's luxury shopping district. traders from azerbaijan and georgia used to sell fruit and vegetables here. but now there are only expensive designer boutiques that sell imports. the facades are made from th very best wood in the world. but business is bad this year. only real tate agents have no shortage of work. irina gets new listings every day. she's never had so many in her 20-year-career as a real estate agent. prices have tumbled but many owners refuse to believe it. she tells us that she's just had a sobering conversation with a client who wanted to sell his house for $11 million. irina: i suggested seven. he was quiet. i thght there'd been a drop out in the phone connection. he said to me, " irina, why 7? i invested 8.5. how can it be 7? " i told him it doesn't matter what you invested, those days are over. >> irina and her colleagues set up a crisis meeting. they have about 750 houses to sell and that number is growing. they brainstorm ways of attracting c

a spokesman for russia's president vladimir putin says those who blame russia cannot back up there -- and their claims. to a recruiting network for the islamic state. 10 people were detained and they were not linked to the deadly attacks in paris last year. ahead of u.s. air force warns that china passes military's closing the technology gap. general robinson says experience and training still gives u.s. pilots a big hp or china has been modernizing its military with an emphasis on air force and navy. new satellite photos show china has expanded its building activity from the south china sea. the photo reportedly shows a helicopter under construction. that is happening as president obama meets with south asian in california. the u.s. and taiwan are among those complaint about china passes actions to mr. obama will hold a news compass later today and we will have live coverage of that. ♪ global news 24 hours a day powered by a 2400 journalists. i'm courtney donohoe. up, saudi arabia and russia agreed to freeze oil output at current levels. how will this impact levels? we will go to m

and the top story, a draft deal has been reached between united states and russia. john kerry has announced the agreement in the next few hours. what will it take to make this come about? >> it seems that they've gone over the maps of where everyone is, and the syrian territory, and i think that know some areas are going to be more blurred, if you will. there is political will now on the part of the russians and the americans to move forward on this. i think that the americans are quite fed up, and they really want something already a couple of weeks ago. they said they want it within a week. the russians said no, not until the end of the month, and i think the russians got their way. moscow is running out of targets in syria, and it knows it cannot continue with the same old game that started on september 30th without results. it seems to me that all the ducks are lined up, whether it works or not on the ground come the end of the month remains to be seen. but certainly there is a will now to get something like that going. >> what kind of pressure can russia and th

russia should do more and as a member of the middle east quartet russia should do more to try to resolve the palestinian-israeli conflict. >> the key question is what is all of this talk of converging and what does it mean for russian and arab policy when it comes to what happens after any ceasefire in syria if that actually takes hold? >> well, that is very, very difficult question to answer because there are so many diverging views on how to resolve the syrian crisis and of course we have this umbrella thing that is around the broken ceasefire and russia and america and the united states coming together and trying to damp down the fighting there so that a political resolution can take hold. but there are still massive differences and of course russia is supporting the kurds or at least it is allying with the kurds at the moment, it is allying with the hezbollah fighters that are currently on the ground in syria and allying with the syrian government. these are all organizations that the sunni arab countries don't like and don't like russia's agreements with. so even though there are th

and in ahina, russia, somewhat lesser way, iran. in those cases we have to plan for an enemy that is more high-tech than isil, for a longer area of time -- longer period of time than we expect from isil. we expect to be in a relationship with china and russia for the long-term. we have to do it all which is why a budget of almost $600 billion -- what the president requested on behalf of the department of defense is a lot of money. needs tot the country defend itself and make a better world for the children. charlie: we will talk about the budget later and about russia and china. isil, tell me what is happening on the ground in syria. right now inil syria, we are working with forces in the northern and eastern part and the southern part of syria who have the objective of fighting isil. objective is to take the city of -- remember charlie, that is the city that isil calls the so-called capital of its so-called caliphate. it is important that we recapture that that we collapse isil's control of that city and with it the myth that there

>> russia primarily at this point wants to support the bashar al-assad regime. it wants to be sure the bashar al-assad regime captures aleppo. russia would like to be a major factor in whatever international political solution is developed for syria, wants to be a major player, but in terms of the cessation of hostilities, it is not a particular russian goal right now >>> but they just went through weeks of high-level diplomacy.

>> i think the key problem is that russia supported separatist and russia is not de-military with the region and the occupied territory is full of men and the numbers are 40,000 with weapons, there are hundreds of more vehicles and fires that are being hit all the time and there is no willingness actually to settle the conflict under the terms where it will be an integral part of ukraine and with the delivery of humanitarian assistance and this is the most traumatic thing for me because as we see in the episode these two children and elderly people cannot receive a basic assistance from international humanitarian assistance. >> do you see any change if the political situation remains in the state that it is in? >> well, i think in ukraine there is determination to compromise on the way to providing a special status of government with these territories but there is no way to legitimize people with guns who came from abroad and occupy the territory. >> so where do you see the situation going to from here? i mean what is going to break this deadlock and bring some sort of unity to the go

trying to do four or five things at once with the factor of russia, russia playing its own game and iran playing yet another game >> this is more complex. again to make an analogy with the bosnian situation in the 1990s, many more external regional players as well as great players on the outside. it is very hard to do. the united states is not going to be putting a lot of force into syria, whether it's this administration or the next administration >>> no matter who wins? >> no matter who wins. this is because syria is not a close high strategic priority for the u.s. >>> the next-door neighbor israeli >> arming the rebels is one step it can take. even the democratic president might do that, but for the united states it is important to try to find a political solution in part because it's not going to put a lot of force in the situation. the united states is aware, as my colleague pointed out in the wall street journal this morning, two-thirds of the insurgency since world war ii have led to solutions. ballpark. it was a solution. it calculates that the russians will too because they don'

you have seen dreamts between the iran and russia with the air defense system and seeing russia demonstrate tremendous capabilities that i was done their out of area deployment into syria. so lots of weapons technology being displayed and i think we can expect iran to invest in some of the weapons technology being displayed on the syrian battle field. >> what should be our response? >> i think i'll punt that to the policymakers on the response to how iran arms and might use this weapons capability. >> you would agree that we should respond robustly and strongly. >> i would agree we should have a policy to be prepared to respond appropriately. >> thank you, general. thank you, director clapper. >> senator sessions. >> thank you. we thank both of you for your service. director clapper, thank you for your decades of service to the country, and that's something we all respect and value. general stewart, appreciate seeping you again. you have -- seeing you again. you have been in the battle feed and seen it from both siteses and know the importance of intelligence. director clapper, it seems to

turkey is blaming russia for the attack. doctors without borders says a clinic has been destroyed in idlib province, killing seven. the medical group said either syrian government or russian forces are responsible. in aleppo, this video apparently shows the aftermath of an air strike on the district, an entire building collapsed. crossing over to our correspondent zeina hodor joining us from the turkey, syria border. tell us why there seems to be an escalation on the northern border between syria and turkey. >> well, yes, doreen, like you mentioned, an m.s.f. health supported agency has been destroyed. multiple airstrikes is what we understand, doctors without border confirming the facility has been destroyed, there have been casualties and this facility really serving 40,000 people that in region. they now don't have access to medical services. the province is controlled by the opposition and often comes under attack from the skies. this i also a devastating blow and is not the first time. a week ago in the southern provinc

so when you take a look at the saudi and russia economies. they both have a cushion in terms of foreign reserves, and they both have foreign cash reserves to help them weather this, but the diplomatic push for this deal was really pushed by venezuela, because venezuela's economy is crumbling right now. it does not have a cushion to help get it through. of course russia would like to see the price of oil go up, saudi arabia as well, but in order to achieve a meaningful cut in output, you are going to have to get these countries that are on different sides in syria to start agreeing. and in syria, it's not just about the regime, who supports bashar al-assad who doesn't support, bashar al-assad, but there are also pipeline politics. there are two competing pipeline projects, one to put qatari gas up through syria, and up to europe. so energy is also very much at the heart of the conflict in syria. >> is there a winner or loser in this global flux that we're seeing in the markets. we're seeing china being turned on its head, russia, venezuela, su

for them, monday's attacks were a message from russia and its allies. dozens of families left towards the border. az as is no longer safe. it's become a new front line that could trigger a larger war. >> well, the syrian president bashar al-assad has downplayed 9 possibility of a cessation of hostilities, saying any efforts to end the violence should be about creating stability in syria. >> we did we'll hear about them requesting a ceasefire. who is capable of bringing them together. who will speak to the terrorist and terrorist organization, if they refuse to adhere to the ceasefire. we are speaking about foundations on conditions that terms are met. the air strikes are only adding to the war of words between russia and turkey, fears are growing that it will complicate efforts to end the fighting. rory challands from moscow. >> through the haze of a wintry day turkish shells fall an land held by fighters. several days of cross-border fire indicates syria's vortex is sucking in regional powers deeper. russian agent reacted angrily to the shelling. we se

and russia is serious about a ceasefire for now. they are postponing the peace talks to give the regime more time to take more ground. it means the rebels won't be able to regain this territory after a ceasefire is in place. >> reporter: the government is on the offensive in one than one corner of syria. towards damascus the aerial bombardment is only intensifying. the rebels no longer control supply lines into their strong holds and the u.n. is warning the 120,000 inside risk hunger and disease. members of the opposition inside and outside of syria have told us they have little faith in the syrian government and itself backer russia. they say the munich deal will only give them time to make further gains on the ground, further weaken the opposition, and force the armed groups to surrender. but a pause in the fighting and the delivery of much-needed aid to the hundreds of thousands trapped cannot come fast enough for the people. the battle for aleppo has left more than 50,000 people homeless adding to the millions who have been disp

and russia voting for it. so if we are going to test whether the words mean anything, you have to put in place a process like we have here. senator corporate mentioned aleppo and what they have been doing. yeah, they have been bombing. imagine what would happen if we do not have agreement that would end in two weeks, they would still be bombing. you have to begin a cease-fire sometime, but you cannot begin it on day one without working out the modalities of it. you have to say, ok, what are the rules? who is going to live by what? in this case that was particularly difficult because of different players that you have involved in this. senator boxer: i just hope it is not a rope a dope deal. mr. kerry: it may he. senator boxer: not that you -- mr. kerry: if humanitarian and lives arews, saved him that is to the benefits, and it does not think it will have a positive outcome in the political process. we say this, because senator corporate raised an important issue. he said russia has been publishing its ends in

and russia. they felt easier doing an agreement together. it's not clear all the regional parties are on board, and syrian parties have not signed up to the cessation of hostilities, despite that it's been welcomed at the united nations. this was the comment from the spokesman for the secretary-general. >> it demands the commitment of the international support group for syria, influence on the warring parties to bring about a reduction of parties as a first step towards a durable ceasefire. further contributes to creating an environment conducive for the presumption of negotiations and a long-awaited hope to syrian people. they made an end to the suffering in sight. the secretary strongly encourages the parties to abide by the terms of the agreement. much work lies ahead, the support group and the syrian parties are steadfast in their resolve. >> and, james, no sooner this deal was reached, we heard from the syrian president bashar al-assad making a statement. >> yes, i think an added complicatio

you know all of the countries on russia's periphery have been either invaded by russia and occupied. this kremlin has a foreign policy that essentially asserts their right to have political and economic control over their periphery. >> warner: what do you asses is putin's intention vis-a-vis these countries? >> he wants to maintain as i mentioned this political and economic control. it doesn't mean he has to invade ever country. he can also try to undermine the countries by other means. >> i don't think there's any possibility of russia making an incursion in the baltic states. >> warner: former ambassador matlock says the russians are simply responding to what they see as nato squeezing them by expanding right up to the russian border. >> in their eyes, they have not committed aggression. they are responding to aggression from the west, particularly from the united states, which they accuse, think unfairly but sincerely, of trying to encircle them with military bases. >> warner: western leaders concede they have little insight into what drives putin or what he intends. but mutual ho

and russia has denied committing war crimes. turkey has upped tensions to send ground troops to syria. u.s. president barack obama and leaders from the association of southeast asian nations are wrapping up a two-day summit in california. john kerry welcomed the leaders to the second a meeting. the u.s. concerned about chinese territorial claims in the south china sea. counterterrorism, trade, and economic issues on the agenda. 10 nations make it up, but not shy. joining me now is a senior fellow for american progress. and for taking the time to talk to us. this is the first time the u.s. has held a summit with the leaders. do you read in the thing into that -- anything into that? >> things are having me there today. i think this summit is about finishing strong. president obama began his rebalance to the asia-pacific policy which was an investment in time and energy and diplomatic capital in boosting american alliances and partnerships in this important region. seven years later, i think the president is showing some results of

their position. >> reporter: russia without putin was one of the chants and also, russia will be free, reminders that the former deputy prime minister was a tireless thorn in the kremlin's sign are a beacon to those who don't like the road their country is taking. for the mistaken thousands who have come here today, nemtsov presented a russia that might have been. >> begs the question: can that dream survive with his death? judging by the numbers here, there are a good many people trying to keep it alive. 5 chechen men have been charged with the murder. a 6th is being hunted. investigators believe the hit skwood met regularly in several hotels to plan in the weeks leading up to the killing. the man many believe responsible has never been questioned. nemtsov's friend and colleague speaking before saturday's march said this has serious implications for russia. of course putin should be worried because it is impossible to control the regime. it endangers not only the opposition, not only the russian special services but the national security of the whole country. there are purely politic