the problem is that russia and the united states, at least official russia and the united states, tended to view what happened in the 1990's rather differently, and that is another source of one of the legacies between these 2 countries. you hear many complaints, at least from the kremlin, about what happened in the 1990's. we tend to see it as a sign of greater pluralism, self-determination, rush opening up to the world. as you know, it is portrayed officially in most of the russian media as a time of chaos, humiliation, impoverishment, part of the narrative for president putin that he has restored russia from this parlor situation in the 1990's. the third reset, as i described in my book, was initiated by president putin himself. attacks.fter the 9/11 maybe peter will talk about the first meeting between presidents bush and putin. famous phrase,e president bush looked into his eyes and got a measure of his soul. it was president putin at that point who is interested in seeking greater integration with -- if not greater integration with the west, a greater relationship with the u.s. whe

from russia would disappear from corruption ills now you just mentioned russia and i know that in the early years of your diplomatic career you worked as a political counselor at the american embassy here in moscow and i think you probably understand how russian officials or how russian politicians operate do you think moscow's concerns over ukraine's becoming a part of nato or indeed x.-treme extremist kept coming to power in ukraine do you think those concerns that moscow has at the moment are they legitimate and if you were a russian diplomat what would be your stance be in that case if i were in any way responsible for russian policy i would like to see ukraine develop as a democratic market oriented society because only in my opinion su transparent non-corrupt market economics can a country develop quickly to a china has exactly what russia wants the at least mr putin made that claim on a number of occasions that this is exactly what russia wants ukraine to be i would say this if mr putin thinks the do your asian economic union is the path to russia's economic prosperity he does

and russia. that situation improved when obama came into power and he showed president medvedev evidence of a secret enrichment facility in iran, and russia didn't agreed with the u.s. to tougher sanctions against iran and the u.n. security council. but russia has still always claimed that there's no evidence that iran is time to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and i think some cynics have said russia would mind if the u.s.-israeli attack on iran because oil prices would go up and this would be good for russia. i don't believe that. there maybe some people think they. i think the russian government doesn't want to see a military attack on iran because again that would have repercussions in russia's own neighborhood in the north caucasus. it would fuel islamist sentiment. it would cause unrest and a great deal of unrest in the neighborhood. i think right now the u.s. and russia are outlined because at the moment we have what looks like a relatively promising agreement between the p5+1 powers

the problem is that russia and the united states, at least official russia and the united states, tended to view what happened in the 1990's rather differently, and that is another source of one of the legacies between these 2 countries. you hear many complaints, at least from the kremlin, about what happened in the 1990's. we tend to see it as a sign of greater pluralism, self-determination, rush opening up to the world. as you know, it is portrayed officially in most of the russian media as a time of chaos, humiliation, impoverishment, part of the narrative for president putin that he has restored russia from this parlor situation in the 1990's. the third reset, as i described in my book, was initiated by president putin himself. it came after the 9/11 attacks. maybe peter will talk about the first meeting between presidents bush and putin. in slovenia, the famous phrase, president bush looked into his eyes and got a measure of his soul. it was president putin at that point who is interested in seeking greater integration with -- if not greater integration with the west, a greater rela

portrays russia is some kind of threat. i would put it differently all right i would say that the west has become a threat to itself. this constant confrontation with russia which began in the one nine hundred ninety s. with the end of the soviet union the kind of march toward moscow from the west beginning with nato expansion carrying on with the attempt to establish an american military outpost in the former soviet republic of georgia the building of missile defense installations along russia's borders and now the confrontation in ukraine. in my perspective that is not only highly provocative highly provocative but it is closing down opportunities that we have with russia to solve major problems affecting our own national security in syria and iran and afghanistan and the struggle against international terrorism the problem today is whether we call it a cold war or not as i said at the beginning is that in some ways it's more dangerous one reason is there is no discussion of this issue in the united states on network radi

russia is some kind of threat. i would put it differently all right i would say that the west has become a threat to itself. this constant confrontation with russia which began in the one nine hundred ninety s. with the end of the soviet union the kind of march toward moscow from the west beginning with nato expansion carrying on with the attempt to establish an american military outpost in the former soviet republic of georgia the building of missile defense installations along russia's borders and now the confrontation in ukraine. in my perspective that is not only highly provocative highly provocative but it is closing down opportunities that we have with russia to solve major problems affecting our own national security in syria in iran and afghanistan in the struggle against international terrorism the problem today is whether we call it a cold war or not as i said at the beginning is that in some ways it's more dangerous one reason is there is no discussion of this issue in the united states on network radio

from russia would disappear soon corruption ills now you just mentioned russia and i know that in the early years of your diplomatic career you worked as a political counselor at the american embassy here in moscow and i think you probably understand how russian officials or how russian politicians operate do you think moscow's concerns over ukraine's becoming a part of nato or indeed x.-treme extremist kept coming to power in ukraine do you think those concerns that moscow has at the moment are they legitimate and if you were a russian diplomat what would be your stance be in that case if i were in any way responsible for russian policy i would like to see ukraine develop as a democratic market oriented society because only in my opinion through transparent non-corrupt market economics can a country develop quickly china has exactly what russia wants there at least mr putin made that claim on a number of occasions that this is exactly what russia wants ukraine to be i would say this if mr putin thinks the do your asian economic union is the path to russia's economic prosperity he doe

some in russia disagree with him. some in russia believe an ukraine that is more closely allied with the west will force russia to, itself, transform into are a more democratic society, and more economically competitive society. i understand that the putin division is different, but at this moment if we talk specifically about this deal it is also in russia's interest. it is not in russia's interest that there is chaos in ukraine. >> not in russia's interest that there be chaos in ukraine, mr. wilson. chaos is pretty close. >> i think that is the case. i think we came within 4 hours of ukraine turning into an outright civil war, thinking about a war raging on the borders of poland. and i think part of what did happen-- >> i want to stop you right there. for some that may sound like hyperbole. that it would stop if it was really a threat, and wouldn't be allowed to go on. but just a little over a decade ago we had big civil wars in the balkans, and that may have been unthinkable, too. >> we saw yanukovych trying to bri

you know in russia or. you know the laws of you know uganda where it's a crime it's a crime to be who you are. my view is why aren't we celebrating who you know a human being we should and every human life is valuable i mean we wouldn't have had tchaikovsky we wouldn't have had nuri we wouldn't have had. you know countless of martina navratilova you know these are incredible individuals who happen to be gay mr louganis and i totally agree with you i think that. because there has been so much so many inaccuracies and sometimes outright falsehoods on this lie just want to make it clear that again in russia at least being gay is not criminalized there absolutely no punishment for being gay in russia the only thing that these floor precludes is spreading. information favorable information on nontraditional sexual behavior and by the way back law doesn't even mansion homosexuality or gay it doesn't it has no mention of that even though i assume it's implied. you know what i mean i'm sure that there you know ther

and russia at least being gay is not criminalized there absolutely no punishment for being gay in russia the only thing that. is spreading information family information on nontraditional sexual behavior what are you going to legislate against couples who swing you know who. you know trade partners or is it only a certain type of sex that you're legally able to you know it is so. propaganda you know it's so unclear. yet when i close my eyes i see people who. you know sometimes i think that you're a model in itself is a face covered by most. people in most on both sides of the barricades. and you know sometimes it feels as if all of ukraine is no. winter is when the sahara comes to life. a waste is palm trees are being harvested . people are waiting for the biggest event of the year. the desert festival. this is through and that is. leading camel races have spent the last year preparing for the grueling marathon. the day before the race there's a heavy sandstorm overcoming the. power of nature is a never ending challenge. so far on a desert winter an aussie. rules. legal rights. to the. l

russia's investment russia cut gas prices to support the end of coverage russia is buying ukrainian junk bonds of the ukrainian government with the normal very very dear girl bonds you're the model serial no you don't get your facts straight ok they're euro bonds russia wants are going to have sex trade very much. ok so i don't know i'm a bitch because you're one can't see in your head but in a diary peter is how you say here is the main gate or market for you right ukrainian goods sense an agreement with the european union is trying to put in your irish and if you're going to go to the union ok keep going arial keep going. so i'm saying is that russia is expanding billions and billions of dollars to bring your crane into the eurasian union if the majority of ukrainian people don't want to do that but this policy of russia pulling i haven't saw into the united states involvement. may bring to the breakup of ukraine that will bore us to russia breaking you're going oh ok that's a new one here ok ok mark. let me go to marcus here because you know it's very interesting because our hist

-russia relations. to your question about saudi arabia and of course the russians will always say that the u.s. pursues double standards that we criticize russia for doing things that we don't criticize china for. the russians have of course said that russia is a european country. there are a number -- member of the consulate of your been signed off on conventions do agreements where they are supposed to adhere to these norms which of course china hasn't done and saudi arabia hasn't done but it is true that i think the u.s. has in the past not been consistent in the way that it has criticized russia for something should happen to drastically and not criticize some of russia's neighbors in azerbaijan and kazakhstan. you think the obama administration has been pretty skilled at dealing with these issues. when at work and it hasn't worked so well in the last two years differentiated between working with rush on these common interests like arms control, like iran like missile defense, like afghanistan and s

and russia. and it has been fairly quiet and reserved in what it is said about what's happening to drastically. this has changed a little bit in the last year for the last couple of years since mr. putin reframed the kremlin and he has thrown out the united states agency for international development, and u.s. ngo's. we have had the spot over the magnitsky at and the so-called adoption ban of adoption children by americans. i think we have to differentiate between the obama administration in the u.s. policy. the obama and his ration has been fairly reserved. the u.s. congress if you look at the entire 23 year. not that i'm looking at has not been a force for promoting better relations with russia. those people in the congress who aren't just in russia have tended to be people who are highly critical so things like that magnitsky list which bans visas and assets of russian officials and human rights abuses originated in the congress. it was not something that the obama administration wanted the ru

russia's investment russia cut gas prices to support the end of coverage russia is buying ukrainian junk bonds of the ukrainian government with the normally very very heroic on your one scenario no you don't get your facts straight ok they're euro bonds russia wants not going to have sex trade very much. ok so i don't know if it's because there was really can't say in your head but in a diary peter is how you say here is the main gate or market for you right ukrainian goods in your sense an agreement with the european union is trying to put in your phrase and if you're going to go to the union ok keep going to arial keep going. so i'm saying is that russia is expanding billions and billions of dollars to bring your crane into the eurasian union if the majority of ukrainian people don't want to do that but this policy of russia pulling i haven't signed the agreement the united states' involvement. may bring to the breakup of ukraine that will belong to us through russia breaking you're going to the ok that's a new one here ok ok mark. let me go to mark willacy terribly sorry because

russia relations. both areas in which we are cooperating where we're looking forward to deeper cooperation aiming toward certain goal and area of problem in the relationship that have to be dealt with. that is -- obvious to me. there will be -- as you know, and a lot of common as we approach the g8 summit. again, questions particularly coming after the discussions we've had in this country over the past several months whether russia is should be part of the g8 and how we deal with that and the other -- there's a difference between the american political establishment deals with russia the way they talk about russia and the way the administration would. i have no doubt that the administration has a reasonable working relationship with the russian counterpart. they operate in a political environment that put constraint on what they can do in the relationship more broadly speaking. the other point i would make is that when we're talking about the bilateral relationship. i think we too easily fallen the id

it is innate to the russian system and russia people. russia has to be russia. the bush administration was naive about that but bush had a steep learning curve and he learned. obama people came in with re-set. idea will be not only will rere-set thing bush being a mule head and not understanding these things but actually re-set russia's own set of own self-interest. that naivete is what we are paying for now. >> the center of gravity now is moscow. that a lot of the -- where everything is coming from is moscow. you look at there is an intelligence ship off the coast of cuba that nobody is really paying attention to. there is -- they have their hand in a lot of different pots around the world. >> well, there is -- there are a couple of significance at least, obviously what's going on in ukraine is one. the other is syria, which we haven't talked about tonight but where clearly putin has been a thorn in the whole world's side in terms of his backing of assad in that region. and, you know, the other aspect where they have been very important is the edward snow den

clinton was the russia hand. he was interested in russia and i think he and those around him really thought that they had eight years at the maximum to refashion russia and turn it into a democracy and a market society. we know that was clearly overly ambitious and you cannot remake a society like that. and there was ana an attempt of financial assistance and getting them to buy into the u.s. security and that is why we had problems with russia with the war in the balkins and that ended badly. toward the end of the administrati administration, putin came in so i was in government during a downward period and the united states wasn't able to achieve what they wanted. the reset under george w bush was looking for a better relationship. after 9-11 he was the first person to call and offer support in helping the united states establish basis in central asia. the desire was to have an equal partnership of unequals. having a partnership with the united states that was strategic. and the bush administration was in favor

and russia. we don't want to choose. we would like to see the area as a area of cooperation rather than confrontation. that makes the life of all the different countries in the area much more difficult. why should we have to be in the situation -- why don't we be in the situation where we get together, think how we make the world safer and more secure. they achieved results. when they don't cooperate it's a failure. i think that lead us think about more cooperative agenda. i would likely any tank here in washington look at the long-term strategy how we make the relationship positive. that will help to all the arab countries because we still -- [inaudible] to be ours. thank you. >> thank you. 20 years of success. kazakhstan clearly a remarkable case of a country and obviously -- and basically able to work with everyone. it's not easy. i think they demonstrate it's not possible. and -- [inaudible] thank you very much. [applause] >>> the winter olympics begin in russia on friday. now a discussion ab

later this evening where russia do have a medal hope. then where russia of tradition is very very strong at last few decades but i think gold might be a bit beyond them this evening just because of the competition they face from tessa virtue and scott more of the united states and cheryl davis and charlie winds of canada those two players really are expected to live for the goal of a had to have quite a big lead after the short program but there's no reason that you need can consent in cuts a pile of. of cancer but really between them to try and get a bronze medal and try to continue what has been a fantastic figure skating gaze for russia so far at these olympics. it was a disappointing winter olympics for the russian team but few felt it more than the figure skaters russia and the soviet union's proud record of winning a gold medal in every game since one hundred sixty four came to an end his face fell just short of clinching atop the podium finish in the men's event four years on and things look like they're getting back to normal as

second of all let's talk about russia russia's investment russia cut gas prices to support the end of coverage russia is buying ukrainian junk bonds of the ukrainian government with very very dear girl bonds your years on cereal don't get you know get your facts straight ok there euro bonds russia once again i have our facts straight i'm very much ok so i don't know i'm a bitch because you're one russian say in your head but in a jury peter there's a difference the money gator market for you right ukrainian goods sense and agreement with the european union is trying to put in your life and if you're going to go the illusion union ok keep going arial keep going. so i'm saying is that russia is expanding billions and billions of dollars to bring your crane into the eurasian union if the majority of ukrainian people don't want to do that but this policy of russia pulling they have insight into the united states involvement. may bring to the breakup of ukraine that will bore us through russia breaking you're going oh ok that's a new one here ok ok mark let me let me go to mark willacy ter

you know in russia or. you know the laws of you know uganda where it's a crime it's a crime to be who you are. my views why aren't we celebrating who you know a human being we should and every human life is valuable i mean we wouldn't have charlie koskie we wouldn't have had nuri we wouldn't have had. you know countless of martina navratilova you know these are incredible individuals who happen to be gay mr louganis and i totally agree with you i think that. because there has been so much so many inaccuracies and sometimes outright falsehoods on this law just want to make it clear that again in russia at least being gay is not criminalized there absolutely no punishment for being gay in russia the only thing that these floor precludes is spreading. information favorable information on nontraditional sexual behavior and by the way backlog doesn't even match and homosexuality or gay it doesn't it has no mention of that even though i assume it's implied. you know what i mean i'm sure that there you know there

favorite stories came gold and silver in the answer but russia do have chances of god's. power in a leak. to be trees some of the of so they are in with a chance perhaps of picking up a bronze medal and try to continue was been a great figure skating championships here in sochi so far over russians. was a disappointing winter olympics for the russian team but few felt it more than the figure skaters russia and the soviet union's proud record of winning a gold medal in every game since nine hundred sixty four came to an end as fate fell just short of clinching atop the podium finish in the men's event four years on and things look like they're getting back to normal as russia had a ready claim to golds on the ice there true and you give you. an teenager you need sky were inspired in the team of ends as were. a mexican trunk or of who also took gold in the pairs but of course it's not just our trial lots of people are behind our success we really want to thank everyone who supported us we want to share this joy with the whole contract that we are delighted to be between all

i am saving my money to move from russia. and that's the only thing i can do now. >> reporter: and so as the world celebrates in sochi, this group of young people in this space they've made. they don't care much. ♪ no, no, no, no, >> reporter: they've got their own show. tonight, this night, they are all here in their russia in central station. young, defiant, queer, free. >> i want to be free and i want to be doing what i want. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm terry moran in moscow. >> thanks to terry for that terrific report. next, a man accused of shooting an unarmed teen over loud music waits for a jury's verdict. now we know more about what the jurors are thinking. stay with us. spokesperson: we decided to settle this. a steel cage death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out

this constant confrontation with russia which began in the one nine hundred ninety s. with the end of the soviet union the kind of march toward moscow from the west beginning with nato expansion carrying on with the attempt to establish an american military outpost in the former soviet republic of georgia the building of missile defense installations along russia's borders and now the confrontation in ukraine. in my perspective that is not only highly provocative highly provocative but it is closing down opportunities that we have with russia to solve major problems affecting our own national security in syria and iran and afghanistan and the struggle against international terrorism the problem today is whether we call it a cold war or not as i said at the beginning is that in some ways it's more dangerous one reason is there is no discussion of this issue in the united states on network radio or television during the cold war we had a debate about that in this country what should we do about it should we seek detente increasing cooperation or should we seek more quote

here in russia? >> it was great. obviously a great result, tough game. >> reporter: could you feel the pressure they were feeling in there, in that arena? >> i don't know. i thought they played well too. i don't know if they were feeling too much pressure. obviously, you know, the home team, they've got everyone behind them here. and we did a good job taking that away as much as we could. >> reporter: john carlson there, celebrating tonight. team usa are back at it tomorrow against slovenia, 7:15 a.m., you can watch on the sports network. meanwhile on the flip side for russia and other events, up to the top. take a look at the latest medal count at this hour. good news for russia. they are with a total medal count of 15 now. the u.s. tied with the netherlands for second spot with 14. and check out germany, 12 total medals. but seven are gold, most gold medals in the luge event. meanwhile, chris, you showed us off the top, just before how d.c. is celebrating back there in the u.s. of a. here in russia

you know in russia or. you know the laws of you know uganda where it's a crime it's a crime to be who you are. my views why aren't we celebrating who you know a human being we should and every human life is valuable i mean we wouldn't have had tchaikovsky we wouldn't have had nuri we wouldn't have had. you know countless of martina navratilova you know these are incredible individuals who happen to be gay mr louganis and i totally agree with you i think that. because there has been so much so many inaccuracies and sometimes outright falsehoods on this lie just want to make it clear that again in russia at least being gay is not criminalised there absolutely no punishment for being gay in russia the only thing that these floor precludes is spreading. information favorable information on nontraditional sexual behavior and by the way that law doesn't even mansion homosexuality or gay it doesn't it has no mention of that even though i assume it's implied. you know what i mean i'm sure that there you know there

russia's investment russia cut gas prices to support the end of coverage russia is buying ukrainian junk bonds of the ukrainian government with the normal very very dear girl bonds you're the one serial no you don't get your facts straight ok there euro bonds russia wants not going to have sex trade very much ok so i don't know maybe it's because you're watching c.n.n. you know how about in a jury peter is how you say here is the main gate or market for you right ukrainian goods sense an agreement with the european union is trying to put in your life and if you're going to go to the union ok keep going arial keep going. so i'm saying is that russia is expanding billions and billions of dollars to bring your crane into the eurasian union if the majority of ukrainian people don't want to do that but this policy of russia pulling i have been sucked into the united states' involvement. may bring to the breakup of ukraine that will bore us through russia breaking you're going oh ok that's a new one here ok ok mark. let me go to mark willacy terribly marcus you know it's very interesting

they don't understand how laws work or do not work here in russia if i was not happy living in russia. i wouldn't live here it's as simple as that and actually i feel safer walking the streets of salty and moscow i travel to seventy five cities in russia for the experience and from one star to five star i know what it's like i've been to clubs you name it i've experienced it there's a club here in sochi called my her gay club it's been here for over thirty years it proves and shows even though you can sort of see a club or in a venue as a benchmark of acceptance it shows you the bubbling and thriving subculture that the gay people have here in russia just like and this is very important just like they. we have in the u.s. and the u.k. many years ago and also it's very important to mention section twenty eight which everybody's been talking about of course in comparison which that you brought it in one nine hundred eighty eight even though that was still in force even in power the gay culture became the mainstream what it is today it's a very complicated you know subject regarding the

and russia. this is about whether the people of ukraine have the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations and be democratic and be part of europe, which they choose to be. >> is this a good thing? as you see this kind of ferment three years ago, the arab spring in egypt, you see this democratic ferment in the ukraine and venezuela and other places. does president obama view this as a positive sign? >> democracy is a good thing, david. sometimes the making of it is very messy. there can be setbacks, it can be uneven. we all know through many examples in history that democracies are more stable, they protect their people, more peaceful. they're more able to deliver economic opportunity to their people. so over time, this trajectory is a good one. >> yet, as americans are paying attention to this, i talk to people, they may not understand all the complications of ukraine and the split toward the european union versus russia. but what they do see is, they see vladimir putin trying to shore up a spher

the editor-in-chief of russia direct. on government control of the media in general and sochi coverage in particular. >> i myself as editor-in-chief of russia direct have never experienced any form of pressure. i've never been told what to write or what not to write on the olympics. we've just published a whole series of articles, a special issue about sochi. safety, investment, the cost and the benefits to russia in the long run. we found experts and we put the questions to them. we didn't tell them what to write or what not to write. >> probably half a year ago, there were a lot of criticisms regarding preparation to the games but i think that the games focus of media coverage has started to shift toward -- people always want to hear how miserable the process of preparation is and they want to hear more, some success stories. >> and that's what the russian media both state-own and nominally independent will give them. in a few short days, the world will tune into the winter olympics. it will be a tale of one city and tw

he is the chief economist at deutsche bank russia. start out with you they had hoped january would have been a better month what kind of picture do you see unfolding for the first quarter. well i think certainly january was quite weak and the main culprit was fixed investment so the investment side continues to be the weakest link in russia's growth performance but there was hope. we might have some recovery especially on the consumption front because we have the. picks and according to various estimates the contribution from the olympics for russia's g.d.p. could be as high as zero point three to zero point four percentage points for the year as a whole so on a monthly basis it could be even more emphatic. so for the quarter as a whole it will be a difficult period but there are some rays of hope and some triggers that may make russia look a bit better than in january tim you. bring if i might look just beyond the first quarter just a little bit because i think we're rushes today they need to think about dealing with some of the stru

russia doesn't matter. he said russia still has nuclear weapons but they simply aren't the same kind of threat other than it's dangerous to have so many of them around in the world. at the end of the day, russia, meaning the nuclear weapons, russian just doesn't matter that much. in the early 21st century world, certainly not as a primary threat to the united states. >> i wonder if he was talking to mitt romney who said that russia was our number one strategic threat back during the campaign. i think that's why you're seeing the obama administration reaction is not over the top because at the end of the day did, what we need to remember is this -- what's happening in ukraine matters so much more to vladimir putin than it ever will to us. and that's why -- this is his backyard, his sphere of influence. he sees things and the russians tend to see this so much as a zero sum game. the americans are ahead and they're behind. and so what chris was saying i thought was really interesting. this is so familiar. ten

putin's russia. the olympic games are intended to be the fulfillment of president vladimir putin's quests for prestige and power on the world's stage. mr. putin and russia conflict starkly with the olympic ideals and fundamental human rights. here's how they conclude the editorial this morning. the olympics cannot but put a spotlight on the host country. a more efforts to make pleasant image of the state, mr. putin is facing more growing protests. more than 200 authors published a letter denouncing the chokehold they said the new anti-gay and blasphemy laws placed on freedom of expression. that is "the new york times." putin games. in its wisdom, the international 2007ic committee in awarded the winter games to the one subtropical spot in chile russia. what could go wrong? great toe of peter the headline the opening speaks to reception, but in sochi, he has been more of a latter-day potemkin. russia estimated the cost of converting a beach resort into a world-class ski and winter sports center at $12

if russia is in ukraine. senior administration official basically telling us that it would be very hard for the united states and european allies to justify attending that summit if russian forces are in ukraine. the senior administration official going on and saying that russia has built up some good will after hosting what was a successful olympic games in sochi but at this point, the white house, the obama administration, in the words of the senior administration official, just cannot see a scenario where they would attend that g-8 summit in sochi if russian forces are in ukraine. a clear, clear diplomatic warning to the russians, wolf, something we did not hear from the president in that brief statement in the briefing room. the president was very cautious when he made that statement. talked about reports of forces on the ground. talked about what the consequences might be if this were to pan out to be the case. this is an indication that the white house believes there are russian forces in ukraine and th

russia's investment russia cut gas prices to support the end of coverage russia is buying ukrainian junk bonds of the ukrainian government with the normal very very dear girl hans you're the one scenario no you don't get your facts straight ok they're euro bonds russia wants are going to have to act straight are very much. ok so i don't know i'm a bitch because you're one russian can't see in your help but in a jury peter you say here is the main gate or market for you right ukrainian goods sense an agreement with the european union is trying to put your brakes and if you're going to go to the union ok keep going to arial keep going. so i'm saying is that russia is expanding billions and billions of dollars to bring your crane into the eurasian union if the majority of ukrainian people don't want to do that but this policy of russia pulling i have insight into the united states involvement may bring to the breakup of ukraine that will bolster russia breaking the law again that's a new one here ok ok mark let me let me go to mark pretty terribly marcus you know it's very interesting

from western media is why was russia ever allowed to host those games and i wonder if this reflects the nature of the threat posed by terrorism or rather the nature of the coverage. i think it's a combination of both on the one hand. one can argue that you know holding the games so close to a region where. considerably strong terrorist group has its base was high risk it probably seemed like less of a risk back in two thousand and five two thousand and six when they were deciding whether to hold hold in sochi because at that time the number of attacks was down quite a bit but the the movement was about to regenerate as it did in two thousand and seven when they declared the caucasus emirate and became a more jihad is the organization on the other hand there is a certain tendency in the west to on the one hand ignore this issue to a large extent certainly when it when it comes to looking at the terrorists themselves and instead focus on russian failure to guarantee security and so forth . and that's in part due to a certain bias in the western media if i will take your act couple of

russia is some kind of threat. i would put it differently or i would say that the west has become a threat to itself. this constant confrontation with russia which began in the one nine hundred ninety s. with the end of the soviet union a kind of march toward moscow from the west beginning with nato expansion carrying on with the attempt to establish an american military outpost in the former soviet republic of georgia the building of missile defense installations along russia's borders and now the confrontation in ukraine. in my perspective that is not only highly provocative highly provocative but it is closing down opportunities that we have with russia to solve major problems affecting our own national security in syria and iran and afghanistan and the struggle against international terrorism the problem today is whether we call it a cold war or not as i said at the beginning is that in some ways it's more dangerous one reason is there is no discussion of this issue in the united states on network radio or tele

russia said it will do that, and we think it is important russia keeps its word. >> do we know where yanukovych is? >> well, i'm not going to speculate on the whereabouts of yanukovych. >> should he be prosecuted for war crimes? >> i'm not going to speculate on any of the accountability components. generically, we believe that anybody who made a decision or anybody who created these several days of government violence against their own people aught to be held accountable. but the first thing that has to happen is to establish a new government. the people have spoken through their elected representatives. this is active politics at the grassroots that has sprung up in their legislate sure. they have voted according to their process, incidentally. they have followed their procedures. they have the requisite number of votes. people who previously supported yanukovych changed their positions, pulled their support away from him and voted to impeach him. so, i mean, this has been a democratic process that has been felt in profound ways, and now i think it's important for everybody to respe

but first let's turn to sochi where russia said goodbye to their maiden winter olympics with a spectacular closing ceremony after a string final day of sporting action to finish top of the table with thirty three medals and we're more on that so let's hear from our correspondent richard engel of late. well we'll hear more well here lol yeah it was a fantastic games for. carry on richard but it was a fantastic games for the russians where they are wonderful closing ceremony which is reminiscent of the opening ceremony itself the organization managed to poke a bit of fun at themselves the closing ceremony of you remember at the opening ceremony of finals the big ring failed to open and the organizers recapture about moments in the closing ceremony also back to the nines you know easier lympics in moscow where the only big bear we shed a tear the same thing happened here at the closing ceremony in saudi but it's been a member will get memorable games where everyone and everyone who did tonight closing ceremony just had an absolutely wonderful time as rachel kin wonderful bitterly passed and m

the problem is that russia and the united states, at least official russia and the united states, tended to view what happened in the 1990's rather differently, and that is another source of one of the legacies between these 2 countries. you hear many complaints, at least from the kremlin, about what happened in the 1990's. we tend to see it as a sign of greater pluralism, self-determination, rush opening up to the world. as you know, it is portrayed officially in most of the russian media as a time of chaos, humiliation, impoverishment, part of the narrative for president putin that he has restored russia from this parlor situation in the 1990's. the third reset, as i described in my book, was initiated by president putin himself. attacks.fter the 9/11 maybe peter will talk about the first meeting between presidents bush and putin. famous phrase,e president bush looked into his eyes and got a measure of his soul. it was president putin at that point who is interested in seeking greater integration with -- if not greater integration with the west, a greater relationship with the u.s. whe

the northern sea route russia's arctic ice breakers. technology innovation. from around russia. sure. there are i marinate it this is boston these are the stories that we're tracking for you today. first up a column is georgia's elgin a one of the founders of the school of modern free banking theory joins us to talk about inflation the good the bad and the ugly then after that we have a boom bust favorite financial pundit and investor kyle harrington on today's show you won't want to miss it and finally edward harrison and i talk bitcoin in today's big deal a lot has happened with the cryptocurrency over the past couple weeks and we're taking a look at all of it now let's get to the shell.

has hemmed russia in. that the fight over the status of ukraine is a fight to retain russia's influence. >> it was said that the role of the removal of muammar gaddafi soured russia's view on n.a.t.o. >> there russia felt took advantage of a resolution to topple a regime. moving the goalpost. >> vladimir putin declared the winter olympics in sochi a symbol of russia's resurgence. >> it's russian pride, is what is tapped into and exploiting for political purposes. >> the embrace of russian pride may signal another making n.a.t.o.'s future look more like its past. >> for decades n.a.t.o. did not deploy forces. not until the 1991 gulf war. it's influence grew with a successful intervention in the balkans. since the cold war, many former east bloc countries joined n.a.t.o., expansion has been controversial. when ukraine tried to join moscow intervened and vladimir putin threated to aim nuclear missiles at the former soviet republic. >> n.a.t.o. will talk about will and show engage in syria and other areas. >>

i don't think it would spoil relations with russia because russia needs to have a good business like relationship with the west including the united states but there's an important thing you that we need to point out you know when i was in ukraine the russian position was they had no objection if ukraine joined the e.u. they did have an objection of russia join nato so the russian position has changed and hardened in the past year or so and that's unfortunate while i'm back there hard to have to say that no one as of yet has offered ukraine the e.u. membership and i don't think it's going to happen that's interesting i agree future but i think we have to leave it here i really appreciate your being on the program thanks to our viewers please keep the conversation. going on i twitter you tube and facebook pages and hope to see you again same place same time here on the world cup my. winter is when the sahara comes to life. away says palm trees are being harvested. people are waiting for the biggest event of the year. the desert festival. this is through a video out that is. leading ca

before the latest russia e.u. summit it was suggested to us by our colleagues from brussels to put aside from the day to day business and to focus on this strategic aspects of the interaction of the two largest partners in the european economy we agreed because we have been long committed to direct you know moved and sincere dialogue discussion of all. the serious problems with all our. partners like e.u. nato and the united states. was recently put in which. is that in the eastern part of the program promoted by brussels is seen as a symbol of differences between russia and the one the e.u. project was launched we advocated dialogue transparency mutual accommodation of interests between russia e.u. and one of the neighbors is good that the e.u. is now talking about this as well it is clear that in order to find an agreement one has to answer some fundamental questions arising in connection with the situation in ukraine and pray. only the question what does. inside them and of. christian li violent street protests

from russia would disappear soon corruption now you just mentioned russia and i know that in the early years of your diplomatic career you worked as a political counselor at the american embassy here in moscow and i think you probably understand how russian officials or how russian politicians operate do you think moscow's concerns over ukraine's becoming a part of nato or indeed x.-treme extremists kept coming to power in ukraine do you think those concerns that moscow has of the moment are they legitimate and if you were a russian diplomat what would be your stance be in that case if i were in any way responsible for russian policy i would like to see ukraine develop as a democratic market oriented society because only in my opinion su transparent non-corrupt market economics can a country develop quickly to a china has exactly what russia wants there at least mr putin made that claim on a number of occasions that this is exactly what russia wants ukraine to be i would say this if mr putin thinks the do your asian economic union is the path to russia's economic prosperity he does not

well i can tell you that russia is. in the final stages of their opening match they saw she twenty fourteen winter olympics they covered currently four ends to three and there are three and remaining in that match so it's very very close at the moment the russia do have a very narrow lead on their skipper but i honestly thought about who are some are saying could become the poster girl for the sochi twenty fourteen winter olympics now she turned to the sport after a career in modeling but she told r.t. that she has absolutely no regrets about the career change. when i was very young i had a choice i was not sure if i wanted to be an athlete or a model i got into a modeling academy for teenagers but after a few classes i realized i liked sport better since then i have never thought about modeling i want to exercise practice and when i enjoy an active lifestyle i enjoy travelling to competitions but actually come to think of it the modeling business has a lot of competition as well but back then i just made a choice based

western media and terrorist in the north caucasus both claim the competition should have been held in russia and both with probably like to see it turn into a major embarrassment is it a case of the enemy of my anime being my friend want to discuss that i'm now joined by gordon hahn a counterterrorism expert from the jews to teach it forecasting corp mr han thank you very much for taking time to talk to us here thank you now russia is of course no stranger to terrorist attacks and there's always a possibility of something like that happening like for example in munich and nineteen seventy two or in atlanta nine hundred ninety six but whenever an attack happens on a friendly territory the narrative that we get from western media is that of resilience you know we regret the loss of life but we should never allow terrorists dictate our lives but when it comes to this so much games for some reason the line that we most often hear here in russia from western media is why was russia ever allowed to host those games and i wonder if this reflects the nature of the threat posed by terrorism or rather

in russia. and that sake alexander he's the leader of a far right nationalist party in western ukraine which played a key points in taking over kiev he's a long way in the member of alton ashleigh this movements and this point being the ukrainian citizen during the church in the war he went to the caucasus to fight against russian forces alongside the terrorists and he's openly boast that he personally had several tanks and armored vehicles russian media believe he was responsible for the slaughter of a group of marines and he's also the tories for his criminal activity and is believed to have been behind an association that some on this business partner and also spend several years in prison for kidnapping now despite this record was it a run for parliament just a couple of years ago and once again this person is now a leader of the protesters for the ukrainian capital now will be keeping you updated on the turbulent situation in ukraine throughout the day on air and online on our website r.t.

in-- russia. in fact u.s.-russia relationship has been on a roller coasterive ever since the 1991 collapse of the soviet union. despite the of thes of four successive u.s. presidents, george h.w. bush, bill clinton, george w. bush and president obama, to reset it. a new book the limits of partnership, u.s.-russia relations in the 21st century seeks to explain why. the author is angela stent who served in the state department and on the national intelligence council under president's clinton and george w. bush. angela stent, welcome. years ago you had an encounter with vladimir putin that revealed why these games are so important to him. >> we certainly did. so i'm part of a group. and we've met with mr. putin for the last ten years. we've had dinner with him, occasionally lunch. and this tame was 2007 just after russia had won the olympic games. and we stood overlooking the beautiful black sea on this spectacular ter ace in his government mansion there. and he explained to us that this was to show that russia,