what i was trying to do in my book was to bring humanity to the kremlin. i was trying to bring the family story to the kremlin story and my book is filled with anecdotes and stories. i remember very few of them just because there was very middle when nikita khrushchev died in 1971. i was able to interview a great many people and really put all those little tidbits that usually felt completely lost in understanding of politics and instead present them in my book because kremlin leaders are people too. you might not believe that. but that is what they are. what i was also trying to do in my book is i was trying to look at how women look at politics. i look a lot at mother russia, mother russia, what does it mean? usually men who are there, at some point i came up with a joke, the russian president while vladimir putin was not the russian president, sort of warming up vladimir putin's kremlin seat from 2008 to 2012, incidentally, it is year 3. i will stop there. and so he was -- barack obama in 2009 decided he could be a good partner. what a mistake that was.

back from moscow, what is the reaction that we have been seeing from the kremlin to where poroshenko is calling his peace plan? >> well, we have just gotten a release from the press spokesman. and let me just read it to you. the russian president welcomes a signing of a protocol in minsk, based on the outcome of the consultation, dealing with the implementation of president vladimir putin's and ukrainian poroshenko's initiatives. moscow hopes that all of the documents and provisions will be thoroughly observed by the party. and the negotiating process will continue until the crisis in ukraine is fully restored. >> let's take a step back a minute and look at why this ceasefire might be enactive now. what sparked this momentum from the two sides to come up with this peace agreement? >> well, certainly, it was in poroshenko's, but really, his forces, ever since nato said the russians have been infiltrating in large numbers over the last ten days, his forces have been really back on the back foot. so the war was, i think he was trying to realize was basically unwinnable. in terms of the

the kremlin denied there had been an agreement on a cease-fire, because as the kremlin pointed out, russia is not a party to this conflict. despite the growing evidence in recent days that russia is a party to the conflict, and that there has been increased russian military activity across the border in eastern ukraine. nevertheless, moscow maintains it is not involved in the military conflict in eastern ukraine and therefore could not agree to a cease-fire. and i noticed a few minutes ago looking at the website of president poroshenko there has been one small change in his brief statement, the word permanent seems to have disappeared and now that statement says an agreement was reached on a cease-fire. so really, we're none the wiser. we're not sure whether the statements coming out of moscow and kiev actually will make a difference on the ground in eastern ukraine. >> indeed. it seems very confusing. in the meantime, president obama was saying moscow has got to stop arming, supporting and the guise of the home grown troops in eastern ukraine, but stop supporting the rebels. >> president

the ukrainian president says an agreement over a cease-fire has been reached with russia, but the kremlin says they agreed on nothing more than a process to peace. we'll ask where this leads the deteriorating situation in eastern ukraine. >>> amid all that, president obama arrives right on russia's doorstep in estonia with reassurance that nato states have america's full support. >> because we stood together, russia is paying a heavy price for its actions. and nato is poised to do more to help ukraine strengthen its forces and defend their country. >> the united states confirms a video showing the killing of a second american journalist by islamic state militants is genuine. >>> also, in the program, marion looks at what is happening in business and talk of a cease-fire in crew jane hukrain affected russian markets. >> russian shares have surged off the talk of a cease-fire emerged from ukraine. we take a closer look at what the latest developments there mean for russia's financial markets. >>> hello. 12:00 noon in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, 2:00 p.m. in kiev where ukraine's preside

i don't think the kremlin is married to that concept, yet. certainly, that could be a future of the kremlin. >> thank you, matthew. >>> the white house is supplying ukraine with weapons. now the president's own party says we have a warshipment to the crisis. this is not a rebel uprising but invasion. moscow continues to deny they have troops there. they say it's time for the u.s. to team up with allies and send arms to ukrainian forces. >> russia has invaded with thousands of troops, with missiles, with tanks. this is no longer the question of some rebel separatists. this is a direct invasion by russia and we must recognize it. >> meanwhile, civilians alongside soldiers are digging ditches. they believe an attack by rebels is imminent. reza sayah is live in kiev. if the intelligence is right, they are up against the russians and can't beat them with all their equipment, can they? >> reporter: at this point, it doesn't look like it. certainly, if you look at the events of the past few days, it's been a long time since ukrainian forces had good

that kind of message is received by the kremlin negatively. they are saying they will create their own military doctrine in response to what they are doing. >> as the president gets ready for the upcoming summit, the e.u. are working on new sanctions against russia in ukraine. what can we expect from the e.u.? >> well, the e.u. wants to put together new sanctions that they say they will release by smith. they want to look at things like military spending or trade with russia's joint military trade. there is talk about some banning of sports agreements and that is particularly disturbing to russia, because they are set to hold the world's cup in a few years, something that the entire world will be looking at russia for, so they are very serious about ratcheting up their sanctions against russia no matter the cost to the european union itself. >> phil ittner live in london, thank you, phil. >> harry fossett has more on how the news of the ceasefire is playing out there. >> we came into the president's office. there have been talks between porosh

the kremlin at this point, russian officials as well outside of the kremlin are being very tight-lipped about the latest developments taking place on the ground of eastern ukraine. >> the correspondent reporting that to his understanding a prisoner exchange, which was part of the cease-fire, may still be ongoing. so it will be interesting to see what's really going on there on the ground in eastern ukraine. what if we find out who broke this cease-fire? what would be the consequences of that? >> well, of course it depends. in terms of the prisoner exchange, that was one of the terms of the cease-fire. those terms have now been released publicly by the osc. one of the key terms in that cease-fire was in exchange for the war. from the mixed reports we're getting on the ground, it's not at all clear who's doing the firing. perhaps it's a bit of all sides on the ground. it's difficult to clarify in this very uncertain situation on the ground but clearly there would be consequences for any party that were at this stage to violate this high profile, much publicly lauded cease-fire. there are

. >>> the crisis in the ukraine, a kremlin spokesperson says president vladimir putin has spoken to his ukrainian counterpart. this is after a pro russian fighter said they're on the verge of retaking the donetsk airport in ironeastern ukraine. kiev said it's powered by an influx of russian troops. moscow flatly denies it. reza sayah has the story live from kiev. reza, what do you know about what's been happening on the ground? >> reporter: well, max, i think it's important to first off talk about this phone call. it could be something significant, a sign of a possible break through or it could be another vague, ambiguous statement that means nothing. however, on the surface it certainly sounds positive. russia's inner fax news agency is reporting that according to russian president vladimir putin's spokesperson, mr. putin has spoken in the past few hours with ukrainian president petro poroshenko and the two have largely agreed on a way out of this conflict. here's a quote from the spokesperson according to interfax, the viewpoints of the presidents of the two countries largely coincide

." >> the kremlin says that was taken out of context. >> jon: out of context. what context could that sentence sound good in? [laughter] putin said he could take kiev in two weeks, to the prom. the context is this: russian-backed rebels are trying to take over ukraine. lots of casualties. get in there and start figuring out how to stop the fighting. ukraine's president says he and russian president vladimir putin have reached an agreement, but russia says that's not possible because the country is not even a party to the conflict. [laughter] >> jon: don't piss on my nipples and tell me it's raining, vlad. i don't know if that made sense. oh, you're not part of the conflict, russia? look, i didn't want to do this in front of all the other countries, but roll 212. >> nato says satellite images show russian troops fighting in ukraine. >> 3,000 or 4,000 russian troops fight with the rebels. >> the ukrainians actually captured 10 russian paratroopers, even more evidence including field artillery, trucks and troop carriers. >> jon: oh. putin's face is going to be red

there are scant details from the kremlin side as well. their announcement just said that the two leaders will continue to stay in touch, to work out the details, the steps that could eventually bring peace. this is not the first of the contacts between russia and ukraine in recent weeks. the two presidents have had contacts either directly or through their representatives. but it can't have been a particularly easy call for the two leaders, particularly after that defiant speech in mariupol, in the east of ukraine, in which he said is strategically important city will remain ukrainian forever. he has come out strongly today, trying to win the rhetorical battle. it is fair to say, i think a lot of people here in ukraine are skeptical that peace deal agreed at the end of last week will ultimately bear fruit. people are waiting to see, but they are hopeful that these willows merge -- that peace will emerge from this unclear situation. >> simon young, thank you for that update. really appreciate it. we stay on the continent, because across eu

>> the kremlin says it is not in control of the separatist fires -- fighters, so it would not be in the business of agreeing to a cease-fire. meanwhile, on the ukrainian website, there was a change of language. they said first that they had agreed to a cease-fire, and then changed it to talking about the agreement for a cease-fire and reached an understanding. here in mariupol where i am, the scene here has not really changed for the past few days. the ukrainian soldiers manning the checkpoint said they have heard of the cease-fire announcement but they are still manning the checkpoint. the rebels have taken over 40 kilometers to the east of mariupol. i have not heard of any fighting going on today. >> also today after this confusion came out about the cease-fire, the ukrainian prime minister began using some very inflammatory language to talk about russia. talk about that. >> yes he said that russia is a terrorist state. very strong language there. of course karen ukrainians trying to continually -- of course, the ukrainians trying to continually insist that russia is invading. there a

the kremlin has also warned of a fifth column threatening russia from the inside. state-controlled media have been employed the phrase national traitors. but why? with russia under increasing pressure from sanctions and increasingly isolated from the west, the temptation for the authorities here is to look for traitors and turncoats and fifth columnists. in other words, to seek out the enemy within, to deflect criticism at home. this history teacher has ban vocal critic of russia's intervention in ukraine, but she was astonished to find herself portrayed on national tv recently as a traitor along with several pop stars and politicians. >> it's much easier to rule when you have enemies and everybody can unite against these enemies and you can always explain that crisis is arising and shops are getting empty and so many terrible things happen because of these enemies. >> reporter: tamara concedes that putin's russia is not stall lynn's russia where enemies of the people were sent to the goulag, but criticism here is still equated with treachery and russia is still se

the kremlin has hit hard against the pressure being applied, and it has already banned european dairy products, fruits, and vegetables from being imported of the country. the president has shut down the corridor to western operators. >> now to iraq or after months of -- the parliament has voted to approve most of a new government lineup. it is a more inclusive government with sunni and kurd five prime ministers. a new prime minister has been officially confirmed. he is al-abadi. the international community has been calling for a unity government for iraq to lead the fights against islamic state militants. let's get more. >> the iraqi prime minister was under pressure to form an inclusive cabinet, a united front to avoid a sectarian divide. lawmakers approved three deputy prime ministers, including a sunni and a kurd. 21 other ministerial posts were also filled, but key ones such as interior and defense remain open. al-abadi said he will likely fill those in a week's time. united states held the new iraqi government as a milestone. >> the iraqi parliament approved a new and inclusive g

in october 1958, he won the nobel prize in literature the kremlin treated to be a a ward the award as an anti-soviet provocation and force them to renounce it. the elderly offers he was now 68 years of age was subject to an extraordinary campaign of vilification and described as a traitor and a judas in the pages by the kremlin leadership. he was driven to the brink of suicide and he died 18 months later and some people, including his son, have said that his treatment contributed to his death. the funeral funeral command extraordinary scene that we described in the book was attended by the huge crowd and in effect was one of the first public demonstrations of the soviet union. at his gravesite people loudly proclaim him a democrat. all of that is essentially from the story of the creation of the novel. it is a story that is partly about the cia but mostly about doctor siobhan go debate could be because it hadn't been told as a single narrative since robert conquest in 1969. an enormous amount of material has emerged since the end of the cold war including the central committee and oth

the kremlin was also warned of a fifth column threatening russian from the inside. state-controlled media had been employing the phrase national traitors. but why? with russia under increasing pressure from sanctions and increasing the isolated from the west, the temptations to the authorities here is to look for traitors and turncoats and columnists of the in other words, to seek out the enemy within. to deflect criticism at home. >> history teacher tamara eagleman has been a vocal critic of russia's intervention in ukraine but she was astonished to find herself portrayed on national tv recently as a traitor, along with several pop stars and politicians. >> it's much easier to rule when you have enemies and everybody can unite against this enemy and you can always explain that prices are rising and shops are getting emptier and so many terrible things happen because of this enemy. >> tamara concedes that putin's russia is not stalin's russia, where enemies of the people were sent to the dual ack. dulac. but criticism here is still equated with treachery and russia

>> no, the kremlin is admitting that there was a conversation. vladimir putin's spokesman has given an interview the task the newsagency where he said basically the same thing with a different twist. petro porashenko said vladimir putin and i agreed on a ceasefire, essential lip. the russians will never say that, because russians insisted that petro porashenko has to speak to the rebels. it was said that there was a conversation about steps to peace, and that the point of view coincided on most matters. i think that means something is in the wind. something - hopefully a game-changing something that co end an appalling slaught erp, and it is the most optimistic piece of new that is we've had for a long ti.. >> something in the wind we'll find out later, but the effect, as i understand it, the stocks and shares in russia has rich a little, perhaps the sanctions have been hurting, and this mayees the pain that has been -- may ease the pain that has been felt. >> sanctions have not been felt down in the depths of society at all. the upper echelons,

the kremlin said the remark was taken out of context. joining us now is jack matlock who served as u.s. ambassador to the former soviet union from 1987 to 1991. he is author of several books including, "superpower illusions: how myths and false ideologies led america astray -- and how to return to reality." as well as, "reagan and gorbachev: how the cold war ended." ambassador matlock, we welcome you to democracy now! what do you think is most important to understand what is happening in ukraine today? >> well, i think one of the most important things to understand is that practically speaking, the ukrainians in the russians have to agree on what would be an acceptable way to proceed within ukraine. that is the fact of the matter. and one can talk all one wishes about how impermissible it is for russia to intervene, but the fact is, they are going to intervene until they are certain that there is no prospect of ukraine becoming a member of nato. nato to sortts by of increase defenses elsewhere, simply provocative to the russians. i'm not

of course the kremlin denies that. in the absence of that military assistance, all attention is inevitably turned to the peace initiative that's under way in the capital belarus, that's minsk, in the neighboring country here. representatives of the contact group, from russia, ukraine, and crucially the pro-russian rebels in southern and eastern ukraine are meeting to hammer out the terms of what expectations are. there will be a ceasefire on the ground in that region and the basis of that ceasefire has been formed by the seven points that have been highlighted by vladimir putin, the russian president, the putin plan involves an end to war, firing on the ground, the opening up of humanitarian corridors, the unconditional exchange of prisoners and several other terms as well. the ukrainian side, in the absence of any military support from nato, it looks like it's going to have to go to this meeting and seek a compromise. so we're waiting for that meeting to get under way. it's expected to get under way within the next tw

reminder we don't yet know if talks are going to resume between the two sides we have heard from a kremlin spokesperson who says that there was no permanent cease fire that was agreed to between the ukrainian and russian president and this is because russia is not in a position to agree to a cease fire because russia was not a party to this conflict russia does not interfere with what is happening inside ukraine at the same time he did make the point that the two leaders when they spoke earlier via telephone pretty much agreed though on the steps that need to be taken for a permanent ceasefire to be reached at the initial statement from tears did state that president bush nkomo putin had spoken via telephone and that they were on the same page in terms of how a ceasefire should be negotiated there is still fighting here on the ground internet so that is why a lot of people here are suspicious about the statements coming out of kiev we know that the anti-government fighters are continuing with their offensive it is worth mentioning though that there was an attempt to earlier in the week wit

but it could have handed the kremlin the victory it was looking for. natalie. >> absolutely. because poroshenko said that a significant step he plans to pursue is decentralizing power from the government in kiev. and that is what you're addressing, who gets that power and what does that mean to that region of ukraine. >> reporter: well, that's been a key it demand of moscow all along, of course, that these eastern and southern areas where there are a majority ethnic russians and russian speakers in those areas get a high degree of autonomy. the reason the kremlin wants that so much is because it knows that it would effectively get control over those autonomous areas in the east and the south. and the overall strategy, of course, isn't just to control these areas. it has a purpose. and the purpose is that it wants to prevent ukraine from moving out of russia's sphere of influence. or at the very least, prevent it from joining what it would see as a western sphere of influence, prevent it from joining western institutions like the european union and specifically nato. russia ha

the kremlin said it had no control of anything going on in ukraine. how do they keep denying what clearly is evidence, direct evidence that russian troops, you see the bag there, russian food, military supplies on the ground in front of those burnt-out, destroyed tanks, russian tanks. unclear whether those tanks are ukrainian or russian, but clearly the suspicion is they are russian. >> wolf, they just do, really, with consistency. they have a narrative and they stick to it, regardless of how it seems at times. when russian forces occupied cry me crimea, they insisted were not their, appears they're doing the same in eastern ukraine. president obama made that clear again today, domestically, the government is able to get away with it, with the help of russian state media, which very much champions the government position. very much portrays the ukrainian government, even the united states, as, it says, the real causes of instability, the real cu causes of the ukrainian crisis. president obama tried to pick away at this today, talking about the propaga

meanwhile, the kremlin says it will review its military strategy in response to nato enlargement. >>> now, markets remaining on tender hooks with geopolitics over the crisis in ukraine deepens. it's not just russia, though, that investors are needing to keep an eye on. samantha takes a look at the geopolitical hot spots that has the potential to impact your portfolio. >>> global investors today are facing an unprecedented level in geopolitical risks and any further escalation and conflicts in this region could need to hire global prices. let's start with the ongoing conflict. >> ukraine, anti-government protests turned violent earlier this year. that's resulting in a sequence of events. russian presidents putin annexed in crimea and, of course, the ongoing stand off between russia and the west, let's move on to middle east and north african region where we are a series of multiple flash points. now starting off with the conflict between syria and iraq will cause tensions between syria and israel and palestine. it will spill over into other parts of the region, even north africa. f

and in fact it's most likely to be the kremlin that holtds sway in those areas. in some ways it gist the kremlin the victory that it was looking for. >> obviously russia denying it has a hand in this but there has been sanctions, the threat of more sanctions and the action we saw in nato. are any of these things playing a role in russia's response? >> in terms of the sanctions, it's possible that they are, in the sense that the sanctions have so far been levied against russia has caused some damage to the russian economy. but it's within no outward sign that because of these sanctions that they've gotten the peace. if new sanctions are imposed by the european union, if they're accepted by monday, the reaction from the russian side will definitely follow. so the russians, you know, saying if there are more skaingss they'll follow up with sanctions of their own or the reaction of some kind. nato's message is quite interesting. there's been a lot of spin put on this, a lot of bluster about how nato was standing shoulder to shoulder with ukraine but in fact it wasn't

i'm not promising that sanctions will lead to a radical change of mind in the kremlin, but if they can see they are opting for a completely different and much colder relationship between the west and russia, that mike and -- that might make them positive think they're not allowing the right decision to let ukrainians make their own decisions about their own country. does the prime minister agree with me that removing passports from harassed returning from syria and iraq, barring dangers andign nationals legislating to prosecute all types of terrorist activities is not a knee-jerk response, but a sensible and prudent approach to keep written safe? >> the first response should be to gather evidence to prosecute and convict. ofhave learned in this age the appalling threat of islamic extremist violence -- not least because the people carrying it see but seek what they means we have two of our response. we have lots of very effective laws and rules. but we do need to enhance them. i welcome what the premise her said, particularly about blocking foreign fighters in the u.k.. france, a 400 fr

the kremlin has threatened -- and closing its airspace to european airlines. washington is set to impose new sanctions on russia's financial, energy, and defense sectors on friday. to find out more, we spoke earlier to michael. a spokesperson for the special monitoring mission to ukraine. we asked him if it is an accurate assessment to say that eastern ukraine to say that eastern ukraine could be moving into a more peaceful phase. >> we have good days and bad days. it has been shelling going on but we have definitely established there are more quiet times. and evidenced as how people from that area feel as many of them are actually coming back. we even have people coming back to the hardest hit area where there has been no power and water for weeks now. the day are coming back to check on their homes. the other point that needs to be made here is the human cost. not only in terms of deaths, injuries, loss of livelihood, there is so much work to be done in terms of bridges and roads. he will be monitoring that as well. we have spoken to many people who have fle

as you say, the kremlin repudiated that, saying the russians were not part of the conflict, and could not negotiate a caes newer, meaning they had discussed ways out of the current fighting and in the last few minutes, we had something of a retraction, a rephrasing of the ukrainian president's statement, now talking about a ceasefire about a regime, steps towards peace. so already the position of petro porashenko has been undermined coming out with this stunning statement this morning. questions, as well, as to how his forces are going to react to the ideas of a ceasefire along the counter lines, where so much ukrainian territory, it appears, would be ceded if the ukranian president was to great to a ceasefire as it stands at the moment. >> what about the people fighting directly, the ukranian forces, the russian separatists themselves. are they as bemused as moscow might be? >> certainly there was some confusion this morning. journalists calling - ourselves included, the dpr, people's republic to get their rehabilitation. they haven't heard about this potential ceasefire, a ukranian

the eu warned the kremlin on the weekend it would impose tough new sanctions within seven days unless russia curbed its issues with ukraine. >> there won't be a military solution in this situation. this is the view of the other eu member countries but we also cannot receive russia's behavior either and that's why i believe it is necessary to prepare such sanctions. >> reporter: and that brought a more conciliatory note from russia. >> there will be no military intervention, we stand for a peaceful resolution to this difficult crisis this tragedy. everything we do is targeted at promoting a political approach. >> reporter: in minsk, russia, kiev, the leaders of the separatists in eastern ukraine came together at the osce but failed to come up with a ceasefire in the region. the focus is on the nato summit in wales on thursday, political and military pressure on the kremlin, while reaffirming its members'members' support. >>> britain could seize passports of citizens it suspects of going to islamic state. >> leaving the u.k. to fight abroad and returning home, home grown terrorists the

and more, we are having statements followed by damage control, followed by denial, followed by the kremlin pointing back to the western media and the west saying how can you think what food and is saying is what food and -- how can you think what vladimir putin is saying is what vladimir putin is saying? >> accusations of systematic cleansing in the north. i us fighters are kidnapping and killing mine orders -- killing minorities on in historic scale. islamic state has swept across much of the north this year, but the iraqi army has made some gains. this week, in one back two towns in two days. >> they ousted another iraqi town. a mix of fighters claim control. it ended organize control in the area. fighters conducted searches to make sure the last militants had been killed or captured. >> we stormed in and we have cleared the area of the islamic state organizations. there is nothing -- the forces. we have secured the whole world. >> the defeat comes after militants were removed. the siege lasted over two months. maliki visited the town on monday. >> the town has turned out to be the town

it was interesting this morning that the kremlins sort of backtracked. the krem lilins are saying, hey we're not part of the violence, so why would we have a stake to play in the cease fire? they're saying this is an internal problem within ukraine. so it should be between the russian separatists who they're saying they have nothing to do with and ukraine. >> how frustrating is that? there can't abe cease fire if there's no conflict in the first place? >> right, and putin is trying to bring a cease fire when he really has nothing to do with it. >> his end game is the same, absolutely. his end game is the same. he's very clever. we will have control over eastern ukraine. in what form that takes, thob knows, but that's his whole strategy. he wants to retain some type of control. >> this is not the first time. we forget 2008. >> georgia. >> not the u.s. state, the nation. this is not quite analogous, but it's not disanalogous. >> this was right before the presidential campaign, so you had mccain in the campaign and those players as well. you're right, it's

the kremlin saying that russia is not a participant, and therefore can't agree to a cease-fire. of course, that's something that will be looked on with disdain by most people on the ukrainian side, who has seen a great reversal in fortunes of this conflict in the last few days since what they say has been a great amount of russian assistance. the government today playing video of what they said was a russian troop tank column going across ukrainian soil. but he put himself in the position of petro poroshenko it's a difficult one. he doesn't have the external backing that his enemy does. and he has seen these reversals. the choice is either to carry on fighting and potentially carry on losing, or to try and go for the cease-fire which would freeze the conflict potentially in this position for ukraine. and that's something that they'll have to sale for people here. he says that the ukrainian people are ready for peace. even if some of the politicians are playing at war. his own prime minister said that this plan that putin outlined was a recovery plan for russian terrorists. the o

. >> do you believe this kind of event will make much difference to the policy in the kremlin? >> i'm not sure, but i'm sure it is very important for us to be here. >> why is it so important? >> we may have different ideas about ukraine and putin and russia, and i don't know what. but it is a very important thing that nobody invades in russia, nobody takes our country. so we don't understand why our children must go there to kill and to be killed. >> i don't like what is happening in ukraine. i think it is a disaster. and i want it to be stopped. >> the government here in russia, the kremlin says that its troops are not involved in the fighting in ukraine, do you believe that? >> no, no. >> are you sure -- >> there are thousands of people who have come out here to this rally today but all the opinion polls said that vladimir putin has soaring popularity, 85, 86%, this is still just a fraction of the russian population. >> that is the whole idea why we're all here, to show that we are not just 15%, that we are more than that. >> we listened to the opinion polls and it seems that

it's just bravado, but the kremlin is deeply concerned that russian citizens who joined isis may soon return home, well trained and radicalized. concerned enough for the russian foreign ministry to grant us access. >> there are hundreds of russian nationalists traveling abroad and participating in the fighting in different areas. >> you say hundreds. can you be specific? >> this are some 800 russian nationalists fighting in iraq for isis. >> reporter: that conservative estimate makes russians major contributors to isis ranks. even the military leader of isis in syria say russian officials goes by the name omar the chechen, who is believed to be a georgian national. it's the threat posed by isis and other groups that russia says is a main, if not primary reason for support of assad in syria. moscow has close ties with the regime and says western backing for anti-assad rebels created this crisis. >> some of our partners tend to differentiate the terrorists as bad and not so bad. and perhaps not so bad are those who contribute to destabilizing political regimes that are not allied to was

a ukraine that is a member of nato, sitting on its western border would be regarded by the kremlin as a national security threat. nothing less than that. so we have got a long way to go on this. russia is not going to be happy with the overtures made by ukraine, mutual overtures made by ukraine and -- and the -- and nato. >> as we're seeing on our screens, peter the live shot from newport in whales. journalists gathered waiting for the ukrainian president to come out and give this statement. our correspondent james bayes was saying we're expecting him to give it in ukrainian and english. but not take any questions from journalists. this has been a very sensitive moment. and perhaps poroshenko was not too keen to sign this ceasefire deal in the first place. what are you feeling from there in moscow? >> i think he was running out of choices quite honestly. the russian -- and let's be honest about this -- the russian penetration of eastern ukraine sent the ukrainian army on the back foot completely. they have been losing ground for nearly ten days now. this war was looking increasingly u

his mouth as evidence the how he was referring to statehood for eastern ukraine, then of course the kremlin quickly said oh, no, you misunderstood him. so what is the end game here then? >> the end game that i believe the russians are after, mr. putin is after, is a destabilization of ukraine. but it's broader than that. the russians want to rewrite the rules that have been in place since world war ii and certainly since the end of the cold war. this is why this is such a dangerous time for ukraine but dangerous time for europe and dangerous time for the entire international community. if we don't support ukraine, we will be apiecing russia like we appeased hitler in 1939. >> this will be one of the major topic of discussion this week in wales when nato gets together to discuss its plans for the future. one of the thing they are discussing is putting together a force, perhaps to look threatening to russia should they try anything like this again. thank so much for your time. >> they will certainly have their share of topic to discuss. >> no shortage there. >>> is it time for president obama

plus, another 24 of the kremlin's most influential figures, they're going to face visa bans and asset freezes. the aim of all of this is to keep pressure on russia over its role in the ukraine crisis. russia says it's preparing its respon response. let's go straight over to russia. great to have you on the program. do these sanctions mean a recession in russia is a given? >> i don't know if it is so. this round of sanctions is the most sensitive because it deals with the biggest state corporations and banks. maybe in the next year. in this year, i expect some dissimulation in the economy, but their consumption sector is not in recession until now. >> where are some of these russian companies going to try and raise funds? they're locked out of european markets. >> yes. they're very dependent on foreign financing. it's about $650 billion. it's still from december of 2013. but they need money to refinance this debt. they hope that they find some money in asia. but i'm not sure it's enough, so the problems are there. >> everybody is waiting for moscow's response. how do you think moscow w

pro-russian rebels quickly disowned the agreement and even the kremlin said authority to sign, it assuring the baltics and other soviet states that a robust nato presence means they will never again lose their independence. president obama estonia said u.s. and european sanctions are imposing a major price on putin and his people. >> the russian economy has slipped into recession. its energy produrks which is the engine of the russian economy, is expected to drop. its credit rating is near junk status. the ruble just fell to an all-time low. in short, russia's actions in ukraine are weakening russia. >> reporter: marginal escalations in sanctions while a drag on the russian economy have thus far not produced a course correction by the kremlin and some fault the president who famously sought to reset relations six years ago for not providing stronger leadership. >> if you look at limited response in general coming from the u.s. to crisis after crisis, the kinds of sanctions we've had to date don't really matter to russia and particularly to russian nationalists. >> reporter: in short, the c

is the kremlin denying that putin said this thing? no. they are not denying that he said it. so it's true that on the eve of president obama arriving on russia's border in parts of prussia-russia to back off its war in ukraine, russian president vladamir putin is bragging that if he wants to, he can take that whole huge country in two weeks. that one's true. next up, the last time a u.s. president visited the balkans is when george w. bush visited albania in 2007. the thing that most people remember about that last trip is it resulted in this 9 1/2 foot statue being elected to honor president bush. it shows president bush over nine feet tall with pleated pants and a tiny little head. but beyond the giant statue, is it true or false that the last trip by a u.s. trip to the balkans by a president resulted in his watch being stolen. here's the video. president bush shaking hands in an albanian crowd in seven. here's basically when the moment the watch disappears. about ten seconds left, no watch strap visible. in one shows before, hold on, we have before. see the watch? you can

kremlin says allegations of money grab are wrong and absorb. putin reminding the world and showing the west that these sanctions are not effecting the kremlin money machine. >>> minutes away from the latest fed statement and investors will be listening closely. we are back in a minute with that. looking for a convenient to fill your viagra prescription online? go to viagra.com to find out about viagra home delivery. millions of men have some degree of erectile dysfunction. talk to your doctor, if viagra is right for you, you can fill your prescription at your pharmacy, or check out viagra home delivery and get started at viagra.com ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain, it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decr

the fact is that the russian government, the kremlin has been making a series of decisions and taking a series of actions, which are counter productive for security in europe. which are counter productive for russia's long-term interests and which they need to be held to account for. it is the responsibility of the international community. this is part of the international system. sometimes there are costs to enforcing and reinforcing the rules of the international system that provide for international commerce. international security. russia needs to be held to account for the violations that they perpetrated over the last month. >> ambassador, thank you, sir for joining us. and a popular ocean front arcade now drowning in regulations. will the boardwalk business be forced to shut down. the latest in our choking capitalism investigation. that's next. america's newest real estate brand is all ready the brand of the year. berkshire hathaway home services. good to know. if you're suffering from constipation or irregularity, powders may take days to work. for gentle overnight relief, try

there has not been unofficial reaction from the kremlin to this ratification. this is perhaps as moscow sees the devil -- the delay of implementation of this agreement as a small victory. the eu and ukraine last week delayed the limitation of a free-trade area until the end of 2016. this is seen as a major concession to russia. the spokesman said earlier that moscow is now waiting for written confirmation from kiev that it will delay the implementation. once moscow receives assurances it will also delay any increases to tariffs for ukrainian goods that are exported to russia. you might give us some more context here. this deal is good for the pro-russian separatists, yet moscow has been against it from the start. >> moscow opposes this deal. russia says that it would damage the russian economy and that it could be disastrous for both countries. moscow is concerned that once ukraine signs and association agreement with ae you and wants to sign a free-trade agreement that will see him in sleep -- see on influx of cheaper goods into ukraine and russia. 25% of ukra

accused of killing a former russian spy here in london is hosting a television show about critics of the kremlin. >>> hello. the french president has called for a global response to fight islamic state militants. opening an international conference in paris, the president said the group posed a security threat the world over. about 30 countries are now gathered for talks which aimed at coordinating their strategy against i.s. militants who have taken parts of northern iraq and syria. here's what president hollande had to say. >> translator: the terrorist movement has attacked the weak and the most vulnerable. women and children. this terrorist movement has also attacked religious minorities. it has pursued them. it has sought to destroy whole communities. this terrorist movement has acted on who swaths of territory in iraq and syria, it ignores borders and even claims to establish a state. so this is a global threat and the response has to be a global response. >> the iraqi president also spoke of the urgency in tackling i.s. >> translator: today we are in the midst of a confrontation in iraq an

negotiations are needed over what he termed the statehood of southern and eastern ukraine, an area the kremlin calls new russia. the western kiev accused russia of directly helping separatist nato beliefs at least 1,000 russia troops are in country while another 20,000 are on the border. mothers estimate up to,000 russian troops. up to last week, ukraine was close to defeating the troops. >> direct and open aggression has been launched against ukraine from a neighboring state. this has changed the situation in the zone of conflict in a radical way. >> the e.u. and u.s. have slapped sanctions on russia, apparently to little effect. brussels says russia has until next week to reverse course or face a new round of sanctions. >> david cameron unveiled plans today to broaden u.k. anti-terror lawyers. they are aimed at preventing attacks by militants returning from trouble spots in the meester -- middle east blocking others suspected of fighting along jihadists from returning to the country. around 500 britt ains are suspected to have gone to syria to fight. they call it the biggest security threat