and the missile shield and american policy transferred to nato so nato is simply an extension of american foreign and military policy and the reason why it's in a crisis is not i beg to differ with yeah go ahead jump in go ahead. yeah i'm going to say that. you know martin first go ahead go ahead i'm going to say nato it was formed in one thousand nine hundred ninety europe the west europeans wanted nato has it couldn't they did they perceive the threat exact wrong the soviet union and they needed the americans coming because militarily they couldn't defend themselves and they didn't have the money either so therefore they were welcomed in and the problem now is where is the threat from why should we still be spending our money on defense and sending troops here there and everywhere this is the problem for the europeans and the europeans now don't perceive any threat except east europeans and the baltic states i would say you have to talk to them they polish defense minister the other day made some sharp comments about russia so the language is still there the perception is what i mean wh

i'm probably not and today we're talking about the nato russia summit in lisbon the nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen says this summit should be a breakthrough in the alliance to stocks with moscow on anti-missile defense their adoption of the much discussed agreement can now be a matter of hours but have all the disagreements to be settled on me we're asking one of the most influential man in russian parliament the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the federation council mikhail margelov. the nato secretary general says the lisbon summit will bring a new reformed organization he wants to reduce staff and change to teach you concept of the alliance to turn it into a more effective body the reformed alliance will have to deal with challenges to global security like the threat of missile attack it's very likely the summit will approve the new and to missile defense shield a long time point of discord between nato and russia. welcome to the show thank you very much for coming well first of all why is president medvedev who has been seeking some particular go or is it jus

to build docking mechanisms with nato we have to be partners with nato that's why president india goes to lisbon but prior to that recently the nato parliamentary assembly has passed a resolution promising i quote to support georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity calling south a city and a party i quote again georgia's territories occupied by russia and calling on russia to withdraw its troops end quote georgian official avel of course already called it and now the heavy blow on moscow does that mean that the entitled russian nature of nato which you have been talking about since we were kids that still that well actually when we were kids were talking about and the soviet nature in russia but what is important to say here is that russia is not the second improved edition of the soviet union we tilt to the different country even the in our nation building we are facing as still to the different task russia has always been an empire under the tsars under the bolsheviks now we are building democratic sovereign nation state which is not an easy task but we are trying hard and tha

today here in lisbon portugal where the nato summit is taking place russia nato relations are expected to be key on the agenda russian president dmitri medvedev is expected to be here in talks with nato as the alliance continues trying to improve nato russian relations we've seen u.s. president barack obama call for nato to reset relations with russia similar to the reset that the u.s. called for that was an editorial in the international herald tribune and he also called for this summit to be the place that nato establishes that it sees russia as a partner and not as an adversary now he on the agenda will be afghanistan this is an area where we've seen increased coordination between nato and russia and russia has really been looked to for help in fighting the drug trade and increasing routes for supplies getting in and out now also works here russia and nato talk about other joint global challenges including nuclear proliferation for example now also nato is pushing russia to get on board and their missile defense plans now this is been a sticking point between nato and russia over th

signals the bad times are over in russia nato relations and agrees to help. sell defense and. russian businessmen to boot to charges of weapons smuggling and terrorism to new york pasco calls for a fair trial and blames washington for pressuring the legal process. jail for the israeli soldiers who used the palestinian boys a human shield instead they got three months to spend it sentence for old chap. across the continent roma community is a victim by european governments are being left without shelter ok. calling make ends meet. you're watching out is weekly news review on the latest developments and welcome to the program president says the hostile period between russia and nato is over he told the bloc gathering in portugal this weekend that he's agreeing to boost collaboration one of the most divisive issues missile defense the summit smooth was decidedly more co-operative than of late but there are still issues which they're yet to see eye to eye on in this to reports. nato rolled out the red carpet for the country once considered its bow and russian president dmitri medv

nato needs the u.s. need programmatic cooperation with russia in order to achieve its vital interests it is in because of the obama administration policies and these vital interests are iran afghanistan and nonproliferation so without russia none of these are possible and this is why the bomb administration decided to improve relations with russia to reduce the importance of some contradictions like on georgia and so on and so forth and it is a little bit more over russia nowadays is the only foreign policy success of obama administration apart from the major powers because if we look at the relations between the america and china they are very problematic no days with europe there are also problems with other asian countries there are problems but with russia we have this profound improvement if there'd collapses then a bomb or administration would have been a success is talking it's clear what the positive sides in a warming relationship are for washington birds what's it. getting closer to nato bearin

nato rolled out the red carpet for the country once considered its. and russian president dmitri medvedev arrived at the summit of the former cold war military alliance to leaders welcoming him with open arms and a plea cooperate with us let us do this together leaders on both sides seem to indicate they plan to do just that after nato russia talks they hailed as historic today marks a true fresh start in nato russia relations the willing ear it spells out our desire to pursue strategic partnerships that in its means would have overcome the difficulties of the past missile defense plans under the bush white house which provoked the most serious rift between russia and nato since the cold war well now the alliance wants russia to join in its plans compute russia wants more than just words of the good body we have agreed with our nato partners that's what we'll pursue dialogue of the european a.b.m. our main guide here should be that our dissipation ought to be equal and i will stress this it can only be as partners with no other form of participation f

uses nato for its purposes. so to do activists for their complaints but behind the protests i don't want to see a military alliance which will kill more soldiers more civilians and lead to a more divided world are u.s. policies u.s. policies brought to light in portugal as much through a president. as through protest lauren lyster r.t. lisbon portugal. well joining me live to give us more details from our studio in new york is our chief financial correspondent lauren lyster and all lauren we hear a lot that the european population is war weary i guess that this was a good way to prove it how many people do you think were out there on the streets. there were thousands alone and they weren't just from portugal though a number were from the country where nato was having their summit many were international the organizers that i spoke to had come from germany there were people traveling from the u.k. from spain there were members of parliament from the u.k. that i interviewed as well as from the e.u. so there was a

we need to have such a system in the sand to stand at the nato summit in lisbon nato is going to make such a decision to create such a system s. for all rip participation in this project. i'm sure we have actually taken some steps already like lest fear it so the meetings that we to in russia need to we have agreed to google's s.-s. to gaze respects and challenges together and now we're about to complete this work and one of those risks and challenges are the risks of missile proliferation i hope that by the time we come together in lisbon we will achieve a common understanding on ward the risks in this area and where they come from this is this would be a very crucial step in our joint work on the other hand of course we know that. and that at the same time. other things are happening like we have bilateral agreements between the united states and some european countries concerning deploying missile defense elements on their territory and we would live to get more clarifications before the lisbon summit on that would our nato partners think concerning russia's possible participation

in its mission and many analysts say that nato really needs russia's help right now nato russia is helping with supply routes are helping fight the drug trade there and they're sure to discuss areas where there are shared concerns as far as afghanistan goes now also it's expected that they'll discuss other areas of shared challenges one of these is a commitment to nuclear nonproliferation nuclear disarmament so that's another key issue and of course missile defense missile defense. initiative it's in the new strategic goals however this isn't a sticking point between nato and russia in the past for years and now at this summit nato is calling on russia hoping that they'll get on board and they want russia to cooperate they believe that that russia and nato members i have to share the threat of ballistic missiles and that they can work together on missile defense now political analysts that we've spoken to say that they do believe that there is the political will on russia's side but a lot is in the details which we have not heard a lot about that remains to be discussed at this summit so a

nato's relevance in the changing world rushing out of strategy for afghanistan. with russia as alliance members. but. this comes at a time when critics say the sixty one year old military base is an identity crisis it can they find themselves have more life and live. dangers lurking beneath. it so we investigate what potentially deadly poison could leak. and also a glimmer of hope for russia's minor offenders who could soon have the option of a fine community service instead of a stay in an overcrowded prison. the twenty four hour news from russia and from around the world this is in moscow defining nato relevance today and in the future what to do in afghanistan and engaging russia the key issues to be discussed at a crucial meeting for the alliance in portugal the meeting comes at a time for the group of nations which is facing an identity crisis sixty years after being created to oppose the soviet union well off to florida joins me now live from the portuguese capital it's been laurent tell us what can we expect from this meeting. expect leaders to really try

it was clear that when we sell weapons to nato like me bring to one of the couples. as you know the deal has been discussed not finalized all if we buy weapons from nato it means that we can see that ourselves it's not like cold war dressers but we are really emerging as full fledged partners and this is qualitatively different situation ok thank you very much for your insight i was surrogate struck on political analyst from reconnaissance newspaper thank you very much. now as the data stricken united states struggles with the economic downturn more americans are beginning to wonder where all their taxpayer money is going the u.s. is funding too costly overseas wars as well as bailing out private companies and banks but that's not all artes if you had half his reports on how washington is investing its cash revolutionary ways. this is what u.s. backed regime change used to look like back in the days in a bid to ensure u.s. political and economic interests were safeguarded cia backed coup d'etat was announced a democratically elected leaders from home in those adak in

and more with nato than ever before because all apartment you are proving dramatic. a clear concrete contribution to international peace and security. that is are structures we will reinforce in particular with russia now we also heard from rasmussen on the start treaty he said the treaty will improve security in europe and a delay in ratification will damage it now the start treaty of course they agree meant between the united states and russia to reduce nuclear arms it's based on opposition from some republicans in the united states congress which has delayed gratification it could face more challenges now republicans hold the majority in the house which happened just at the its last midterm elections now we also heard from u.s. president barack obama on this echoing what rasmussen said saying he has received a clear message from nato leaders on start that it will strengthen alliances and european security so you heard it right there push for improve relations between nato and russia and for them to work together of course we'll know many more details about that to

process seems to seems like linking expansion of its support of nato operations in afghanistan to nato support off russia's agenda agenda as i said is first and foremost signing a legally binding agreements with nato that limit expansion will be u.s. and nato military infrastructure i mean troops at the territories all of you still in central europe and nato is quite reluctant about supporting the russian initiative but still i think the sides could agree on the first expansion of russia's support of reconstructing the old soviet era economic infrastructure the terrorist or afghanistan secondly russia can sign egremont with nato transit so real to the troops to afghanistan through the russian territory and thrice russia can expand its supports of training of gamble leask or anti-drug sports i think these are the possible areas of the group. the democratic party has narrowly managed to retain a majority in the senate in the us midterm elections but the house of representatives is now in the hands of the republicans with congress now divided between the two parties it will be much harder

when nato took on afghanistan in 2005, it talked of the importance as a test of the new nato and by and large it failed the test. >> nato is drawing up plans for step-by-step handover of security controls to afghanistan's own forces. operations to be over by the end of 2014. but even nato officials say the date is not guaranteed. security at the venue is tight with peace protesters do to demonstrate. awaiting them are two days of talks about the future of this alliance, at a time of shrinking defense budgets and growing challenges. key to nato's own credibility, a face saving end to the war in afghanistan. bbc news, lisbon. as always, a lot has been agreed in advance. for years they have been discussing the new strategic concept. certainly there are going to be some disagreements. what will western leaders hope to get out of this? there is pressure on leaders like barack obama. joining me to the does the summit is the bureau chief in paris for "the new york times." you wrote an interesting article asking that interesting question, what is nato for. >> it has always been nato is the answ

for nato join for nato membership and to meet the criteria as of nato membership so theoretically speaking any country in europe. loading lichtenstein on dora may join nato i do not know about the holy see either that you can can do that or not but what about keller well well you know i don't think so now well it depends it depends on the development of democratic processes and belarus i think it depends on nato's leaders opinion that the development of the democratic process. will be more attentive due to the opinion of the bill the russian people ok so so so so you think that though that this new ukraine's position is tough and they are going to hold on hold on to it until until the new president well i think that no one in brussels going to insist that kiev has to join nato it's a sovereign decision of the sovereign state and those that don't know do your great and there was a referendum so i think. there's no any threat from minister grecian go that he will be punished from brussels ok now and other question about nature rasmussen also while he was must have said that russia is welcome

and nato military infrastructure i mean troops and the terrorists in central europe and nato is quite reluctant about supporting this russian initiative but still i think the sides could agree on first expansion of russia's support of reconstructing the old soviet era economic infrastructure the terrorist or afghanistan second. egremont with me to transfer the real to the troops to afghanistan through the russian territory to russia expands of its supports of training of gamble lease corpse. drugs corpse i think these are the possible areas of the group's tonight's other big stories in the u.s. where president obama's democratic party has narrowly managed to maintain a majority in the senate in the midterm elections but the house of representatives is now in the hands of the republican opposition with congress now divided between both parties it will be much harder for obama to move forward with his legislative agenda but many voters have other concerns analysts say people are worried about the corporate bankrolling of candidates after vast amounts of campaign cash was poured into the

part in missile defense plans for europe only if it's an equal partner that was the outcome of the nato russia summit in lisbon which is pretty well as a fresh start and the relations details of the. russian business when viktor approves denies charges of weapons smuggling and terrorism at a court in the united states after it was hastily extradited from thailand on tuesday. but r t news crews detained in the u.s. says they filmed the rally near a military training academy in ga also. to retrieve the soldiers accused of using the palestinian child as a human shield received since its much to the angle of human rights groups and the international community. fellow eight pm sunday night here in moscow this is r.t. it's kevin zero in with the stories making the headlines from this past week and first russia is open to discussion over its participation in european missile defense but only if it's offered a fair and equal role president dmitri medvedev emphasized that point at the nato summit in lisbon held this historic for ending a once hostile relationship between russia and the alliance

we have agreed with our nato partners that we will pursue donnegan the european a.b.m. i mean god his should be that our participation will be equal and i will stress this it can only be as partners around no other form of participation for the sake of the parents is acceptable by the we participate fully we exchange information take part in decision making we do not participate at all the us reset of relations with russia has brought nato to woo moscow once the great enemy but now courted as a key potential ally together we've worked hard to reset the relations between the united states and russia which has led to concrete benefits for both our nations now we're also resetting the nato russia relationship we see russia as a partner not an adversary russia and nato have reiterated common challenges to be fought from the spread of weapons of mass destruction to terrorism russia has pledged more help to nato in afghanistan with transport access and more resources to fight narcotics there and for the first time in pakistan despite all the warm words there are still differe

you know as the bad times are over russia nato relations and the grease to help. drug action in afghanistan. russian businessman rick to boot to charges of weapons smuggling and terrorism. moscow calls for a fair trial and washington for pressuring the legal process. across the continent communities of victims by european governments their. health care system into this. brutal mass murder in southern russia. his private arrested for the friends and relatives frame the officials for corruption and negligence. you're watching and this is our weekly news review welcome to the program president bush says the hostile period between russia and nato is over he told the bloc gathering in portugal this weekend that he's agreeing to boost collaboration on one of the most dividing issues missile defense the summit smooth was decidedly more cooperative but there are still issues which they are yet to see eye to eye on the list of reports. nato rolled out the red carpet for the country once considered its. and russian president dmitri medvedev arrived at the summit of the form

should plan for a forty year state and can nato ever win that war. nobody seems to think so but they're staying there because at least it's a way of building up for the united states hopes it's a way of building up the sort of international army under its command however things are going very very badly in afghanistan as they always do for anybody who invade afghanistan ok well we see that nato is now desperately searching for more allies it's become clear that americans have realized that confrontation with russia is not pointless and they need russian help but does russia need nato is it a win win deal. well i don't see any deal of all in fact i don't see that exactly that that what you're saying is correct that the united states has decided it's pointless to have confrontation with russia why then is it building up forces in the arctic. bringing canadian and scandinavian forces into. a armed force whose only purpose could be to confront russia over resources in the arctic assuming that the arctic ice caps mills and opens up possible resources the

so pretty much the same on russia's accession to nato saying that it's more. rhetorics rather than the rules of the future. around you catherine the great job of reporting live on anders fogh rasmussen visit to moscow thank you very much for three and. a brief look now at some other international news for you this hour the government in greece has suspended international mail deliveries for forty eight hours after a series of letter bombs were found in athens some were sent to foreign embassies while three were posted to germany's chancellor the italian prime minister and the french president police have already charged two men and are now searching for a file they are suspected of involvement in extreme left wing group is thought to be behind the attempted attacks. iran has denied reports that an execution is imminent for a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery earlier this year the mother of two sentence was suspended after the case sparked international outcry however the authorities said she should still be hanged for murder by the iranian forei

and it is time for change it is time that nato and moscow boast the partnership now nato is an organization that is currently facing serious challenges has an identity crisis analysts say that north atlantic alliance has bitten off more than it can chew and it and in afghanistan in particular nato so wants to read itself always cold war one sided identity rasmussen is a moscow today for talks all the two main issues the first one is anti missile defense in europe recently nato invited russia to participate in that system but the kremlin keeps asking hard questions on what role will it be given will it be just a mere observer of the new technology or will it the to supply a say in the new system as a hands on mom but will it to dissipate in the entire process starting from construction to at savation up this system will sergei lavrov today says that of course the. new system will be discussed in detail cheering the upcoming russian made zero summit in lisbon in two weeks' time but he said that russia sees. its agreement to accept the invitation is only possible if they take part in the syste

should exist at all now how viable is nato today. well another crisis is sort of consubstantial to nato has existed certainly since the fall of the burden of war but in fact there was much question about what nature was all about and how it would operate even even before the war so nato isn't in a sense in an identity crisis more often than not i still think it has a road to play it's not a bad idea to have a large group of countries representing more than half the military spending in the world in an organization in an alliance working together discussing talking corporation called an aging that's not a bad thing in itself how this allies should be used and against whom if at all is of course a matter that's open and going to be redefined in the new nato strategy terrorism is an obvious obvious target potentially at least nuclear proliferation i think a very real one nato has to change has to use change its instruments has to adapt but i don't think it's so useless organization today ok well nato has also been hit by the economic cr

that nato is now trying to. provide itself with certain agreements with russia before this summit in lisbon takes place it wants to read itself what with one side of caution quote image as a cold war and in the obama hate wants to be associate. it with a more than twenty first century security organization and did these talks today were kind of a relaxed program of before the top leaders sit down for more serious business in his book. now russia of course and nato are currently working together on many issues as you've been talking about but what about their remaining differences. the maoists are saying that of course moscow and nato both realize the fundamental differences still divide them but the difference being is that they are now ready to address and to deal with these issues to deal with them through open debate russia nato ties have been slowly recovering after georgia's military invasion installed a certain august two thousand and eight the united states and russia managed to push the reset button by s

nato's role in the changing world strategy. with russia. this comes at a time when critics say the sixty one year old military alliance is basically an identity crisis it can find itself. more from. the dangers lurking beneath the. days investigate what potentially deadly poison could lead. to glimmer of hope for russia's minor offenders who could soon have the option of a fine all community service instead of a stay in an overcrowded prison. with twenty four hour news from russia and from around the world this is r.t. here in moscow summit defined as one of the most important it's ever held nato is meeting in portugal to decide what its future should be and whether it's even relevant engaging more closely with russia and deciding on a strategy to stabilize afghanistan and get out a key issues all this is part of an identity crisis for an organization created sixty years ago to oppose the now defunct soviet union. in the portuguese capital. we can expect the leaders to really try to defend what the reason is for nato to be in this day of ag

nato secretary general rasmussen said this was about reshaping nato, making it more efficient than it has been before. >> what else will be on the agenda over the next few days? >> the key thing tomorrow, saturday, will be afghastan. president karzai will be talking to nato leaders. as you mentioned, nato wants to begin at the beginning of 2011, just next year, to hand over control for security in afghanistan to afghan security forces. that is an ambitious goal. they want to complete the process in four years. it may prove difficult. the taliban might be difficult to flush out in some areas. there are concerns about the readiness of afghan forces. we are seeing a new phase in the war in afghanistan being announced here in lisbon this weekend. >> thank you so very much. simon young there from the nato summit. we will have more on where nato wants to focus its resources coming up later in this half hour. german investigators are working to find out why an american-made security testing device in the form of a fake suitcase bomb was almost put on the plane in namibia bound for germany. t