. in east ukraine and the second is crimea-— in east ukraine and the second is crimea. this meeting should take place _ is crimea. this meeting should take place sooner _ is crimea. this meeting should take place sooner rather - is crimea. this meeting should take place sooner rather than i take place sooner rather than later because it is only at that level, at a strategic level where the leaders meet that key decisions will be taken and hopefully a permanent ceasefire and permanent peace agreement will be reached. all other initiatives are important, they help, but ultimately, you know, it is president putin who is going to call this thing off. {iii president putin who is going to call this thing off.— call this thing off. of course, russia took _ call this thing off. of course, russia took crimea - call this thing off. of course, russia took crimea from - call this thing off. of course, - russia took crimea from ukraine illegally in 2014. now may be russia wants to force ukraine to see that the taking of crimea was legal which will be a very, very bitter pill for u

craig, here, there are few regrets in crimea. they now live a new life, a better life, new norman, we live, well, there is no war. the city is being repaired that you now live a completely different life, or we can even afford raising children. is when you lie has changed very much for that voice yet i was born in russia law. i was happy beyond measure to return to my home country of the west and ukraine have done everything to make life unbearable for crimean. they damned crimean water supply, cut off power and saddled more than a 1000000 people with ruinous sanctions and the near total economic blockade. but they failed to break crimea, and 8 years on the peninsula is more sure than ever before. that it made the right choice more at gazda of from cast that pity cops, crimea without soul for they saw a fall. the latest developments on the conflicts in ukraine had over to r t dot com. my name is peter scotts, and thank you for watching. ah ah ah ah ah ah women's good old was signed on february the 122015. it was meant to end mili

the west had many words for what happened in crimea. they called it an invasion annexation aggression. anything but the obvious, the will of the people, their answer to what happened and give to what the west helped happen in kiev. ah . with in ukraine slid into chaos and the people as nationalists, backed by neo nazis seized power and weapons and backing from the west, crimea decided to act local authorities decided on the referendum. russian forces stationed in crimea disarmed ukrainian troops, many of whom would end up joining the russian me. they did this to give their people a safe and to prevent the bloodshed that would tear ukrainian society apart from consuming crimea. the yeah, the bay. i was indeed afraid of what would happen if new ukrainian authorities came here. i had reasons to be afraid. i once came to the ukrainian city of ivana from coffee and was ignored indiscriminate it if i spoke russian instead of ukrainian. the 3rd is now there would have been bloodshed here, worse than in the non bus are regions rather specific f

there are few regrets in crimea. they now live a new life, a better life, new norman, we live, well, there is no war. the city is being repaired. you now live a completely different life or we can even afford raising children. is when you lie has changed very much and about at boise yet. i was born in russia law and i was happy beyond measure to return to my home country of the west and ukraine have done everything to make life unbearable for crimean. they damned crimea as water supply cut off. power had saddled more than a 1000000 people with ruinous sanctions and the near total economic blockade. but they failed to break crimea. and 8 years on the peninsula is more sure than ever before that it made the right choice more, i guess the of from cast i pity cops, crimea. while those are the main stories, this our head over to our t dot com or our social media pages for more money is peter scott. and i'll be back again at the top of the hour. thank you. ah ah ah, is your media a reflection of reality in the world transf

mission of the president of ukraine in crimea. maria, thank you for taking the time to speak to d w. now you've been working for years to document russia as human rights abuses in annex crimea. how has your work changed since rochelle launch this full scale invasion last month? hello. basically indeed, it's important to say that this war actually has start. that's not on february 24 over the current year, but much earlier in the year 214, when russian federation invaded crimea and occupied the crimean peninsula. and since then, and after its invaded russia invaded the boss as well. no. so since then you creating human rights community has been documenting the human rights violations and war crimes in those areas, although it wasn't easy because it all happens mostly without the direct access to those territories. so we've been using various tools in order to get the information from there. but now i would say that in terms of working with crimea, the situation changed in the way that even those sources that we use inside the penin

do you have from cast that pity cops, crimea? well, that's all for this hour for the latest developments on the conflicts in ukraine had over to r t dot com on his peter scott and thank you for watching. ah ah ah, western capital face, what is deemed a foreign policy dilemma? the go to position is something must be done, even if that something is counterproductive and dangerous. this is now happening when it comes to ukraine. something must be done, means escalation. ah ah gray zone inhabitants have learned to sleep through the nighttime shilling and to live without the most basic utilities going for weeks without clean water or electricity. worst of all they've had to watch is the war creeps ever closer to their homes. teach georgia to correct train, huge banassi terrain. you don't look i'm or don't use that as the out to the does she george? so went on with there was bizarre gazes at kids. i'm with.

i said that historically, maybe crimea is russian. i may even admit that maybe a majority of crimeans wanted to be with russia, although right now it does not seem to be the case. but it doesn't matter. it was the annexation. it was no referendums, or nothing like this. and it would mean inevitable war between russia and ukraine, the closest neighbours, brothers, allies, whatever... which sounded at the time like a very prophetic, or looks from this vantage point, like a prophecy. but you also said at the time, "i think that crimea should be part of russia. i think it is russian land. i think we should all be together, ukrainians and belarusians, and russians and many other countries which were once part of the ussr. we are one family, we have a common history." how is that vision different from that of vladimir putin? well, you see, the fact that we are related to each other. it doesn't mean that the people of ukraine or belarus, or russia has the right for self—determination. and what i was saying at that time is that if crimeans

the foreign policy success of the annexation of crimea at home has worn off. there is a great deal of food and fatigue within russia. he has been in power for 22 years and people don't expect great initiatives or a new direction for the country from him. propaganda doesn't seem to be working as well as many russians are going away from state television towards social media to get their news. in the last three years putin has had to rely heavily on oppression. the role of security services at home and abroad have increased dramatically. even among the foreign policy elite i don't think that there is a lot of support for this invasion of ukraine. i want to emphasize that this is a decision taken by a small group in russia, but when you have an autocratic regime around an individual that is how foreign policy decisions of this magnitude are made. host: biden imposes new sanctions on oligarchs. who are these oligarchs, and why are they important in vladimir putin's rule? guest: the oligarchs come in a variety of flavors. that is not a very precise term. there are

. , eastern ukraine and the second is crimea-— is crimea. this meeting should take place _ is crimea. this meeting should take place sooner _ is crimea. this meeting should take place sooner rather - is crimea. this meeting should take place sooner rather than i take place sooner rather than later because it is only at that level, strategic level with the leaders meet, the key decisions will be taken and hopefully a permanent ceasefire and peace agreement will be reached. all other initiatives are important and they help but ultimately, it is president putin who is going to call this thing off. putin who is going to call this thin off. ,, ., putin who is going to call this thin off. ,, . . thing off. russia took crimea from ukraine _ thing off. russia took crimea from ukraine illegally - thing off. russia took crimea from ukraine illegally in - thing off. russia took crimea l from ukraine illegally in 2014. now maybe they want to force ukraine to say it was legal which would be a very very bitter pill for ukraine to have to swallow. you were

she's head of the crimea platform department at the mission of the president of ukraine in crimea. maria, thank you for taking the time to speak to d w. now you've been working for years to document russia as human rights abuses in annex crimea. how has your work changed since russia launched this full scale invasion last month? hello. basically indeed, it's important to say that this war actually has start. that's not on february 24 over the current year, but much earlier in the year 214, when russian federation invaded crimea and occupied the crimea peninsula. and since then, and after its invaded russia invaded the boss as well. no. so since then you creating human rights community has been documenting the human rights violations and war crimes in those areas, although it wasn't easy because it all happens mostly without the direct access to those territories. so we've been using various tools in order to get the information from there. but now i would say that in terms of working with crimea, the situation changed in the way that even those sources that we use inside the penins

and to be honest, i'm from crimea myself and i know how important crimea is to ukrainians. there is a significant sentimental value of the crimea to ukrainians. and there are people who may have had pro—russian views in the past, but there is a lot of hatred that many people have towards russia, and president zelensky will have to think about that when he is in the negotiations with russia. it sounds as though it will be quite difficult for him to make too many concessions. i would say so, especially for example when it comes to ukraine's nato aspirations, which he may be forced to give up. ukraine's bid tojoin nato is enshrined in the ukrainian constitution. you are in poland, where there are at least i think 1.5 million ukrainian refugees, perhaps more. are they kind of together in their views, or do they have a variety of political views about the war? i would say the fact that they fled to poland rather than russia and belarus says a lot about how they feel about this war. so the west is accepting the largest part of the refugees coming from ukraine, so the people tha

, recognizing the crimea was brought to russia, but what we wanted to do in crimea was work with the government of ukraine, which was not in a position to engage in any military activity in crimea after it was an ex, but through no diplomatic measures to get the russians to reverse, this is something that we said in 1945 was never going to happen in europe again, which is international borders being changed by military force. and yet that's exactly what russia did. it did it in ukraine. it didn't crimea rather did it, don bass and it's doing it again. now. i mean, the, to many cases, grenada, of filing, the so many cases of all global invasion. i'm going to write it down by the association of caribbean states because of a cuba and russian supported coo and grenade. which, of course is what it, what the other, i mean, there's so many parallels here. and these are the ones being argued across the global. so what about this phrase of peacekeepers? can you understand? i mean, obviously the un secretary general says this is a violation of international law. something that has been raised

to crimea. you across the coast that would connect russia to crimea.— across the coast that would connect russia to crimea. you mentioned the caital k iv russia to crimea. you mentioned the capital kyiv - — russia to crimea. you mentioned the capital kyiv - if _ russia to crimea. you mentioned the capital kyiv - if russia _ russia to crimea. you mentioned the capital kyiv - if russia tries _ russia to crimea. you mentioned the capital kyiv - if russia tries to - capital kyiv — if russia tries to take it once again, do you think they'll be able to succeed, given they'll be able to succeed, given the resistance being put up in the rest of the country? ida. the resistance being put up in the rest of the country?— the resistance being put up in the rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight. _ rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they _ rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they won't _ rest of the country? no, i have good news tonight, they won't be - rest

she's head of the crimea platform department at the mission of the president of ukraine in crimea. maria, thank you for taking the time to speak to d w. now you've been working for years to document russia as human rights abuses in annex crimea. how has your work changed since russia launched this full scale invasion last month? hello. basically indeed, it's important to say that at least war actually has far, if it's not on february 24 of the current year, but much earlier in the year 214, when russian federation invaded crimea and occupied the crimean peninsula. and since then, and after its invaded, russia invaded the boss as well. no. so since then, you creating human rights community has been documenting the human rights violations and war crimes in those areas. although it wasn't easy because it all happens mostly without the direct access to those territories. so we've been using various tools in order to get the information from there. but now i would say that in terms of working with crimea, the situation changed in the way that even those sources that we use inside the pe

to discuss the status of the next region of crimea over the next 15 years. but ukraine's leadership insists territorial integrity and sovereignty are not up for the discussion. >> the president of ukraine gave clear instructions. international sanctions that have been against russia and weapons that have been handed over to us. mohammed: russia says it will reduce activity around kyiv. some demands include recognizing crimea as russian and the donbass region as independent. >> as the new round of peace talks continues, serious disagreements remain between the negotiating parties here. the ukrainian side is insisting on international security guarantees and an immediate cease-fire to resolve the urgent humanitarian problems. russia is asking ukraine to forfeit neutrality -- to be neutral, not pursuing number ship in nato. officials here say that ukraine has shown to a certain extent willingness to make compromises on these demands. another demand from russia is the n -- denazification of ukraine, but it is not clear what russia means. the most delicate issue

, recognizing the crimea was brought to russia, but what we wanted to do in crimea was work with the government of ukraine, which was not in a position to engage in any military activity in crimea after it was an ex, but through no diplomatic measures to get the russians to reverse, this is something that we said in 1945 was never going to happen in europe again, which is international borders being changed by military force. and yet that's exactly what russia did. it did it in ukraine. it didn't premier rather did it, don bass, and it's doing it again. now. i mean, the, to many cases, grenada, of, i mean the so many cases of all global invasion, i'm going to write it down by the association of caribbean states because of a cuba and russian supported coo and grenade. which of course is what it, what the other, i mean, there's so many parallels here, and these are the ones being argued across the global. so what about this phrase of peacekeepers? can you understand? i mean, obviously the un secretary general says this is a violation of international law, something that has been raised

after, life in crimea changed significantly. crimea was destroyed. most of the young people realized we did not have a future in crimea. nick: before the war, she says she hung out with her friends and was a barista, but her dreams of becoming a teacher now deferred. >> in the future, i'd like to go back to school, but right now i'm not thinking about that, because we are thinking about protecting our ukraine. nick: do you have faith that you, the army, the government, will be able to protect odessa and protect the country? >> i have no doubt whatsoever, because no one expected that our people will stand up and fight, that we are so strong, that we are all united with one goal, but i have no doubt whatsoever. nick: lata was born the same year an independent ukraine was born, 1991. he is tied by birth to his country's fate. eugene: right now, everyone involved in every single city, in every single town of our country, everyone involved in this war, and people know and people understands that if we -- if we lose, then we don't have a country, then we d

, _ this and you give him ukraine, sorry crimea, officially given crimea and you give _ crimea, officially given crimea and you give him that sort of quarter of the country— you give him that sort of quarter of the country in the east? they you give him that sort of quarter of the country in the east?— the country in the east? they have not really done _ the country in the east? they have not really done that _ the country in the east? they have not really done that with _ the country in the east? they have not really done that with a - the country in the east? they have not really done that with a guild i not really done that with a guild that was negotiated in minsk, the minsky process effectively had done that anyway, it the fact of at least. i that anyway, it the fact of at least. ., that anyway, it the fact of at least. ~' ., , , .,, least. i think religiously most ukrainians — least. i think religiously most ukrainians would _ least. i think religiously most ukrainians would not - least. i think religiously most ukrainians would not be i least. i think religiously most i ukrain

i think realistically most ukrainians would not be expecting crimea to be... they've given up on it. interesting because what they have gone through it now, that's changed. probably has changed that calculation. an even harder thing is look at the russian advance in the south where they have made more gains. that is where they have been somewhat successful, so what do you do with mariupol? they are trying to develop this corridor, is russia really going to withdraw from those areas? unlikely, highly unlikely. so there is one option of a negotiated settlement but the other option which is looking pretty likely is that this grinds on for months and months if not longer. we have not mentioned to china in all of this as well. i wanted to come onto this because friday there was a discussion between president putin and president xi and that has huge potential. is there the sense of the mere fact they were willing to talk on this... you meanjoe biden and xi jinping? yes, sorry, they have not spoken very much and we had one other phone call with great effort to get th

. recognizing the crimea was brought to russia. but what we wanted to do in crimea was work with the government of ukraine, which was not in a position to engage in any military activity in crimea after it was an ex, but through no diplomatic measures to get the russians to reverse. this is something that we said in 1945 was never going to happen in europe again, which is international borders being changed by military force, and yet, that's exactly what russia did. it did it in ukraine. it didn't premiere, rather didn't don bass, and it's doing it again. now. i mean, the, to many cases, grenada, of, i mean the so many cases of all global invasion. i'm a very right and then by the association of caribbean states because of a cuba and russian supported coo and grenada, which of course is what it, what the other, i mean, there's so many parallels here and these are the ones being argued across the global. so what about this phrase of peacekeepers? can you understand? i mean, obviously the un secretary general says this is a violation

i think realistically most ukrainians would not be expecting crimea to be... they've given up on it. interesting because what they have gone through it now, that's changed. probably has changed that calculation. an even harder thing is look at the russian advance in the south where they have made more gains. that's where they have been somewhat successful, so what do you do with mariupol? they're trying to develop this corridor, is russia really going to withdraw from those areas? unlikely, highly unlikely. so there is one option of a negotiated settlement but the other option which is looking pretty likely is that this grinds on for months and months if not longer. we have not mentioned to china in all of this as well. i wanted to come onto this because friday there was a discussion between president putin and president xi and that has huge potential. is there the sense of the mere fact they were willing to talk on this... you meanjoe biden and xijinping? yes, sorry, they have not spoken very much and we had one other phone call with great effort to get that

because jeff is asking kia, also to officially accept crimea, which was next by russia in 2014 as part of russia. and also forcing ukraine to, to recognise the 2 separate at this republic in eastern ukraine to ask and as long as independent states and officers say that when his eye so far has not shown any willingness to make compromises about it's territorial integrity. the official says at the that that, that, that, that, that the roads is quite a rocky but mosley, the success of this negotiations. this piece folks in istanbul depends on how much russia is going to make it a retreat from his max madison demands. and the limits of the ukrainian flexibility christmas out of that 40 sites story. ah. all right, let's bring in our guests from near keith peterson, maya executive director of the eurasia democracy initiative from moscow. andre cartoon off director general of the russian international affairs council thinktank and for london, zachary pagan, a researcher in the e u foreign policy unit at the center for european policy studies. thanks so much for joining us today, and we really

to day in russia, they celebrate the annexation of crimea. i would like to highlight one detail, they reported that overall there were 200000 people participating, 100000 outside and approximately 95000 in the stadium. this is the exact number of the russian manpower involved in the invasion of ukraine. $14000.00 dead bodies and hundreds of thousands of wounded. this is the exact number of russian forces during this war. this is the price in just over 3 weeks. first. still to come here on out is here at how tension over the war and ukraine could threaten collaboration of all the international space station toss. ah, we report from a catholic rooms of odessa where people are taking shelter in old stone minds. the once used as nuclear bunkers. ah hell i was say some rather nasty weather pushing away from the eastern seaboard of the u. s. curious guys coming back and be hiding to see more sunshine here. but another area of low pressure that spills in it brought some snow over the rockies running in across the plains. and that's going to gather a

at the crimea invasion there was a big l crimea invasion there was a big effort to have ukraine be more market orientated and be more connected with europe. that means on each kind of product, if you think about ukraine, it has got huge potential in terms of agriculture, for example, but that means fertiliser, that means export markets for the products and so, we were involved with those sectors, land reform is very important because they inherited all the leftover with the old soviet system. a communist system that was an utter failure system. a communist system that was an utterfailure in system. a communist system that was an utter failure in terms of agricultural production and so we were involved in that. also in the banking reform efforts. i guess the pattern, if you can think about it, is the need for state owned enterprises to be allowed to have private ownership but also to be more productive and for there to be a structure for that. ~ ~' ., there to be a structure for that. ~ ~ ., i. there to be a structure for that. ~ ~ ., ., there to be a structure for that. ~ ~ ., , ., ., .

they started out in crimea. the lines of supply and sustainment are short. they have been in crimea since 2014. they built up a pretty healthy and sophisticated architecture. a quick look at the map will show you they are not that fa from their base of operations in crimea. i saw the comments about risk averse. i would say, and you can see it for yourself. we're seeing abandonment, sustainment problems in fuel. not just fuel but food . they have made some missteps. we have to be, as we look at this, we have to be pragmatic. the ukrainians are fighting bravely and creatively. the russians have a significant amount of combat power applied in ukraine. they still have significant combat power they have not engaged in the fight . we need to be mindful of that. they have been surpassed by the stiff resistance that they are facing by the ukrainians and i don't believe that they fully factored that in. i'm certainly not going to be one to call it one way or another here. the ukrainians are fighting for their country and they are making a difference. jim. >> first, i

but the main problems are likely to be what's going to happen to disputed separatist regions and crimea. mcbride's reports from leave. russia is continuing its attacks on defense facilities across ukraine, including fuel dep, owes with this site in the western city of luke getting hit over night. with torps expected to start between the 2 warring sides ukraine's president vladimir lensky has struck a conciliatory tone. he seems to accept russia's military presence in some parts of ukraine in some form as part of any deal. yup. when you must, would you bullshit it? do i understand? it's impossible to make russia give off territory completely that will lead to world war 3. i understand completely unaware. he's also confirmed, he is willing to consider ukrainian neutrality in the future. provided president putin pulls back his forces on ukraine's west and border with poland. there's relative order after the chaotic exit this of refugees in recent weeks, in the early days of the conflict with tens of thousands of people leaving ukraine every day. this was one of the busiest crossings with p

it's important to say in 2014 men russia invaded crimea. since then and after, since then, the human rights community is documenting war crimes in those areas. it wasn't easy. it happened without direct access to those territories. we have been using tools, but now, in terms of working with crimea, the situation changed the way that even though sources were used inside the peninsula, this people who talked with us, communicated with us, spoke openly about human rights abuses. now, they behave more carefully. we undstand these people are hostages. now it's mo complicated since russia changed its legislation after this new war was launched. now, when you say russia has waged war, and might be qualified as an offense, in the better case, it may be a worse case. it will proceed like a so-called disposition. we have plenty of cases like these. anchor: i want to ask you, after the full-scale invasion started four weeks ago, is your team looking at abuses happening in other parts of the country? >> it's very differe. now, we have various people in

romanov family was supported in crimea and half of souvenirs that you could bring from crimea were connected with the history of royal family of russia. at the same time, in donbas, the soviet nostalgia was supported, and one of the favourite, or most favourite tv channels that is probably still watched there, it is a russian tv channel, which shows soviet films, very often black and white, 24 hours a day. let me ask you this — are you reconsidering your lifelong artistic decision to write primarily in russian? because you know there are ukrainian writers who think that is a form of sort of cultural artistic betrayal. well, i mean, i did have a lot of discussions with people who say that if you write in russian, you are a russian writer, not a ukrainian writer, so you have to change the language. i did write a couple of non—fiction books in ukrainian and a couple of children's books in ukrainian, but, i mean, russian language as my mother tongue and i can do much more with the russian language, and i have readers, both ukrainian speaking and russian speaking readers, and my books are tra

recognition of crimea, for instance? >> we know what they are asking for, according to at the ukrainians set about these talks. recognition of crimea annexation and the recognition of the independency of the donbass. now, it's first for the ukrainians leadership, democratically elected, to say what his country can accept. it's not for the west to say o okay, we recognize annexation of crimea, contrary to the international law. you can't change a border. why not? only if there is a consent of the two sides. so it's not for the west to take the initiative. anchor: another part of the negotiations, one thing that's being discussed is ukraine's neutrality in exchange for security guarantees. ukraine already had security guarantees with -- in the past when it gave up its nuclear weapons. >> the perley work. anchor: apparently it doesn't work. it was ukraine and russia. what about u.s. and u.k.? one should elaborate a little bit exactly their commitments. anchor: because they don't seem to be so ironclad, these security guaran

and also that the russians actually stop occupying crimea and other pos reason i've been in crimea for by 8 years now. so there's a, there's a disconnect there, but every single time president vladimir lensky of ukraine makes his statement. people are really looking closely that statement, picking it apart to try and figure out what he means. let's take a look now or what he had to say. his latest statement, jazz over 80, must have just, this is the time to meet, and this is the time to speak time to restore territorial integrity and fairness for ukraine. otherwise, the losses of russia will be such that you won't have any resources to get up after that i, to day in russia, they celebrate the annexation of crimea. i would like to highlight one detail. they reported that overall there were 200000 people participating. 100000 outside and approximately 95000 in the stadium. this is the exact number of the russian manpower involved in the invasion of ukraine, like 14000 dead bodies and hundreds of thousands of wounded. this is the exact number of russian forces during this war. this is the

b as off battalion was found in 2014, during the russian annexation of crimea. it began life as a volunteer force, which then became part of ukraine's armed forces with public links to far right groups. in 2016, the united nations accused it a violating international humanitarian law. in 201940 u. s. congress members, unsuccessfully tried to designate the as of as a foreign terrorist organization. during this war they become the main fighting force in the besieged southern city of very apo usa. we began by asking them if there were a neo nazi organization and the blue look is oller o bra, sir, no one assorted to sid this by the image of af, is now now this was created by russians in 2016. after, as all will liberated, mary will pull from russia. oh, wanted fighters and became part of the ukrainian army. jose is a video on the oh, you national god of ukraine. twitter crown was clearly so some of your voices, a greasing bullet with peg fat, with the message, the muslim brothers in our country, you will not go to heaven, go home, please. you will not be allowed int

tom manafort in ukraine handling the election in 2014 just before they invaded crimea? and wasn't that the initiative that paul manafort came here and then started up the trump campaign? because then we got the mueller report i cannot say i have read the entire thing but i read the indictment of the 25 russians that came out before the report did and it is amazing. i wonder if we had listened to the mueller report if we would be here today. and then, as soon as trump got in office he fired tony on the ninth but on the tenth he had new people in his office we found that out from russian tv and that was the basis of the first impeachment and then we had an insurrection. tucker carlson is onox fox news i am wondering is vladimir putin listening to tucker carlson and getting his own? >> certainly pieces of that report were disturbing. the russian misinformation campaign that we saw in our election system trying to fill discord to so discord and break the country apart which was jaw-dropping in the ways they did that. but then holding up some of the weaponry to ukraine which

crimea was annexed back in 2014. the situation hasn't rised, but no one has recognized the annexation of crimea since then. now the russian side wants the international community to recognize it. i don't think that's going to fly. that's a very maximalist demand from the russian side. it's not realistic. same goes for donbas. other four issues, there could be a few more here and there. you know, maybe they will find a way to reach some kind of an agreement. but leadership level meeting will require a serious discussion of donbas and crimea because they go straight to the heart of the matter, which is ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty. >> the ukrainian foreign minister has actually denied there is agreement even on the fourth sticking point. there does seem to be a disconnect between what the president was saying and what the ukrainians are saying. >> our president was simply describing the situation, and it was actually a message to moscow also. look, if you can agree -- negotiating teams can agree on t