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Transcripts For BBCNEWS HARDtalk 20170123 : vimarsana.com
Transcripts For BBCNEWS HARDtalk 20170123 : vimarsana.com
BBCNEWS HARDtalk January 23, 2017
The dishonest media. The i says the
Prime Minister
s post brexit plan is to reboot british industry. The
Daily Express
has claims from a leading
Brexit Campaigner
that up to a million eu migrants may head to the uk over the next two years. The metro says theresa may is ready to challenge
President Trump
over sexist remarks when she meets him at the white house on friday. The telegraph says a
Free Trade Deal
with the
United States
is likely to open the door to us jobs for british workers. The mirror has more on accusations that the
Prime Minister
didnt share knowledge of a failed trident test ahead of a vote to renew the weapons system. And the times reports that
Rural Enterprises
will be the biggest losers in upcoming
Business Rate
rises in england. Now its time for hardtalk. Welcome to a
Special Edition
of hardtalk from moscow. Im stephen sackur. According to
Us Intelligence
chiefs the kremlin
Ran A Covert Operation
aimed to influence the us president ial election in favour of donald trump. If they did, it worked, but was it really so . What is the truth behind the swirl of allegations . And what now for russia us relations . Well, im going to the kremlin to meet
Vladimir Putins
spokesman,
Dmitry Peskov
. Is he triumphant or cautious . Dmitry peskov, welcome to hardtalk. Do you care that a host of western
Intelligence Agencies
have accused your government of sophisticated, covert operations, dirty tricks, meddling in their internal politics, do you care . You mean
Cyber Attacks
. Cyber attacks, not just that, but
Cyber Attacks
have been one very big part of it. Lets talk about the
United States
first of all. Yes. We have to be very precise in wording. Youre speaking about secret services and
Special Services
of the major states. Were speaking about only the
United States
of america and some retired gentlemen who used to work in mi6 or mi5, i dont know exactly, from great britain. The rest of
Special Services
in european countries, they have never accused russia of interfering into somewhere, they have just started to feel uncomfortable, at the same front of allegations. Thats not strictly true. What youve said isnt strictly true. Bruno khal, chief of germanys foreign intelligence agency, said this,
Cyber Attacks
are taking place that have no purpose other than to elicit
Political Uncertainty
here in germany. The indications show the attacks come from russia. There is evidence that this is at least tolerated or desired by the state. Again, accusations that have nothing beneath. We dont have any proof for those blamings. It is interesting that you began by saying its only the
United States
. But its clearly not only the
United States
. Well, the whole story started from the
United States
. The whole hysteria is being pumped up by the
United States
public opinion,
United States
media. Its very emotional hysteria. You know, sometimes it is even, it comes quite ridiculous to us to watch this hysteria. James clapper, the director of
National Intelligence
in the us says that the evidence is there with a very high degree of certainty. Admittedly we havent seen the evidence because the key evidence has been redacted. But what he says is this, i do not think, based on the evidence, that we have ever encountered a more aggressive, a more direct campaign to interfere in our election process. Thats at your door, and indeed, you
Dmitry Peskov
have been accused of being one of the key architects of this campaign. Well, its a great honour for me to be so sophisticated im not that sophisticated in cyber business. This is not the truth. Number one. Number two, every day we have
Hundreds And Thousands
of
Cyber Attacks
against our
Digital Systems
in the russian federation. Some of them are coming from the territory of the
United States
. Dozens are am coming from the territory of germany. Dozens are coming from great britain. Do you think that it means with a high state of certainty that those attacks against our
Digital Systems
are being promoted by the governments in washington, in london or in berlin . No. You would probably say no. Its out of the question. Im more interested in what you think. What do you think . We think that it has nothing to do with the governments. Although, we also have some evidence that some
Foreign Special
services might stand behind some very, very tense attacks against our banks and against our, well, our official websites. Are you trying to tell me that the russian actions in the
United States
, in germany, we believe in britain too, according to our
Intelligence Agencies
, are they retaliation . No. There are no actions. Neither russian government nor kremlin nor
President Putin
personally, nor
Military Intelligence
stand behind those attacks, if they really exist. That is a very clear position youve just taken. Now, the
United States
congress is going to over the next few weeks and months conduct a very
Serious Investigation
of all these allegations of russian cyber hacking. They are going to use subpoenas. We may well find a lot more very specific information. If it turns out that they have convincing evidence that russia, the kremlin was involved in authorising those attacks, you are going to be very badly exposed, arent you . Of course. Im carrying responsibility for saying that. Im not an irresponsible person and working as a
Press Secretary
of
President Putin
, i work in kremlin and am responsible for my words. So, should there be any evidence, should there be any proof, then it will be my responsibility. It should be either proved or it should be dismissed. How disturbed were you when donald trump appeared to say, just a few days ago, that he now believes russia is responsible for the hacking of the dnc e mails . President elect was briefed by his
Special Services
. We do not know what exactly was presented to him during those briefings. What we had access to was the public part of the report. You would probably have read that. Ive read the public part. As i said, we dont know what redacted parts include. Yes, public part was quite vague. You would probably agree with me. It was based on assumptions, not on evidence. So lets wait and see. On the hacking, john mccain, and a bunch of republican, democratic senators. Great admirer of my country. Perhaps not the greatest admirer right now. He has said and they have said that theyre going to push forward what theyre calling countering russian hostilities act 2017. They are going to push for an expansion of sanctions against russia, specifically targeting those they believe responsible for the hacking. How will you respond if that legislation, if that expansion of sanctions goes through . So, this is quite an unprecedented act. What is being done by the going president obama, by renewing the sanctions against russia, without waiting until the period of the existing one expires, and with the new law, with the new law coming. So they are trying to limit the capacity, to limit the presidency of trump. Theyre trying to push him into the way of bad relationship with moscow. They say, you dont have a possibility to move. You dont have a possibility to choose your own position. You will follow our way. Which brings me to the most important question today, around the world, but particularly concerning your relationship with the
United States
. Do you believe
President Donald Trump
will bring with him a fundamental change, a fundamental shift in the relationship between washington and moscow . Unfortunately, we cannot believe. What we can do is we can express our hope. We want to have a
Good Relationship
with america. We believe that we cannot solve lots of problems in this world and in our region, that are endangering our country without cooperation with the americans. Thats why we desperately need a
Good Relationship
with washington. But it takes two to tango. What will be the approach by
President Trump
, this is the question. We speak on the eve of the inauguration. Will you and your boss,
President Putin
, be popping the champagne corks when you watch the inauguration of
President Trump
. Well, you know, we are preoccupied these days. We have our christian holiday called baptising, so we are preoccupied with swimming in the ice cold water. Thats why our agenda is a little bit different. Lets allow ourselves to think what it means in greater detail. Donald trump has talked about his admiration for vladimir putin, calls him a smart guy. But getting away from the positives, looking at perhaps a more realistic agenda, some of his key nominees for the top posts that of secretary of state, secretary of defence they have said clearly they still regard russia as the most important threat. The
Defence Secretary Nominee
says he
Still Believes
that russia poses a
Severe Threat
to europes security and to nato. Listen, you cannot leave and you cannot develop yourself as a personality in one environment and
All Of A Sudden Come
to a different conclusion. You are a child of your environment. Environment in the
United States
currently is very hostile towards russia. So we understand those statements. We do not expect
President Trump
and his administration to agree with us, even to agree with us even on the majority of problems. But we want to believe that they will be ready to talk to us. So, we want to be able to convey our message to washington. We want to, we want washington to will, to convey their message to us by explaining why, what exactly, how, when and with whom. If we dont know that, we feel ourself endangered. Donald trump prides himself as a deal maker. Hes begun to indicate there might be deals to be done. He suggested to the
Times Newspaper
the other day that perhaps he would consider
Easing Sanctions
on russia if russia was prepared to talk seriously about reducing its
Nuclear Arsenal
as part of a new round of talks. Are you interested in that sort of approach . Its a little bit different dimensions. Sanctions is one thing. Russia will not ever initiate discussing of the issue. On ukraine, which is the reason why the sanctions sit there, your position on ukraine appears unchanging. What the west wants to see, we dont know whether donald trump wants to see it, what the west generally wants to see is you, finally, make every effort to implement that minsk
Peace Agreement
and stop your support for the separatists in eastern ukraine. The problem is that we are not the country who is going to, who should implement minsk agreement. We are the country that should guarantee the implementation, together with the french and with the germans. Minsk agreement should be implemented by kiev and the guys from donbass. And minsk agreement is not something vague. The guys from donbass just take your instructions, so why dont you go along and instruct them on what you want . We enjoy some influence, but we cannot ask them to die. Theres been a lot of talk about the possibility of a very early
Summit Meeting
between mr putin and soon to be
President Trump
. Is it going to happen . Well, we hope that
President Putin
is going to call
President Trump
after the inauguration, as soon as hes available, and congratulate him. Its a protocol so this congratulation should be delivered. We hope it will be delivered through a telephone call. Then well expect their exchange of views on a possibility of the meeting. What kind of time frame are we talking about . Currently we dont have any hints for the dates, unfortunately. Are we talking weeks, months, do you think . We hope. No, i dont think weeks. Of course, i mean, hes the president of the
United States
and first of all, hes preoccupied with american business. Its like all president s. You ask me, what are we going to do tomorrow, during the inauguration, we are going to be preoccupied with russian affairs. Because they are the issue of priority for
President Putin
. Its not coming weeks. But lets hope for the best that this meeting could take place coming month. Coming months . And to be clear about it,
President Putin
would like the earliest possible meeting with mrtrump . I have no doubt mr putin will be ready for that, yes. One interesting point, just yesterday, it was announced here in russia that
Edward Snowden
was given a couple more years of residency here. Some people say that one way to warm up relations quickly would be for mr putin to, in essence, give
Edward Snowden
to the incoming
Trump Administration
as some sort of show of goodwill. In america they want to put him on trial. Donald trump has made it plain that he personally believes that
Edward Snowden
should be punished for the release of secret information. Edward snowden is a human being that can face a
Death Penalty
in the
United States
, because its one of the few countries that still exercises
Death Penalty
. Youll never extradite him, is that what youre saying . This is a decision that can be taken by our
Immigration Authorities
or
President Putin
. I dont know. But hes not a toy to be presented. Hes a human being. Lets talk about nato, as we go round the themes that are going to be presented to trump and putin as they consider their relationship. Donald trump has said nato is obsolete. Hes also said nato is very important to him. His generals tell him that russia poses a direct threat, the way that youve massed both weaponry, material, and man power on natos eastern flank. Are you prepared to show, again, good faith by, for example, pulling your missiles out . It is very complicated issue. You cannot just withdraw with those missiles from there without knowing that plans for creating entire russian, entire
Missile System
will be abolished on the european continent. Just one final point on diplomacy, again about dialogue, its about syria. It is very notable that in your initiative with the turks to get some sort of dialogue going between the government and the rebels, which led to the ceasefire, the americans werent involved at all. Now there are more peace talks scheduled for kazakhstan next week. Do you definitely want the americans, under the new
Trump Administration
, to be involved, to be big players alongside you and the turks . Well, definitely we would welcome that. We would welcome that. Situation is very complicated. You know that the, also there is iran, like a very important player in syrian issue. The iranians say the americans wont be there. The iranians are not welcoming the americans. Its a very complicated issue for a very careful play. You and i in previous conversations have gone into great detail about accusations that russia has committed human rights violations, some say war crimes in its military activities in syria. One simple question on this since we last spoke, the
Un General Assembly
has voted to establish an investigative body to collect, consolidate and preserve, they say, evidence and prepare cases on war crimes and human rights abuses. Will you cooperate with that un investigation . I have no doubt, yes. Should it be started and what will be the composition of that. Your people at the un were gravely sceptical it should be started in the first place. Youre saying, weve decided we are going to fully cooperate. No, we havent decided. Theoretically, i say, theoretically, we would welcome those investigations. A final thought, i want to take it away from the
Prime Minister<\/a>s post brexit plan is to reboot british industry. The
Daily Express<\/a> has claims from a leading
Brexit Campaigner<\/a> that up to a million eu migrants may head to the uk over the next two years. The metro says theresa may is ready to challenge
President Trump<\/a> over sexist remarks when she meets him at the white house on friday. The telegraph says a
Free Trade Deal<\/a> with the
United States<\/a> is likely to open the door to us jobs for british workers. The mirror has more on accusations that the
Prime Minister<\/a> didnt share knowledge of a failed trident test ahead of a vote to renew the weapons system. And the times reports that
Rural Enterprises<\/a> will be the biggest losers in upcoming
Business Rate<\/a> rises in england. Now its time for hardtalk. Welcome to a
Special Edition<\/a> of hardtalk from moscow. Im stephen sackur. According to
Us Intelligence<\/a> chiefs the kremlin
Ran A Covert Operation<\/a> aimed to influence the us president ial election in favour of donald trump. If they did, it worked, but was it really so . What is the truth behind the swirl of allegations . And what now for russia us relations . Well, im going to the kremlin to meet
Vladimir Putins<\/a> spokesman,
Dmitry Peskov<\/a>. Is he triumphant or cautious . Dmitry peskov, welcome to hardtalk. Do you care that a host of western
Intelligence Agencies<\/a> have accused your government of sophisticated, covert operations, dirty tricks, meddling in their internal politics, do you care . You mean
Cyber Attacks<\/a> . Cyber attacks, not just that, but
Cyber Attacks<\/a> have been one very big part of it. Lets talk about the
United States<\/a> first of all. Yes. We have to be very precise in wording. Youre speaking about secret services and
Special Services<\/a> of the major states. Were speaking about only the
United States<\/a> of america and some retired gentlemen who used to work in mi6 or mi5, i dont know exactly, from great britain. The rest of
Special Services<\/a> in european countries, they have never accused russia of interfering into somewhere, they have just started to feel uncomfortable, at the same front of allegations. Thats not strictly true. What youve said isnt strictly true. Bruno khal, chief of germanys foreign intelligence agency, said this,
Cyber Attacks<\/a> are taking place that have no purpose other than to elicit
Political Uncertainty<\/a> here in germany. The indications show the attacks come from russia. There is evidence that this is at least tolerated or desired by the state. Again, accusations that have nothing beneath. We dont have any proof for those blamings. It is interesting that you began by saying its only the
United States<\/a>. But its clearly not only the
United States<\/a>. Well, the whole story started from the
United States<\/a>. The whole hysteria is being pumped up by the
United States<\/a> public opinion,
United States<\/a> media. Its very emotional hysteria. You know, sometimes it is even, it comes quite ridiculous to us to watch this hysteria. James clapper, the director of
National Intelligence<\/a> in the us says that the evidence is there with a very high degree of certainty. Admittedly we havent seen the evidence because the key evidence has been redacted. But what he says is this, i do not think, based on the evidence, that we have ever encountered a more aggressive, a more direct campaign to interfere in our election process. Thats at your door, and indeed, you
Dmitry Peskov<\/a> have been accused of being one of the key architects of this campaign. Well, its a great honour for me to be so sophisticated im not that sophisticated in cyber business. This is not the truth. Number one. Number two, every day we have
Hundreds And Thousands<\/a> of
Cyber Attacks<\/a> against our
Digital Systems<\/a> in the russian federation. Some of them are coming from the territory of the
United States<\/a>. Dozens are am coming from the territory of germany. Dozens are coming from great britain. Do you think that it means with a high state of certainty that those attacks against our
Digital Systems<\/a> are being promoted by the governments in washington, in london or in berlin . No. You would probably say no. Its out of the question. Im more interested in what you think. What do you think . We think that it has nothing to do with the governments. Although, we also have some evidence that some
Foreign Special<\/a> services might stand behind some very, very tense attacks against our banks and against our, well, our official websites. Are you trying to tell me that the russian actions in the
United States<\/a>, in germany, we believe in britain too, according to our
Intelligence Agencies<\/a>, are they retaliation . No. There are no actions. Neither russian government nor kremlin nor
President Putin<\/a> personally, nor
Military Intelligence<\/a> stand behind those attacks, if they really exist. That is a very clear position youve just taken. Now, the
United States<\/a> congress is going to over the next few weeks and months conduct a very
Serious Investigation<\/a> of all these allegations of russian cyber hacking. They are going to use subpoenas. We may well find a lot more very specific information. If it turns out that they have convincing evidence that russia, the kremlin was involved in authorising those attacks, you are going to be very badly exposed, arent you . Of course. Im carrying responsibility for saying that. Im not an irresponsible person and working as a
Press Secretary<\/a> of
President Putin<\/a>, i work in kremlin and am responsible for my words. So, should there be any evidence, should there be any proof, then it will be my responsibility. It should be either proved or it should be dismissed. How disturbed were you when donald trump appeared to say, just a few days ago, that he now believes russia is responsible for the hacking of the dnc e mails . President elect was briefed by his
Special Services<\/a>. We do not know what exactly was presented to him during those briefings. What we had access to was the public part of the report. You would probably have read that. Ive read the public part. As i said, we dont know what redacted parts include. Yes, public part was quite vague. You would probably agree with me. It was based on assumptions, not on evidence. So lets wait and see. On the hacking, john mccain, and a bunch of republican, democratic senators. Great admirer of my country. Perhaps not the greatest admirer right now. He has said and they have said that theyre going to push forward what theyre calling countering russian hostilities act 2017. They are going to push for an expansion of sanctions against russia, specifically targeting those they believe responsible for the hacking. How will you respond if that legislation, if that expansion of sanctions goes through . So, this is quite an unprecedented act. What is being done by the going president obama, by renewing the sanctions against russia, without waiting until the period of the existing one expires, and with the new law, with the new law coming. So they are trying to limit the capacity, to limit the presidency of trump. Theyre trying to push him into the way of bad relationship with moscow. They say, you dont have a possibility to move. You dont have a possibility to choose your own position. You will follow our way. Which brings me to the most important question today, around the world, but particularly concerning your relationship with the
United States<\/a>. Do you believe
President Donald Trump<\/a> will bring with him a fundamental change, a fundamental shift in the relationship between washington and moscow . Unfortunately, we cannot believe. What we can do is we can express our hope. We want to have a
Good Relationship<\/a> with america. We believe that we cannot solve lots of problems in this world and in our region, that are endangering our country without cooperation with the americans. Thats why we desperately need a
Good Relationship<\/a> with washington. But it takes two to tango. What will be the approach by
President Trump<\/a>, this is the question. We speak on the eve of the inauguration. Will you and your boss,
President Putin<\/a>, be popping the champagne corks when you watch the inauguration of
President Trump<\/a> . Well, you know, we are preoccupied these days. We have our christian holiday called baptising, so we are preoccupied with swimming in the ice cold water. Thats why our agenda is a little bit different. Lets allow ourselves to think what it means in greater detail. Donald trump has talked about his admiration for vladimir putin, calls him a smart guy. But getting away from the positives, looking at perhaps a more realistic agenda, some of his key nominees for the top posts that of secretary of state, secretary of defence they have said clearly they still regard russia as the most important threat. The
Defence Secretary Nominee<\/a> says he
Still Believes<\/a> that russia poses a
Severe Threat<\/a> to europes security and to nato. Listen, you cannot leave and you cannot develop yourself as a personality in one environment and
All Of A Sudden Come<\/a> to a different conclusion. You are a child of your environment. Environment in the
United States<\/a> currently is very hostile towards russia. So we understand those statements. We do not expect
President Trump<\/a> and his administration to agree with us, even to agree with us even on the majority of problems. But we want to believe that they will be ready to talk to us. So, we want to be able to convey our message to washington. We want to, we want washington to will, to convey their message to us by explaining why, what exactly, how, when and with whom. If we dont know that, we feel ourself endangered. Donald trump prides himself as a deal maker. Hes begun to indicate there might be deals to be done. He suggested to the
Times Newspaper<\/a> the other day that perhaps he would consider
Easing Sanctions<\/a> on russia if russia was prepared to talk seriously about reducing its
Nuclear Arsenal<\/a> as part of a new round of talks. Are you interested in that sort of approach . Its a little bit different dimensions. Sanctions is one thing. Russia will not ever initiate discussing of the issue. On ukraine, which is the reason why the sanctions sit there, your position on ukraine appears unchanging. What the west wants to see, we dont know whether donald trump wants to see it, what the west generally wants to see is you, finally, make every effort to implement that minsk
Peace Agreement<\/a> and stop your support for the separatists in eastern ukraine. The problem is that we are not the country who is going to, who should implement minsk agreement. We are the country that should guarantee the implementation, together with the french and with the germans. Minsk agreement should be implemented by kiev and the guys from donbass. And minsk agreement is not something vague. The guys from donbass just take your instructions, so why dont you go along and instruct them on what you want . We enjoy some influence, but we cannot ask them to die. Theres been a lot of talk about the possibility of a very early
Summit Meeting<\/a> between mr putin and soon to be
President Trump<\/a>. Is it going to happen . Well, we hope that
President Putin<\/a> is going to call
President Trump<\/a> after the inauguration, as soon as hes available, and congratulate him. Its a protocol so this congratulation should be delivered. We hope it will be delivered through a telephone call. Then well expect their exchange of views on a possibility of the meeting. What kind of time frame are we talking about . Currently we dont have any hints for the dates, unfortunately. Are we talking weeks, months, do you think . We hope. No, i dont think weeks. Of course, i mean, hes the president of the
United States<\/a> and first of all, hes preoccupied with american business. Its like all president s. You ask me, what are we going to do tomorrow, during the inauguration, we are going to be preoccupied with russian affairs. Because they are the issue of priority for
President Putin<\/a>. Its not coming weeks. But lets hope for the best that this meeting could take place coming month. Coming months . And to be clear about it,
President Putin<\/a> would like the earliest possible meeting with mrtrump . I have no doubt mr putin will be ready for that, yes. One interesting point, just yesterday, it was announced here in russia that
Edward Snowden<\/a> was given a couple more years of residency here. Some people say that one way to warm up relations quickly would be for mr putin to, in essence, give
Edward Snowden<\/a> to the incoming
Trump Administration<\/a> as some sort of show of goodwill. In america they want to put him on trial. Donald trump has made it plain that he personally believes that
Edward Snowden<\/a> should be punished for the release of secret information. Edward snowden is a human being that can face a
Death Penalty<\/a> in the
United States<\/a>, because its one of the few countries that still exercises
Death Penalty<\/a>. Youll never extradite him, is that what youre saying . This is a decision that can be taken by our
Immigration Authorities<\/a> or
President Putin<\/a>. I dont know. But hes not a toy to be presented. Hes a human being. Lets talk about nato, as we go round the themes that are going to be presented to trump and putin as they consider their relationship. Donald trump has said nato is obsolete. Hes also said nato is very important to him. His generals tell him that russia poses a direct threat, the way that youve massed both weaponry, material, and man power on natos eastern flank. Are you prepared to show, again, good faith by, for example, pulling your missiles out . It is very complicated issue. You cannot just withdraw with those missiles from there without knowing that plans for creating entire russian, entire
Missile System<\/a> will be abolished on the european continent. Just one final point on diplomacy, again about dialogue, its about syria. It is very notable that in your initiative with the turks to get some sort of dialogue going between the government and the rebels, which led to the ceasefire, the americans werent involved at all. Now there are more peace talks scheduled for kazakhstan next week. Do you definitely want the americans, under the new
Trump Administration<\/a>, to be involved, to be big players alongside you and the turks . Well, definitely we would welcome that. We would welcome that. Situation is very complicated. You know that the, also there is iran, like a very important player in syrian issue. The iranians say the americans wont be there. The iranians are not welcoming the americans. Its a very complicated issue for a very careful play. You and i in previous conversations have gone into great detail about accusations that russia has committed human rights violations, some say war crimes in its military activities in syria. One simple question on this since we last spoke, the
Un General Assembly<\/a> has voted to establish an investigative body to collect, consolidate and preserve, they say, evidence and prepare cases on war crimes and human rights abuses. Will you cooperate with that un investigation . I have no doubt, yes. Should it be started and what will be the composition of that. Your people at the un were gravely sceptical it should be started in the first place. Youre saying, weve decided we are going to fully cooperate. No, we havent decided. Theoretically, i say, theoretically, we would welcome those investigations. A final thought, i want to take it away from the
International Arena<\/a> to the domestic arena. I just spoke to perhaps the leading voice in opposition to
President Putin<\/a> in this country today, a man who has declared he wants to run in the president ial elections in 2018 against putin. He said to me, you know why putin fights these wars, why he is projecting russias power in different arenas around the world, he is trying to distract the russian people from what is going on inside their own country, the millions and millions condemned to live in poverty, the systemic corruption, which is seeing a tiny elite at the top, enriching themselves on the back of the majority of russians who see no growth, no prosperity. Thats what hes going to campaign on. That is going to cause you and your boss a great deal of trouble. Well, you know, unfortunately, we have a very weak opposition in our country. I wonder why that is. Could it be because theyre not allowed access to
State Television<\/a> for example . No, its not about
State Television<\/a>. You have modern media and viewership of television is diminishing day by day. In russia today, if you switch on the tv and you want to find an opposition voice it is almost impossible. The american president is winning elections using twitter. In order to be a successful opposition, you have to be sustainable. You have to have a programme of development of the country. You also have to be allowed a semblance of freedom. You have to be a person not at risk of being assassinated as
Boris Nyemtsov<\/a> was. Unlike alexei novalny, whose brother is in prison and he is on trumped up charges, you need the freedom to build a political movement. You know as well as i do, in russia today, thats impossible. Why dont you think that theyre not fair charges . Because the
European Court<\/a> of human rights has declared that they are political and it said that they were illegitimate. We dont agree with that. You dont agree with the
European Court<\/a> of human rights when they analysed the evidence . I would rather trust our own court. We do have much more confidence in our own court system. Do you read alexei novalnys anticorru ption foundation website. Once in a while, yes. Youd have seen your own name. Yes, most frequently. He wants to know how come a guy like you, a
Public Servant<\/a> on a not bad, but modest salary, how come you live in a villa, which hes pleased to show me, which is worth, he says, 15 million and the very famous watch of yours worth \u00a3400,000. Try to double check that with a different real estate agent. Try to double check that. Do you want to tell me how much your villa is worth . Im happy to take your estimate. If were here to discuss the cost of my villa, i hope its quite expensive. Were almost out of time. We have to wrap this up. Putin up for re election in 2018, can you guarantee to me that
Alexei Novany<\/a> will at least be allowed to run and challenge putin . Im not head of central election committee. I cant guarantee that or not guarantee that. So thats why im not entitled to make these kind of statements. Do you believe it would be best for russia if an
Opposition Leader<\/a> like him were allowed to run against putin . I think it would be best for russia if we have a serious opposition with a serious approach, with experienced professionals and politicians trying to compete with acting power in the face of
President Putin<\/a>, who is being supported by 90 of this population. Im taking from that last answer that theres no question
President Putin<\/a> will run for another term in 2018 . You know, we. It was our first interview and i told you it was 2004, i think, or whenever. Im not quite that old on hardtalk. As a citizen of the russian federation, i hope he will take a decision to run. We have to end there. Dmitry peskov, thank you very much for being on hardtalk. Thank you, it was my pleasure. Some pretty stark contrasts in
Weather Conditions<\/a> for part two some places got some glorious sunshine, albeit cold, with a frost. Some areas hold on to the cloud, the mist and some areas hold on to the cloud, the mistand murk some areas hold on to the cloud, the mist and murk as well. Through the course of the night it will turn dry in central areas, with light rain, sleet and snow. Then we have a fairly widespread frost developing. When you hold on to the cloud temperature staying above freezing, and fog will become a problem. Becoming expensive across england and wales. It will be freezing for many, certainly across central and south eastern parts. Likely to cause problems for the monday morning commute. Travel disruption as well. Keep tuned to local radio and head online before you head off. Take it easy on the roads. It could be quite dense in places. Freezing fog as well. There will be some spot where the four point the effect them. Sunshine through the morning as well. Patchy fog further north and generally for scotland and
Northern Ireland<\/a> it is looking dry, with clear spells and sunshine. Through the day that fog will tend to clear, at it maybe may be stubborn to lift. For much of the country it is pretty good through monday. A lot of dry weather, light winds and sunshine. 4 6, but colder than that with the fog. On tuesday at the repeat performance. Freezing fog patches to stop the morning. Some of it could be slow to clear. A bit of sunshine developing. Further north and west of it for change. The winds picking up from the south west, maybe the odd spot of light rain. Temperatures just reaching double figures, so a bit milder, it still cold across south eastern areas. Through the course of the week the fog will clear as the winds pick up will stop it will be cold at first. By will stop it will be cold at first. By the weekend it should turn milder foremost. Hello, youre watching bbc world news. Im adnan nawaz. Our top story this hour after six years of civil war, what next for syria . With large parts of the country in ruins and millions displaced, talks aimed at resolving the conflict are due to begin shortly. Welcome to the programme. Our other main stories this hour claims in the gambia that 11 million of state money is missing after the departure of long time leader yahya jammeh. We have a special report. This is what democracy in africa can look like. A dictatorial leader peacefully leaving the country after a general election. The white house begins talks to move the us embassy in israel from tel aviv to jerusalem. Im sally bundock. In business nothing wrong with the phones","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801900.us.archive.org\/19\/items\/BBCNEWS_20170123_043000_HARDtalk\/BBCNEWS_20170123_043000_HARDtalk.thumbs\/BBCNEWS_20170123_043000_HARDtalk_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240627T12:35:10+00:00"}