Cnn newsroom. Im Paula Reid In Washington tonight in russia, president Vladimir Putin is proclaiming Russian Unity after polls closed in a three today president ial election, with no genuine Opponent Running against him. Putin is expected to win, keeping him in office until 2030 and continuing as russias longestserving leader since soviet dictator Joseph Stalin cnns Matthew Chance is in moscow matthew, what else did putin have to say tonight well, it was a, an extraordinary post election sort of makeshift Press Conference, Ad Hoc Press Conference that he gave two members of the press, the local press the Foreign Press as well. There were members, theyre asking various questions. He just finished giving his thank you speech to volunteers and to supporters in the auditorium, saying that the election victory, that the final results hasnt come in yet, but the election victory a represented essentially, and im paraphrasing him here. A mandate for his continued work in the country, which we
Other allies are directly at war with moscow. Lavrov also blamed the collapse of the black sea grain deal on ukraine. He further criticized kyiv s peace plan as not feasible or realistic. Heres mr lavrov addressing the Un General Assembly on saturday. Translation the collective west has a calling card and iti has long been to reject the principle of equality and their Total Inability to reach agreement. Being used to looking down at the rest of the world, americans and europeans make all sorts of promises and they take on commitments inter alia, written ones and legally binding ones, and then, theyjust dont fulfil them. As President Putin pointed out, the west is one that is truly an empire of lies. Russia, like many countries, knows about this firsthand. The bbc spoke to phillips obrien, professor of strategic studies at st andrews university. He said a lot was missing from mr lavrov s address. It was a speech that you would say really comes from a Point Of View of weakness on ukraine
But there are now questions over the future of the h52 project which had planned to connect london, the midlands and the north of england. The uk government says it would be crazy not to review the project given soaring costs due to the war in ukraine and a rise in inflation. Defence secretary, and former transport minister grant shapps told the bbc the government would need to make serious decisions on how affordable it is. The hs2 project was originally due to link london with manchester and leeds, via birmingham. There is speculation that the link between birmingham and manchester may be under threat as costs have increased significantly. The line to leeds has already been scrapped. For more, heres our political correspondent, jessica parker. Hs2 is this enormous rail project, and they actually already scrapped a bit of the leg of the line that would run up to leeds in the north of england, in yorkshire, and now there is also lots of Speculation Building that the government will pot
The United States and ukraines other allies are, quote, Directly At War with moscow. Lavrov also blamed the collapse of the black sea grain deal on ukraine. He further criticized kyiv s peace plan as, not feasible or realistic. Heres mr lavrov addressing the Un General Assembly on saturday. Translation the collective west has a calling card and its long been to reject the principle of equality and their Total Inability to reach agreement. Being used to looking down at the rest of the world, americans and europeans make all sorts of promises and they take on commitments, written ones and legally binding ones, and then they just dont fulfil them. As President Putin pointed out, the west is one that is truly an empire of lies. Russia, like many countries, knows about this first hand. My colleague Samantha Simmons spoke earlier to phillips obrien, professor of strategic studies at st andrews university. He said there was a lot missing from mr lavrov s address. You cannot mention the ukrain
Tonight, the coronavirus surging across the u. S. New numbers coming in. Almost 500,000 new cases since this time last week. The unpublished white house document suggesting 18 states in the virus red zone should roll back their reopenings. Hospitals pushed to the breaking point. Reinforcements on the way in florida. 100 nurses arriving to help in miami. Plus, this powerful moment showing the reality. A husband losing his wife of 30 years. Their son sharing their final video together. The mask debate raging in parts of the country. 28 states plus puerto rico with mandatory mask orders. Also breaking tonight, californias governor with his new decision, saying more than two dozen counties on a watch list may not be able to open
their classrooms at the start of the school year. The Testing Crisis in america. Our team shut out at eight different sites. Families waiting for hours to be tested at a stadium. People in Florida Waiting Up To 18 days for test results. Tonights other major headlin