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also expect the president to address russia s annexation of crimea? reporter: probably so just because this dominated the discussion so much. the g-7 meeting which was held as a part of the nuclear security summit wasn t really, the move wasn t originally part of the plan. it wasn t because of the esflepevents that happened in ukraine. suspending with the biggest economies in the world. russia was supposed to host in june in sochi. it is a big step. the question, though, is, specially among critics, will this have any effect? the u.s.ed administration, other countries repeatedly said, there is still a door open to discussion, to a diplomatic solution. there is a chance for deescalation. we can change things if russia decides to change course. for everything that has been said and all the talks that have been held, not only among western countries but talks with russia, nothing has changed that course. so it remains to be seen now what could constitute escalation for addition ....
factor here is the restoration of calm and direct dialogue. what we need now is on all sides in this matter, cool heads and really a calm approach to this. yes? thank you, martin. there are some reports that the leader of the radical opposition on the ukraine called for leader of chechen terrorists to support ukrainian opposition against russia. does the secretary general have anything to say on this development? look, there are all kinds of reports, some more credible than others. floating about in cyberspace. and i think that we continue to monitor these developments closely. we re aware of various reports but we re not going to comment on every individual one that pops up like that. yes? one follow-up. this is official. the governor of belgrade region in russia reported that there ar are thousands of ukraine fleeing into this region of russia. does the secretary general plan to discuss this issue with vladimir putinputin, maybe some support for the refugees from the u ....
so we haven t had a chance to digest it. but the attorney general in his confirmation hearings was very clear with a one-word answer when asked by a senator whether he had contact with the russians in any way, shape, or form. he said no, period. no condition, no modification. so obviously that turns out to not be accurate there is no reason to believe that jeff sessions in the confirmation hearing was trying to hide something. he may simply have forgotten. but it does mean two things. number one, it adds to the incredible weight of evidence that the administration is not credible on these issues. remember a couple of weeks ago when we heard that michael flynn was talking to the russian ambassador simply to wish him merry christmas. and of course that turns out not to be true. and michael flynn is no longer national security adviser. so this white house has a very, very significant credibility problem. and it s with respect to attorney general sessions, what this means, and again, ....
plus literally dialing up the rhetoric. president trump and president putin set to talk as counterpart tomorrow. but who s calling who? keir simmons in new york, kristen welker at the white house. big meeting today, big phone call tomorrow but it s the meeting that s not happening that s grabbing all the headlines, right? that s right. that meeting that was supposed to happen with the president of mexico which was cancelled yesterday after president trump insisted that mexico was going to pay for the wall, the president of mexico said not going to pay for the wall. that is something we have heard him say over and over again. then we learned he cancelled the meeting. president trump tried to cast it as a mutual decision. bottom line, this is a rift in a relation with one of the united states closest allies, its third largest trading partner. what happens next? the administration floating the idea of a possible 20% tax on imports from mexico and, hallie, for a very busy day. ....
another seems to open. enter, the new york times front page story of a secret plan by trump associates said to be backed by kremlin about the armed conflict with russian allied forces within its own borders. in other words, while the fbi s investigating an alleged back channel during the election between russia and the trump campaign, there may be another previously undisclosed back channel between russia and known trump associates. but before we dive into the times report, a little context. throughout the entire russia controversy, the president has repeatedly denied having any russian business ties. i own nothing in russia. i have no loans in russia. i don t have any deals in russia. russia is fake news. russia is fake news. but that s a relatively recent claim. in 2008, for instance, donald trump jr. told an interviewer, russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, say in dubai and certainly with our project in soho. we see a lot ....