if no candidate wins more than 50% in the first round. but with many of mr putin s opponents unable to run, it seems inevitable that vladimir putin will be re elected without the need for that second ballot. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is following developments in moscow. vladimir putin has been in power a long time, right, 25 years almost as president or prime minister. and he s expected to win a fifth presidential term. now, this whole event, this three day event, which starts today, is being presented by the russian authorities almost as a celebration of democracy. the kremlin just a few days ago described russian democracy as the best democracy in the world. critics of the kremlin would disagree and would say that this poll is neither free nor fair nor transparent. vladimir putin does not face a major challenge. there are three other candidates on the ballot paper, but his most vocal critics, his fiercest opponents, are either in exile or in prison, which kind of
but in putin s russia, even laying flowers can be risky, if you re doing it in memory of his biggest opponent. whenever anger or upset have boiled over, police have moved in. hundreds of people have been arrested across the country, dragged away by police who have cleared the streets. this is the russia that alexei navalny and his supporters wanted to change, but three years ago, he was poisoned with a nerve agent, then he was locked up. the last time the politician was seen alive, he was defiantly cheerful. this was him on video link from prison to a court hearing and there were no obvious signs of sickness. inside the arctic prison, he was spending weeks on end in solitary confinement. the authorities say he collapsed suddenly. the cause the cause of his death is still unknown. and when navalny s mother arrived to collect his body, she not find her son. the body of alexei navalny is not there, so alexei s prison just lied to his lawyer and his mother that the body is there
ambassador vasily nebenzya, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. ambassador, i want to begin with some words said recently by the uk foreign minister, david cameron. he said this: the lights are flashing red right across the global dashboard. it is hard to think of a time when there s been so much danger, insecurity, instability in the world. would you agree with him on that? i would. and where do you see the instability at its most dangerous? the most pressing thing today is, of course, the middle east. you cannot deny it. it s obvious. it is a conflict that is fraught with the regional conflagration, potential global conflagration. you see what s happening what has been happening in recent days. you have seen what s been happening in the red sea with the us aggression on yemen, with the recent us plus uk aggression on iraq and syria, the situation on the northern border of israel with lebanon. so, the middle east may explode, unfortunately. i m looking at some of
welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. ambassador, i want to begin with some words said recently by the uk foreign minister, david cameron. he said this: the lights are flashing red right across the global dashboard. it is hard to think of a time when there s been so much danger, insecurity, instability in the world. would you agree with him on that? i would. and where do you see the instability at its most dangerous? the most pressing thing today is, of course, the middle east. you cannot deny it. it s obvious. it is a conflict that is fraught with the regional conflagration, potential global conflagration. you see what s happening what has been happening in recent days. you have seen what s been happening in the red sea with the us aggression on yemen, with the recent us was plus uk aggression on iraq and syria, the situation on the northern border of israel with lebanon. so, the middle east may explode, unfortunately. i m looking at some of your recent quotes. yo
ambassador vassily nebenzia, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen. ambassador, i want to begin with some words said recently by the uk foreign minister, david cameron. he said this: the lights are flashing red right across the global dashboard. it is hard to think of a time when there s been so much danger, insecurity, instability in the world. would you agree with him on that? i would. and where do you see the instability at its most dangerous? the most pressing thing today is, of course, the middle east. you cannot deny it. it s obvious. it is a conflict that is fraught with the regional conflagration, potential global conflagration. you see what s happening what has been happening in recent days. you have seen what s been happening in the red sea with the us aggression on yemen, with the recent us plus uk aggression on iraq and syria, the situation on the northern border of israel with lebanon. so, the middle east may explode, unfortunately. i m looking at some of