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entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. Hello and welcome to the second battleground podcast of 2024 with me, Saul David and Patrick Bishop.

As the war in Ukraine descends to a tip-for-tat of missile and drone strikes, the majority,

needless to say, fired from Russia.

The New York Times has published an extraordinary op-ed by a member of its editorial board

calling for Ukraine to engage in negotiations with and cede territory to Russia after reports

emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using back channels and

intermediaries to signal his interest in a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, our own Times newspaper has a fascinating piece which suggests a change in strategy

by the West in Ukraine.

It quotes a senior Whitehall official saying that Britain and other European countries are, quote,

cranking through the gears to ensure they can help Ukraine win its war against Russia without the US

should Donald Trump get into power. The same source insists that some in the UK government

believe that all that is needed to win against Putin is time and Europe needs to be

ready to push on without US support. We'll discuss the significance of all this and the latest

news from Gaza. But first of all, what have you learnt about these missile and drone strikes?

Well, the trigger seems to have been the sinking of the Russian amphibious ship

by Storm Shadow missiles that we mentioned last week. Russia responded on the 29th of December

...