Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Battleground Ukraine with me Patrick Bishop and Saul David.

Well, what a fascinating and dramatic week. It's been as we

looked to Washington for signs of how Ukraine's Titanic struggle with Russia might play out.

For it's clear that it's most likely there, rather than on the battlefield, that its fate will be

decided. Meanwhile, on the battlefield itself, the situation for Kiev is going from bad to worse,

where the Russians pressing forward inexorably, it would seem, on many fronts,

as Ukraine struggles with huge manpower problems and deepening exhaustion among its troops.

With all incoming President Donald Trump's key diplomatic military and security picks now known,

will be examining what this tells us of his intentions,

and whether there are grounds for hope or gloom.

So, Saul, let's run through them, shall we?

Well, we're talking here, of course, about Marco Rubio,

who'll likely take over a Secretary of State, chief foreign minister in effect.

Mike Walsh, not to be confused

with Kamala Harris's luckless running mate Tim Wals, who Trump has asked to be as National Security

Advisor, and Pete Hegsett, who is slated to be Defense Secretary.

The first thing to be said is that whether they came to Trump camp, the first thing to be

said is that whether they came to the Trump camp the first thing to be said is that whether they

came to the Trump camp early like Hegsa or late like Rubio, they are all now true believers. In a rare

admission of having been in error, Trump said that his big mistake in his first term was not to surround

himself with loyalists, hence the many defections and sackings that continually disrupted his

administration. Well, this lot, on the other hand, are now sworn Trumpists, all fully signed up to the

...