Crunch talks in Brussels on Russia's frozen assets
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.2 • 7.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
European Union leaders hold high-stakes negotiations over whether to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine's war effort. Belgium - where most of the assets are held - is under pressure to drop its opposition. Without the funds, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his country's drone production would have to be cut. Also: power cuts in major cities in Sudan are blamed on drone attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. A French doctor is jailed for life for poisoning dozens of patients. Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer prize-winning war reporter, dies at the age of 91. And FIFA links up with Netflix to launch a new football game, which won't need a console.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.2 | I'm Alex Ritson, and at 16 hours GMT on Thursday the 18th of December, these are our main stories. |
| 0:19.2 | EU leaders are told to choose between money today and blood tomorrow |
| 0:23.5 | as they debate giving frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. |
| 0:27.7 | We visit one of Ukraine's secret weapons factories now said to be making half of the arms used on the front line. |
| 0:34.9 | Australia marks the funeral of the youngest Bondi beach attack victim, 10-year-old Matilda. |
| 0:43.3 | Also in this podcast. |
| 0:46.2 | Hello and welcome to the FIFA 23 reveal trailer. |
| 0:50.7 | Football's world governing body, FIFA, partners with Netflix for a return to the world of video gaming. |
| 0:59.5 | We begin in Brussels, where crunch talks between European Union leaders are taking place as we record this podcast. |
| 1:07.2 | Top of the agenda is whether to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine's war effort. |
| 1:12.7 | Belgium, where most of Moscow's $245 billion worth of assets, opposes the move. |
| 1:19.4 | And Belgium isn't alone. Italy and Slovakia also expressed their doubts. |
| 1:24.7 | Shortly before the meeting began, Hungary's leader, Victor Orban, |
| 1:28.2 | who's very close to Russia's Vladimir Putin, gave his thoughts on the proposal. |
| 1:33.4 | The whole idea is a stupid one, to take away the money of somebody. There are two countries |
| 1:38.3 | which are in war. It's not European Union, Russia and Ukraine. And somebody, European Union, |
| 1:48.0 | would like to take away the money of one of the war with party. |
| 1:49.8 | And then to give it to another one. |
| 1:51.9 | It's a marching into the war. |
| 1:53.9 | So the Belgian Prime Minister is right. |
... |
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