Dmytro Kuleba on… understanding Trump and working for Zelensky
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 January 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dmytro Kuleba spent four years working as Ukraine’s foreign minister before he left his post in September 2024. In a revealing interview he talks about his time working for Volodymyr Zelensky, shares his views on the outgoing Biden administration and tells us whether incoming President Trump can really negotiate peace.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Ben Carter, Ryan Johnston and Clare Williamson. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sara Wadeson. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, it's |
| 0:02.0 | 1049 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.3 | Vitaly, happy new year. |
| 0:11.9 | Happy year, too, too. |
| 0:12.9 | It's the 7th of January, which is Orthodox Christmas. |
| 0:15.8 | What does that mean? |
| 0:16.8 | Do Ukrainians celebrate it? |
| 0:18.4 | Do Russians tell us more? |
| 0:19.7 | Well, both countries are Orthodox. |
| 0:22.3 | And both Russia and Ukraine used to celebrate Christmas together. |
| 0:26.9 | Well, today is Christmas Day, 7th of January. |
| 0:29.5 | And that all started to change after the start of the full-scale invasion |
| 0:34.7 | because so many believers in Ukraine felt it was wrong to celebrate |
| 0:41.2 | Christmas at the same time as Russia, especially because so many fellow Orthodox believers |
| 0:47.1 | outside of Russia and Ukraine celebrated in December. |
| 0:50.7 | So in 2023, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine decided, no, we are moving to December. |
| 0:58.8 | We're going to mark Christmas in December. |
| 1:01.1 | The government followed. |
| 1:02.3 | It's not a holiday in Ukraine anymore. |
| 1:05.1 | But some people are still marking it. |
| 1:07.7 | But it's clear to see why so many Ukrainians would want to distance themselves |
| 1:12.7 | away from the Russian tradition of celebrating Christmas in January, because the Orthodox Church |
... |
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