Europe’s future, brought to you by Putin and Trump

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve gotta hand it to Donald Trump — even when you’re expecting him to surprise you, he still surprises you. The Unites States president once again caught Europe off guard with his plan to start Ukraine peace talks — after a call with Vladimir Putin. As the post-World War II order veers toward collapse, how many more surprises will it take before European leaders actually do something? POLITICO’s Veronika Melkozerova, Clea Caulcutt and Koen Verhelst join EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton to analyze how the EU is managing tensions on trade, tech and security. But it’s not all breakups: In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re talking to one of the duos on POLITICO’s list of Brussels Power Couples 2025: Members of the European Parliament Robert Biedroń and Krzysztof Śmiszek, who mix the personal and political in their fight for LGBTQ rights. And don’t miss the latest episode of our sister podcast, Power Play. Host Anne McElvoy sits down with Federico Sturzenegger, the right-hand man of Argentina’s president, Javier Milei. They discuss, among other topics, the Mercosur deal. It’s worth a listen, here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.5	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.5	From startups to scaleups, online, in person, and on the go.
0:22.0	Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you.
0:24.5	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:30.4	You gotta hand it to Donald Trump.
0:34.4	Even when you're expecting him to surprise you, he still surprises you.
0:40.3	I think we're on the way to getting peace, I think.
0:43.3	We kind of knew he was going to show some of his cards this week when it comes to Ukraine, but no one saw this coming.
0:50.3	President Putin wants peace and President Zelenskyy wants peace, and I want peace. I just want to see people stop getting killed.
0:58.3	On Wednesday evening, he declared direct U.S. Russia peace talks would begin immediately. And who had he called first?
1:05.4	We had a great call. Vladimir Putin.
1:08.5	And it lasted for... The conversation lasted for an hour and a half.
1:12.7	And only then did he circle back to Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky.
1:16.1	I also had with President Zelenskyy a very good call after that.
1:20.8	And it's clear that those peace talks will have significant losses for Keev as their starting point.
1:30.3	Trump's defense chief, Pete Hegsa, said explicitly that Ukraine won't be able to reclaim all
1:35.2	his territory.
1:36.5	Returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.
1:41.8	Won't be able to join NATO.
1:43.2	The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from POLITICO, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of POLITICO and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.