Is Ukraine on Trump's Nato agenda?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 June 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Nato leaders gather in the Hague, all eyes are on one man - President Trump. Member states have largely complied with his demand that they spend more on collective defence. But as Russia’s full-scale invasion continues, will his focus at this summit extend to Ukraine, or is he preoccupied with events in the Middle East?
For an insider perspective, we’re joined by the former US Permanent Representative to Nato, Julianne Smith. And two of our listeners from Nato’s newest members - Finland and Sweden - tell us how they feel about the threat from near neighbours, Russia. Today’s episode is presented by Jamie Coomarasamy and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus, Nik Sindle and Polly Hope. The technical producers were Mike Regaard and Ben Andrews. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. 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 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | It's 1,217 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.4 | And as we speak, international leaders are gathering in the Hague for what's being built as a crucial NATO summit. |
| 0:16.6 | We'll be talking more about that later. |
| 0:18.8 | But just before we do, I'm sure many of our listeners can relate to |
| 0:21.8 | a pretty frenetic afternoon at work with back-to-back meetings, probably some of them you wouldn't |
| 0:27.2 | mind skipping. The BBC, well, it's not much different here at New Broadcasting House, but in |
| 0:32.5 | yesterday's case, Vitaly, your schedule suddenly became a bit more frenetic, a bit more interesting, didn't it? |
| 0:39.7 | Yes. |
| 0:40.2 | Unexpectedly, I was invited to a meeting with President Zelensky. |
| 0:44.5 | He was visiting London. |
| 0:48.3 | On Monday, he had a busy schedule here ahead of his trip to The Hague. He met the king at Windsor Castle. |
| 0:58.6 | Then he met the prime minister, Kirstama, at 10 Downing Street. And then he spoke to a small |
| 1:08.5 | group of journalists at Chatham House. And of course, that conversation is covered by the Chatham House rule, |
| 1:15.6 | which means I can't tell you much about what he said. |
| 1:18.6 | However, I can tell you what he looked like and how he behaved. |
| 1:23.6 | I was really impressed by how cheerful he was. |
| 1:28.3 | Voldem Rosalensky was the most upbeat person in the room, I think. |
| 1:32.3 | He made jokes, he engaged with reporters. |
| 1:36.3 | And also, he was wearing what looked like a suit. |
| 1:40.3 | I've got a picture here. |
| 1:42.3 | It had a collar, it's a jacket, basically, |
... |
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