No Putin, no Trump, but talks to begin?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Zelensky has said he's sending his defence minister to peace negotiations with Russia in Istanbul with Russia - but adds that Russia is "not serious" about "real talks".
With discussions between the two countries seemingly likely to happen in some form, is this progress? Are we on the path to peace? Lucy is joined by Vitaly in Istanbul and Lyse Doucet in Abu Dhabi.
Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus, Ben Carter, Samantha Granville and Kyla Hermannsen. The technical producer was James Piper. 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 1,177 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:11.1 | And throughout today, all eyes have been on Istanbul, |
| 0:14.0 | where hopes were beginning to fade of the first direct peace talks |
| 0:17.1 | between Russia and Ukraine since 2022. |
| 0:20.1 | But just a few hours ago, President Zelensky |
| 0:22.5 | said he would send a Ukrainian delegation led by his defense minister. |
| 0:26.2 | The priority is peace. The priority is ceasefire. The priority is to be here today. That's |
| 0:33.2 | why I'm here. And that's why I'm underlining it again and again the high level. |
| 0:38.6 | He was speaking in the Turkish capital Ankara after meeting with President Erdogan |
| 0:42.9 | and as we know, had offered to talk directly to President Putin about the possibility of brokering |
| 0:48.2 | peace. But the Russian leader never showed. Instead, sending a low-level delegation, actually described by President |
| 0:55.5 | Zelensky as stand-in props. They insist, though, they have full authority to negotiate. |
| 1:00.9 | So as we record in the early evening, it appears that talks between the two countries are going |
| 1:05.2 | to happen, at least in some form. So is this progress? Are we on the path to peace? We'll discuss that and more mixed |
| 1:13.0 | messages from the White House on this episode of Ukrainecast. Ukraine cast from BBC News. |
| 1:19.7 | Life is not safe in Ukraine, nor are in Ukraine. We've had three years of bloody conflict now. |
| 1:24.8 | We need to get to that lasting peace. We hope we can finish this war this year. |
| 1:30.0 | President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker. |
| 1:34.1 | Biden will just enemy Trump is a rival. |
| 1:36.9 | Ukrainians will pay lives for this decision. You're gambling with World War III. |
| 1:42.0 | Hello, this is Lucy Hawkins in the Ukraine cast studio. |
... |
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