Q&A: Frozen assets, the Baltic Sea, and a fresh ceasefire push
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 October 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After an EU decision to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine was postponed until December, discussion among European leaders returned to plans for a ceasefire this week. And the latest example of so-called nuclear 'sabre-rattling' by Vladimir Putin, forced Donald Trump to respond with a vague commitment of his own to resume US nuclear testing for the first time in decades.
On this edition of Ukrainecast, Jamie and Vitaly are joined by BBC Verify's Olga Robinson and senior digital journalist Laura Gozzi, to answer your questions. Could Denmark and Sweden police the Baltic Sea? What happened to the Russian dam targeted by Ukraine? And are Russians facing discrimination from authorities in Europe?
Today’s episode is presented by Jamie Coomarasamy and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Julia Webster and Laurie Kalus. The technical producers were James Piper and Mike Regaard. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The series producer is Chris Flynn. 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. |
| 0:06.5 | Conspiracy theories really can impact the way the world works. |
| 0:10.0 | Disinformation, you think you're winning. |
| 0:12.3 | There could be a thousand deep face. |
| 0:14.0 | But it's because of you, we work 24-7 to verify the facts with digital tools and reporters on the ground. |
| 0:21.8 | BBC News, Moscow, Lecoeur, in the West Bank. |
| 0:24.6 | So, no matter how quickly disinformation spreads, we'll be ready. |
| 0:30.0 | The fight for truth is on. |
| 0:32.6 | Trust is earned. |
| 0:34.0 | This is our BBC. |
| 0:36.1 | It's 1,345 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:42.2 | And for months, we've been talking about political efforts to end the war, |
| 0:45.5 | both in public and behind the scenes. |
| 0:48.5 | But as European leaders prepared to revisit proposals for a ceasefire this week, |
| 0:53.5 | Volodymyr Zelensky characterised their |
| 0:55.5 | discussions as a plan merely to begin diplomacy. Really, has the Ukrainian president spelled out |
| 1:01.8 | so concisely his belief that Russia is yet to come to the table in good faith. A position recent |
| 1:07.8 | evidence suggests Donald Trump tends to share. |
| 1:11.6 | And following those surprise US sanctions, the EU had been expected to finally move |
| 1:16.4 | to mobilise 140 billion euros worth of frozen Russian assets |
| 1:21.2 | in the form of a so-called reparations loan. |
| 1:24.8 | But Belgium, which controls the bulk of the funds, seemingly got cold feet, and a |
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