Q&A: Peace deadlines, US sanctions and Russia's threat to Finland
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2025
⏱️ 22 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Does Trump understand Putin’s motives? Can Western sanctions actually threaten Russia’s economy? Are Russian troops really amassing at Finland’s border - and how worried should we be about that?
Those are some of the questions you’ve sent us in over the last week and in this episode, Lucy and Vitaly are joined by James and BBC news presenter Sumi Somaskanda to try and answer them.
Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producer was Laurie Kalus. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. 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. It's 1,184 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.0 | It's Thursday. It's the day when we get the opportunity to try and answer your questions on the conflict. |
| 0:15.4 | So much hope was pinned on President Trump's two-hour phone call with President Putin on Monday afternoon, |
| 0:20.7 | but has that call really brought us any closer to the end of the war? |
| 0:24.4 | We'll attempt to answer that and much more in today's episode of Ukrainecast. |
| 0:28.8 | Ukraine cast from BBC News. |
| 0:31.3 | Life is not safe in Ukraine, nowhere in Ukraine. |
| 0:34.4 | We've had three years of bloody conflict now. |
| 0:36.4 | We need to get to that lasting peace. |
| 0:38.5 | We hope we can finish this war this year. |
| 0:41.6 | President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Zucker. |
| 0:45.6 | Biden was just enemy. |
| 0:47.1 | Trump is a rival. |
| 0:48.5 | Ukrainians will pay lives for this decision. |
| 0:50.6 | You're gambling with World War III. |
| 0:53.8 | Hello, it's Lucy Hawkins in the Ukrainecast Studio. |
| 0:57.0 | This is Vitaly Shavchenko, also in the Ukraine Car Studio. |
| 1:00.2 | And it's James Waterhouse here in Kiev. |
| 1:02.7 | And with us in the Ukraine Car Studio today is Summerskanda, who is also an anchor for BBC |
| 1:08.4 | News in Washington. |
| 1:09.7 | What are you doing here with us in London, Sumi? |
| 1:11.9 | I wanted to test to see if the chairs are as comfortable over here as they are in the DC studio. |
... |
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