Q&A: Putin in China, EU aspirations and western escalation
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer have once again convened the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in Paris to consolidate proposals for post-war security guarantees for Ukraine. But as Europe looks to a hypothetical future, a growing alliance led by China is focused on a new era of global leadership which Xi Jinping says has already arrived. The Chinese president welcomed a host of world leaders this week, with none more notable than Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who is continuing his re-emergence on the diplomatic stage.
To answer your questions, Lucy and Vitaly are joined by the BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet. As US-led peace efforts continue to falter, they discuss the implications for Ukraine, with Russia’s non-western allies showing no sign of relinquishing either economic or political support for the ongoing invasion.
You can fill out our audience questionnaire here: bit.ly/ukrainecastfeedback
Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was 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 | Hello, Ukrainecast listeners. Before we get to today's episode, just a message to say it's your last chance to fill out our audience questionnaire. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, this is your opportunity to let us know what you really think about the podcast, what you love, what you hate, what you want us to do more of, or perhaps less of. It's really easy to |
| 0:22.7 | complete. You can follow the link in our episode description or type the following straight into |
| 0:28.1 | your browser. Here it is. Bit.ly forward slash Ukrainecast feedback, one word. Bit.L.Y forward slash Ukrainecast feedback, one word. |
| 0:42.3 | Bit.ly forward slash Ukrainecast feedback. |
| 0:47.6 | But hurry, it closes just before midnight this Sunday, the 7th of September. |
| 0:48.5 | Thank you. |
| 0:53.1 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:58.6 | It's 1,289 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 1:02.9 | And this week, Xi Jinping welcomed more than 30 world leaders to China. |
| 1:09.9 | Headliner Tandhi, Vladimir Putin, joining his counterparts from India, North Korea and Iran on the red carpet, in stark contrast to his continued shunning |
| 1:13.0 | by much of the West. And as Donald Trump fielded speculation about his health at home, a recorded |
| 1:18.8 | conversation about immortality between President's Putin and C provided quite the metaphor for |
| 1:24.8 | the latter's view of a new world order without America at the helm. |
| 1:31.3 | And C's critique of what he called block confrontation and bullying has been interpreted as the clearer sign yet |
| 1:37.3 | that Beijing remains aligned with Moscow's view on a war it has long been accused of propping up. |
| 1:43.3 | Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron and Sakeir Stama convened Europe's Coalition of the Willis Moscow's view on a war it has long been accused of propping up. |
| 1:49.0 | Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron and Sakeir Stama convened Europe's Coalition of the Willing in Paris, |
| 1:52.9 | but as they preach on the importance of post-war security guarantees, |
| 1:57.2 | many in Ukraine say this is irrelevant if Russia won't make peace. |
| 2:01.6 | So to the past few days serve as further proof that the world's diplomatic cogs no longer turn at the will of the West. And what does that mean for Ukraine? |
| 2:07.5 | As always, the team are here to answer your questions on that and more on Ukrainecast. |
| 2:13.5 | Ukraine cast from babies and use. Life is not safe in Ukraine, nowhere in Ukraine. |
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