Revealed: Trump and Putin’s $12 trillion partnership plan & wargaming a Russian attack on NATO with Lt Gen Ben Hodges, former commander of US Army Europe
Ukraine: The Latest
Louisa Wells / Francis Dearnley
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day 1,446.
Today, in a rare public outburst against the Trump administration, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accuses the United States of “backtracking” on the so-called Anchorage Agreement, under which Washington allegedly agreed to pressure Ukraine into ceding parts of the Donbas that Russian forces have failed to capture after nearly four years of war. We examine President Zelensky’s comments suggesting that a new White House peace deadline may be linked to Donald Trump’s US midterm election campaign, and report on how Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is seeking to leverage the war in Ukraine to shore up domestic political support. And later, we speak to the former commander of US forces in Europe, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, about the state of the war and how prepared Europe and NATO are for a potential Russian move on the Suwałki Gap.
Contributors
Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.
Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.
With thanks to Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges (former commander of US forces in Europe). @general_ben on X.
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CONTENT REFERENCED:
A small Russian force could break Nato, it’s being said. As a US general, here’s my take (Ben Hodges in The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/05/russian-wargame-nato-defeat-suwalki-gap-general-ben/
Russia offered US £9tn co-operation deal, Zelensky says (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/07/us-gives-june-deadline-peace-ukraine-russia/
Would the US military obey Trump on Greenland? US General Ben Hodges answers (Battle Lines episode):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mcz_bDmXjE
The German wargame (Die Welt):
Russia accuses US of backing out of alleged Ukraine territory surrender agreement (The Telegraph):
https://kyivindependent.com/russia-accuses-us-of-backing-out-of-alleged-ukraine-surrender-agreement/
Washington Post GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-washington-post-international-employees
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.5 | I'm Domnickles and this is Ukraine the latest. |
| 0:13.0 | Today, in a rare outburst against the Trump administration, |
| 0:16.3 | Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the US of backtracking |
| 0:19.9 | on the mythical anchorage |
| 0:21.4 | agreement whereby the US had apparently agreed to force Ukraine to seed parts of the Dombas |
| 0:26.5 | Russian forces have been unable to take in nearly four years of war. We look at President Zelensky's |
| 0:32.3 | comments that a new deadline from the White House for Peace could be linked to Donald Trump's |
| 0:36.6 | midterm elections campaign, |
| 0:37.9 | and we report how Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban is trying to leverage the war as a means of galvanising his own political support. |
| 0:45.9 | And later, we interview former commander of US forces in Europe, retired General Ben Hodges, about the war, |
| 0:52.0 | and how prepared Europe and NATO might be |
| 0:54.4 | for a sudden Russian push into the Svalky gap. |
| 0:58.3 | Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory. |
| 1:08.1 | The Russian does not want peace. |
| 1:09.9 | First, we're fighting with our help for the Ukraine |
| 1:12.6 | also our freedom and our European |
| 1:17.6 | Writers. |
| 1:18.6 | If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours. |
| 1:22.6 | We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years. |
| 1:31.8 | We can't, as European, let's be gained the Russia in Ukraine. |
| 1:33.6 | Nobody's going to break us. |
... |
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