Russia-Ukraine peace talks; Pete Hegseth’s security; how to live a good life; and more
The 7
The Washington Post
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 August 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Wednesday, August 20. The seven stories you need to know today.
If you're not a subscriber, click here to start.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The path to peace in Ukraine is uncertain. The rules are changing for teaching English in schools. |
| 0:10.3 | And it turns out life doesn't have to be happy or meaningful to be good. |
| 0:16.0 | That's some of what we'll get to on the 7 from the Washington Post. I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Wednesday, |
| 0:22.4 | August 20th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. |
| 0:30.3 | Number one. The White House laid out the next steps for Ukraine peace talks. |
| 0:37.2 | Last Friday, President Donald Trump met with Russian |
| 0:40.1 | President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European |
| 0:47.2 | allies met with Trump in Washington. So what happens next? Yesterday, White House Press |
| 0:53.9 | Secretary Caroline Levitt explained the plan. |
| 0:57.4 | Following the encouraging conversations yesterday, President Trump spoke with President Putin by phone, |
| 1:02.2 | and he agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process, a meeting between President Putin |
| 1:07.3 | and President Zelensky, which would be followed, if necessary, by a trilateral meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky, which would be followed, if necessary, by a trilateral |
| 1:11.9 | meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky, and President Trump. |
| 1:16.7 | So the White House sounds confident, but Russia has not confirmed any talks with Ukraine, |
| 1:23.2 | and it has played down expectations for a meeting. |
| 1:27.2 | Meanwhile, the sides remain far apart on key issues. |
| 1:31.5 | Russia is uneasy about any plans for the U.S. to guarantee Ukraine's security. |
| 1:37.5 | And Ukraine does not want to give up any territory in a deal. |
| 1:42.3 | President Trump spoke to Fox and Friends yesterday about his hopes for next |
| 1:46.3 | steps. I hope President Putin is going to be good. And if he's not, it's going to be a rough |
| 1:51.9 | situation. And I hope that Zelensky, President Zelensky, will do what he has to do. He has to show |
| 2:00.1 | some flexibility also. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.