The Lavrov interview
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 June 2022
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the face of President Putin’s Russia, insists that his country didn’t invade Ukraine in a rare interview with the BBC. Victoria and Vitaly unpick the interview with Patricia Lewis, Director of the International Security Programme at Chatham House. She also tells us about the significance of Ukraine getting a step closer to European Union membership. Is this purely symbolic? And we hear from Joy, the fiancée of a US former marine, reported missing in Ukraine. Today’s episode was produced by Alix Pickles, Osman Iqbal and Clare Williamson. The technical producer was Emma Crowe and the editor was Jonathan Aspinwall.
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 0330 1239480.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | It's been 114 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:11.2 | And some very high profile visitors have been to Kiev. |
| 0:14.8 | The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Romania. |
| 0:18.8 | And they met President Zelensky and some of them were taken to Elpin |
| 0:23.4 | and shown the destruction there. |
| 0:26.7 | And this is a bit of their reaction. |
| 0:29.7 | Ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues and I have come to Kiev today |
| 0:35.0 | with a clear message Ukraine belongs to the European family. |
| 0:40.3 | One Russian talk show dismissed it as part of a program arranged by President |
| 0:45.6 | Zelensky's travel agency. |
| 0:47.8 | From President Zelensky's point of view, though, |
| 0:50.4 | to have the leaders of those European nations in his capital, |
| 0:55.7 | in the country that is being attacked by its neighbor. |
| 0:59.6 | I mean, that's quite a big deal, isn't it? |
| 1:01.6 | It does a big deal. |
| 1:02.7 | And the three leaders have to say they have a bit of a reputation in Ukraine. |
| 1:07.9 | The French President, the German Chancellor, and the Italian Prime Minister. |
| 1:14.6 | They've seen as kind of dizziness as far as helping Ukraine is concerned. |
| 1:19.7 | President Macron, famously, informously said that you shouldn't |
| 1:23.7 | humiliate President Putin, there's been fierce criticism |
| 1:28.8 | of Olaf Schultz, the German Chancellor in Ukraine, |
... |
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