You're listening to a special Ukraine edition of the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, we're recording this at 1330 GMT on Friday the 4th of April,

and we're joined by three BBC correspondents from Ukraine cast to answer your questions about the war in Ukraine.

Will the US be able to push Vladimir Putin into signing up to a ceasefire?

Could the Orthodox Church in both countries get involved? Does Russia have a point when it

blames the West for the conflict? And what does the future hold for European and global security?

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway from the Global News Podcast.

And I'm Vitaly Shavchenko, one of the hosts of the Ukraine cast.

And I'm Olga Robinson, a Russia expert at BBC Verify.

And this is Frank Gardner, the BBC's security correspondent.

Thanks all for joining us.

Let's kick off with the question many people are asking,

will the fighting stop anytime soon? Hello, BBC team. With regard to the battlefield, is not

it in Putin's interest to delay a complete ceasefire? Plus, could you explain what the positions

of Orthodox churches are, both in Ukraine and Russia,

in regard to the efforts to achieve a ceasefire?

Hi, I'm Julie from Preston.

A recent announcement from Russia of their largest mobilization in years, and the planned military exercises in Kalinagrad have further increased

my concerns that Russia has no plans of ending this war. Do you think this is an escalation,

and do you think Russia will ever agree to peace? Thanks Julie, and also to Frederick in Paris.

And before you guys answer, we also had an email from Sue asking about Kirill Demetriev's visit to Washington.

He's head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund and is actually under US sanctions.

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