The war in Ukraine, four years later
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US software stocks were hit with a fresh burst of selling on Monday as investors fretted that AI will upend the industry, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz heads to China this week to discuss trade. Plus, the FT’s Ben Hall explains where things stand in the Ukraine war four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Mentioned in this podcast:
US software and private capital shares hit with fresh wave of selling
What Friedrich Merz is going to tell Xi Jinping
Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Donald Trump to see through Russia’s ‘games’
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Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Victoria Craig and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry. Additional help from Michela Tindera, Gavin Kallmann, and Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Tuesday, February 24th, and this is your FT News briefing. |
| 0:08.7 | U.S. tech stocks started the week off on the wrong foot, and German Chancellor Friedrich Meritz |
| 0:13.6 | heads to China to meet with President Xi Jinping. Plus, we'll take a look at the state of the Ukraine |
| 0:18.7 | war four years later. |
| 0:23.2 | They have been remarkably resilient. |
| 0:30.0 | It is not an understatement to say that this full-scale invasion has been the making of Ukraine as a nation. |
| 0:33.7 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. If you think your 2026 is off to a rough start, looking at U.S. tech might make |
| 0:47.5 | you feel better. The NASDAQ composite fell about 1 in a 10th percent yesterday. Software stocks like |
| 0:53.3 | Workday, Crowd crowd strike, and |
| 0:54.9 | Datadog took the brunt of it. And private capital firms tied to software were hit too. |
| 1:00.0 | Aries, KKR, Apollo, and Blackstone all had significant falls. |
| 1:04.4 | Investors continue to worry that artificial intelligence will upend the software industry. |
| 1:09.6 | And yesterday's sell-off came after the CEO of American |
| 1:12.3 | asset manager Franklin Templeton told the F.T., quote, you really have to question if enterprise |
| 1:17.6 | software companies can thrive. U.S. stocks initially fell on Monday after President Donald Trump |
| 1:23.5 | imposed a new 15% tariff. The Supreme Court ruled last week his previous policy was unlawful. |
| 1:30.2 | Investors moved into safer assets yesterday, yields on 10-year treasuries, fellow smidge, and gold |
| 1:35.6 | rallied more than 2%. |
| 1:36.9 | German Chancellor Friedrich Merits is off on a diplomatic visit to Beijing this week. |
| 1:47.8 | He's set to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. |
| 1:50.8 | And the hope for Germany is that Merits will establish some sort of balance with its long-time trade partner. |
| 1:56.9 | I'm joined by Anne Sylvain Chasney, the FTs Berlin Bureau Chief. |
... |
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