Trump touts progress towards peace deal
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 August 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Trump has said he, along with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, have determined that a peace agreement was preferable to a ceasefire in the conflict between the two warring nations.
The announcement comes after Mr Trump's high-profile summit in Alaska with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin ended without an agreement.
We'll hear a Ukrainian response to the sight of President Putin being given a red carpet welcome in Alaska and get reaction fom the foreign minister of the Czech Republic.
Also in the programme: Violent clashes erupt in Serbia's capital after demonstrations by pro-government and anti-corruption groups; and we mark 80 years since the publication of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
(Photo shows US.president Donald Trump at a press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska,on 15th August 2025. Jeenah Moon/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service coming to you live from London. I'm Julian Warwicka. |
| 0:10.8 | Well, it was a long journey for both men, but after three hours of face-to-face talks in Alaska, President Trump and Putin didn't succeed in bringing peace to Ukraine. |
| 0:21.0 | A summit which President Trump said in advance had only a 25% chance of failure |
| 0:26.3 | was big on memorable images but light on specific progress. |
| 0:31.1 | As the two men departed that most remote part of the United States, |
| 0:34.8 | a place that Russian officials liked to remind people was once part |
| 0:38.4 | of Russia until its 19th century sail to America. The war in Ukraine, which has raged for three |
| 0:44.6 | and a half years with the loss of tens of thousands of lives, goes on. Tom Bateman, the BBC |
| 0:50.1 | State Department correspondent, was following events in Alaska. |
| 1:05.4 | American firepower was being flexed in the Alaskan skies, a B-2 stealth bomber blasting its way over the airbase. |
| 1:12.8 | But on the ground, it was the warmest of greetings for Vladimir Putin, a red carpet welcome, even a presidential applause from Mr. Trump for the architect of the Ukraine war. The moment melted the freeze |
| 1:19.8 | the U.S. had imposed on Russia's place in the world, a gift from President Trump to his |
| 1:25.0 | counterpart on U.S. soil. The press pool, at least, were still asking the tough questions to Mr. Putin. |
| 1:31.4 | Mr. Putin, will you agree to a sea fire? |
| 1:34.4 | Mr. Putin, will you commit to not killing any more civilians? |
| 1:38.3 | But the Russian leader then got his one-to-one moment with Mr. Trump |
| 1:41.8 | in the back of his armored Cadillac, The Beast. |
| 1:45.5 | And then began there near three-hour meeting with two top advisors each. |
| 1:50.5 | Would Mr. Putin cede to Mr. Trump's demand for a ceasefire? |
| 1:54.4 | President of the United States of America and the President of the Russian Federation? |
| 1:58.4 | That question wouldn't be answered. |
| 2:01.9 | In the press room, the media was scrambled as the talks ended earlier than expected. |
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