Ukraine attends peace talks, Russia sends a junior team
Newshour
BBC
4.4 • 984 Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he's still ready for talks with Russia's President Putin, but that Moscow is not serious about negotiations. He was speaking in Turkey, where he's met President Erdogan. Mr Zelensky accused Russia of disrespecting Turkey and the United States by sending a comparatively low- level delegation to Istanbul for talks, after Mr Putin decided not to attend. Mr Zelensky said he'd nevertheless send a delegation there, led by his defence minister.
Also in the programme: More deadly Israeli airstrikes in Gaza - more than 100 people killed; and President Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship is heard in the US Supreme Court.
(Photo: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: Getty)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesbby. |
| 0:10.0 | Today, May the 15th was chosen by Russia's President Vladimir Putin as the day for direct talks with Ukraine. |
| 0:18.7 | When a serious effort would be made to end the war, he said, |
| 0:22.4 | he even chose the host and the venue, Turkey. This proposal was rather dramatically unveiled |
| 0:28.1 | in an unscheduled late-night TV address to the nation last weekend. Ukraine's President |
| 0:34.2 | Volodymyr Zelensky pledged early on that he would show up in person. |
| 0:38.5 | Mr Putin never confirmed whether or not he would attend, |
| 0:42.0 | but when the day arrived, Moscow decided to send an insultingly low-level delegation to Istanbul. |
| 0:49.4 | A rather bad-tempered-looking President Zelensky had this comment for reporters early this morning. |
| 0:56.5 | President Zernerz, Skyny, do you have a message for Blackburn, I'm here? |
| 1:01.5 | I think this is very clear message. |
| 1:05.8 | Thank you. |
| 1:06.8 | Thank you very much. |
| 1:19.4 | Well, earlier in the week, U.S. President Donald Trump floated the possibility that even he might arrive in Turkey for the talks. |
| 1:29.7 | But he didn't. And today, when asked by the BBC on board Air Force One, whether he'd been disappointed by the level of the delegation Russia was sending to the talks. Mr. Trump seemed unaware of who Russia had sent. |
| 1:33.5 | I know nothing about a delegation. I haven't even checked. |
| 1:36.4 | Look, nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together, okay? |
| 1:40.7 | And obviously, he wasn't going to go. He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. |
| 1:44.5 | He wasn't going if I wasn't there. And I don't believe anything's going to happen, |
| 1:48.8 | whether you like it or not, until he and I get together, but we're going to have to get |
| 1:52.2 | it solved because too many people are dying. Well, today Mr. Zelensky insisted that he's still |
| 1:57.4 | ready for peace talks, but he said Moscow is not serious about negotiations. |
... |
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