Will a Trump-Putin summit lead to a ceasefire?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 August 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The US deadline for Russia to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine has expired, but the prospect of new secondary tariffs has been overshadowed by a mooted meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, in what would be their first face-to-face encounter since 2019. President Trump also appeared to confirm reports on Friday that the US is poised to bilaterally agree a ceasefire deal allowing Russia to retain occupied territory. So are we closer than ever to a frozen conflict without a political resolution? And have Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine been kept in the dark?
Lucy and Vitaly are joined by the BBC’s chief presenter in Washington, Sumi Somaskanda, and our New York business correspondent, Michelle Fleury, to discuss where we stand and what could come next.
Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus, Polly Hope and Chris Flynn. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Donald Trump has been promising to end the war in Ukraine since before he returned to office. |
| 0:10.4 | From his first 24 hours to 100 days and beyond, the US president has been consistent in his message that Russia's invasion would never have happened on his watch. |
| 0:20.6 | But public assurances that Vladimir Putin |
| 0:22.5 | is somebody he can do business with have gradually made way to threats of sanctions, and we've even |
| 0:27.6 | seen some nuclear posturing. So far, protracted peace talks have led to little more than prisoner swaps, |
| 0:34.0 | but we did see talks this week between the Russian president and the US special |
| 0:38.0 | invoice Steve Wittkoff, and the Kremlin now says that a face-to-face meeting between Trump |
| 0:42.9 | and Putin could be just days away. And we've also got reports suggesting that the US is |
| 0:48.5 | poised to agree a deal that would allow Russia to retain occupied territory in exchange for a ceasefire. |
| 0:55.0 | So does Moscow now feel insulated from further material pressure? |
| 0:59.2 | And if President Zelensky and Ukraine been kept in the dark? |
| 1:02.9 | We're recording this episode on August 8th, the original ceasefire deadline, |
| 1:07.3 | to talk about where we stand and what could come next. |
| 1:10.4 | That's all to come on Ukrainecast. |
| 1:12.6 | Ukraine cast from BBC News. |
| 1:15.1 | Life is not safe in Ukraine, nowhere in Ukraine. |
| 1:18.0 | We've had three years of bloody conflict now. |
| 1:20.0 | We need to get to that lasting peace. |
| 1:22.1 | We hope we can finish this war this year. |
| 1:25.2 | President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker. |
| 1:29.3 | Biden will just enemy. |
... |
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