Global News Podcast - Trump and Putin to hold Ukraine peace talks on Tuesday

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Trump says he and Putin will discuss land, power plants and dividing up assets in Ukraine peace talks; Also: North Macedonia enters a week of mourning, and can DNA from endangered animals be used to save species?

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Andrew Peach and at 14h GMT on Monday 17th March these are our main stories. As Donald Trump prepares for talks with Vladimir Putin, the European Union warns Russia isn't interested in peace in Ukraine. Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney has broken with tradition by making his first overseas trip to Europe rather than the United States. Also in this podcast, as the authorities in North Macedonia question numerous suspects

over the deadly nightclub fire, what kind of help is being offered to the survivors and their families? Our staff and our volunteers were offering psychological support, best aid and other material support. The Kremlin has confirmed that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will talk tomorrow about ending the war in Ukraine. Its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, wouldn't say exactly what the two presidents would be talking about, although President Trump suggested that dividing land and power plants was now part of the conversation. I think we'll be talking about land. It's a lot different than it was before the wars, you know. We'll be talking about power plants. That's a big question. But I think we have

a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets and they've been working on that. Donald Trump speaking on board Air Force One. Our diplomatic correspondent James Landale is in Kyiv. I asked James if he was any the wiser about the conversation to come between President Trump and President Putin I think the way it's been portrayed

I think by diplomats is that this will be a conversation designed not to sign off any deal but to maintain momentum And maintain us pressure on the Russian side if you think about it Donald Trump has not spoken to Vladimir Putin for just over a month now, but since then in the last few days there's been quite a flurry of diplomacy. President Trump's envoy spoke to Mr. Putin in Moscow on Thursday, Russian diplomats have been contacting their counterparts over the weekend, and at the moment the Americans are putting up a

sort of determinedly, resolutely positive signals about the prospects of getting a ceasefire deal. But as far as we know, the Russians are still sticking hard to their guns. This morning, the Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grishko was very clear in saying that as part of a deal, they want Ukraine to be utterly neutral and completely outside of the NATO military alliance. Well, neutrality is something that Ukrainians made very clear they are not going to accept. So at the moment there is still a tension and a disagreement between the Americans who are saying let's have a fast quick ceasefire and then talk about the difficult stuff long term and the Russians who are saying no we need to

talk about all the difficult stuff in the round. The messages from the EU are almost the opposite, resolutely negative, talking about, you know, they don't really think that Russia wants peace and therefore this is all a bit of a sham. I think, yeah, their view is, it's not so much that it's a sham, but that at the moment that it's going to be very, very hard to get a deal agreed, because at the moment,

if you think about it, Vladimir Putin has failed in his war aims. His war aims were to achieve a Ukraine that was subordinate to Russia. He's failed to do that. Yes, he's taken some land in the East, but it's pretty marginal, incremental gains. And so the Americans are trying to say to him, look, you know, the only way you're going to achieve some of your aims is by diplomatic political means. That means a ceasefire. So you've got to start talking. But at the moment, Vladimir Putin, last week in his press conference with the Belarusian

leader, made it very clear that he has substantial differences of detail and also of substance that he would need to he says should be discussed in painstaking discussions before any agreement can be made ever any kind of short-term ceasefire and that means that the Russians and the Americans are still some way apart it will take concessions by both sides to get them closer. James Landau with me from Keefe. What are the chances of there being a new deal with Iran over its nuclear activities. President Trump in his first term in the White House dumped the previous deal. He's now written to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and it's being reported

that an Iranian official will meet the UN's nuclear chief in Vienna later on Monday. Our diplomatic correspondent Caroline Hawley told me more about what President Trump is thought to be proposing. He's after a deal, a deal on the nuclear deal that he pulled the US out of in 2018. And it's a really crunch moment for that deal. It's essentially moribund because the US pulled out of it, but there have been attempts to revive it. And it expires this year. It was negotiated over 20 months I believe under the presidency of Barack Obama but it is due to expire in October and at that point any sanctions that the signatories could put on Iran for not abiding by the terms of the deal will no longer be possible to use. So it's a key moment and there has been a flurry of recent diplomatic activity.

Three tracks, Iran and the IAEA, then Iran and European countries and Britain, actually four tracks. Then there were talks last week, last Friday in China with Iran and Russia and then finally you have this letter from Donald Trump delivered last Wednesday. We don't know the contents but there have been some interesting comments today from a foreign ministry spokesman in Iran saying that they're not going to release the contents. They will respond to it after proper scrutiny, but that the messages coming from the US are contradictory and inconsistent because the Americans are expressing readiness for dialogue

while also imposing new sanctions. But the message from Donald Trump that we know of because he's spoken about it in a television interview is negotiate or else. If you don't do a deal, there's the threat of military strikes so Iran has got a lot to think about. I find myself asking this question a lot at the moment why now for Donald Trump is he just because he wants to get on with everything really quickly along with all the other issues he's trying to address or is this about Iran being in a weakened position at the moment? It

certainly is in a weakened position because of those Israeli airstrikes last year which targeted air defences around the nuclear facilities and you know that the Israelis have lobbied for a long time for military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. Now they insist they are peaceful, but there is a huge amount of international concern, alarm even, at what the Iranians have been doing over the past few years. Experts say it would now take less than a week for the Iranians to enrich enough material for a single nuclear weapon. So that's a very short timeframe.

It would take them longer to actually weaponize it but they are enriching uranium at a very, very fast pace to 60%. You need 90% to build a bomb. But there is a huge amount of concern, so you've got a flurry of diplomatic activity. I mean, Donald Trump wants deals wherever he goes, doesn't he? But the Iranians do not like negotiating with a gun to their head. So let's see what happens. Our diplomatic correspondent Caroline Hawley. As we reported in a previous edition of this podcast, the US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order stripping back the federally funded news organisation Voice of America, accusing it of being anti-Trump and radical.

Now, just a day after they were put on paid leave, the 1300 employees who make up Voice of America's workforce have been told their contracts will be terminated at the end of the month. My colleague Victoria O'Unhunda has been talking to VOA's Chief National Correspondent Steve Harmon, who was suspended in February after his loyalty to President Trump's policies was called into question. I was sent a note on February 28th that said I was being suspended with pay while an investigation was to be carried out regarding my social media activity, which had come under some scrutiny. And there was a reference to an executive order that the President of the United States had signed a couple of weeks prior to that. to an executive order that the President of the United States had signed a couple weeks prior to that.

And that executive order talked about loyalty of foreign service officers, which I technically am under the US Agency for Global Media, to the President's policies. And those who were deemed not to be sufficiently loyal could be terminated. With VOA employees being now placed on paid leave for the time being, does that mean that you've stopped broadcasting? What's been happening on our 50 or so language services, which go out like BBC on radio, television, and the web, programming has begun to disappear. The website itself carrying

our news has not been updated since I think about Saturday midday. VOA has been around for 83 years. There were times during the 1950s when there was the so-called red baiting that went on looking for a communist in government, that VOA also faced such accusations. But we have operated under a charter, which makes very clear what our mission is, that we are to be an independent broadcaster, even though we're part of the federal government. And this is a law in the United States, which says we'll be consistently reliable and an authoritative source of news, and we must be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.

We will represent no single segment of America in society. I have met people here in the United States and in other countries who told me that they really got their first taste of freedom from listening or watching the voice of America. And it, in some cases, led to their decisions to defect from authoritarian countries. It's been very powerful and destroying VOA is being considered a national security issue, that it's one of the most effective instruments of American soft power and a bridge those who may never set foot on our soil but really understand our values because they heard them in one of the dozens of languages in which we broadcast or used

to broadcast in. Steve Harmon of Voice of America talking to Victoria O'Hunnder. Researchers from the University of Oxford have shown for the first time they can extract live tissue cells from the dung of an endangered animal. Scientists have taken living cells from mouse dung before. Now the Oxford team has done the same with elephant droppings, raising hopes the technique could eventually be used to help save endangered species. Professor Susanna Williams has been leading the research and spoke to Paul Henley. It's a real breakthrough because the potential to isolate these cells and the potential to use these cells has many, many opportunities which could be highly influential in conservation. So obtaining them from mice has been done, but developing technologies or rather methodologies and different ways of doing it to collect the cells from the elephant has been the real ability to do it because of course you're collecting these cells

from a very dirty environment. So be able to collect cells that are clean and you can keep them clean in culture and remove bacteria is really key. Tell us how you did it. Oh, it's a very dull, boring process but we've used lots of different techniques that involve washing and purifying and isolating and so it's just using a bit of a dilution out and a bit of technology so we can try and spin out the bacteria and isolate them. So the route potentially now is to differentiate these cells into sperm and egg cells, is it, for IVF? What? Yeah. So, this is a technology which is absolutely incredible. So, they've… within mice,

they've made it so that you can take cells, you can make them skin cells, you can make them into stem cells and then you can make them into eggs and sperm. And this is the technology which is currently being developed for endangered species. So this would be a perfect thing to be able to do with cells that we've isolated from elephant dung. One other genetic technique that scientists are considering to save species involves gene editing to make animals more resilient to environmental threats? What's the idea there? So, for example, there are certain species, and a great example of this is in Australia, and there's certain marsupials that have been eating cane toads. Now cane toads are introduced

and they're very poisonous and they don't belong in Australia. And it's wiping out marsupials that are eating them for food, not being resistant to the toxins. So, by doing a bit of gene editing, you can potentially make it so that it's no longer lethal to them, which is something that could evolve, but they just don't have the time to do that. And there's colleagues of mine working in Australia on that. There's been talk about bringing back the woolly mammoth using stem DNA cells. Is that up your street?

That's a very good question. So yeah, there's a big group, influential group in the States, that's working on bringing back the woolly mammoth. Yes. Yes, maybe. I'm a big believer in, there's many things that are are possible but we've put men on the moon many, many, many years ago, you know, bringing back real, it's about money and time. Whether there's a good enough reason or whether it's going to really be a mammoth or is it going to just be a modified elephant is a very different question. That was Professor Susannah Williams from Oxford University. University. Still to come on this podcast we're here from football fans in the North East of England whose Newcastle United team hadn't won a trophy for decades until now.

I never ever thought we would win anything and make the aim date. Ecstatic, ecstatic, over the moon. North Macedonia is observing seven days of mauling after a fire that killed nearly 60 people in a nightclub in the small town of Kachani. Over 20 people have been arrested, including the nightclub owner and government officials. Aneta Kachever, who works with the Red Cross in Kachani, has been part of the organisation's relief efforts on the ground. Our staff and our volunteers were offering first psychological support, first aid and other material support. Also, the Red Cross has delivered assistance to the local hospital in Kočani with blankets, bedding and wheelchairs. We have opened two lines, one line for psychological

support and as well as another line, SOS line for donations. Amborken's correspondent, Guy Delorni, is in Kočani. We're just seeing people moving out of the central park of Kočani to go for a march around the town. They've just been chanting justice. You might just be able to hear them not chant as they move away there. They're chanting for justice for the victims of that nightclub fire because they think that the authorities have let the young people of this town down. And in the most horrendous fashion possible, that that nightclub wasn't safe for operation,

it didn't have fire exits, the ceiling material was clearly highly flammable and as a result 59 young people are dead, more than 150 injured and this town of fewer than 25,000 people, you've got to say that every family has been affected by this. I mean looking at the facts, the situation at this makeshift nightclub looks pretty obviously insufficient, and yet the club's been open for years and no one seems to have noticed or done anything about it. And it's had a reputation as being a really good night out. Not just a really good night out in Kotchini, but one of the best nights out in North Macedonia.

The owner of the club was very good at getting acts in and putting them on. So DNK, who were playing on the night of the fire, very well known in North Macedonia. And the way that it was all set up inside with the lighting and the stage, that was all very well done as well. But clearly what wasn't well done,

where the corners had been cut, was in matters of safety and if there are no fire exits from a nightclub it's obviously to use that awful phrase an accident waiting to happen and that's what occurred in this case. And when we talk about government officials arrested and allegations of corruption just fill us in on that guy. Well this is because the Pulse nightclubClub had a license and the interior ministry and the prime minister Christian Mistkoski have described that license as fraudulent or at least fraudulently issued and they think it shouldn't have had a license to

operate as an iClub at all and so now they're talking to people who were working at the government administration responsible for doing that. Among those being brought in for questioning are current and former government officials. There's one former government minister who's been brought in for questioning. The prime minister has said it doesn't matter what political party you're from, what post you hold, what your name and surname is, there'll be no mercy if you're found to be responsible for this. Arborkan's correspondent Guy Delaney in North Macedonia. An EU-led donor conference for Syria is taking place in Brussels,

the first since President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown last December. The new Syrian authorities are attending the annual event along with regional neighbours and other Arab countries. Western partners and UN agencies are also represented. The EU has eased some sanctions on key sectors of the Syrian economy but wants to see the interim authorities there honouring their promises of an inclusive and peaceful transition. Kaya Callas is the EU foreign policy chief. We need to continue with the lifting of sanctions because if there is hope for the people then there is also less chaos and for the hope for the people you need

also the services to be provided for example banking services so we're definitely going to discuss this but right now we are moving ahead with lifting of the sanctions. In Syria itself remnants of the Assad regime in Syria last week ambushed and killed dozens of security officers from the new government. The response from some members of the military was brutal, killing hundreds of civilians. Many of the victims were Alawites, a sect perceived to be loyal to the former president. That community now fears it has no safe future in Syria. My colleague, Lena Sinjab got exclusive

access to the cities where the killings took place. She began her report in an Alawite village south of Latakia. A mother weeping the loss of her 22 year old son, Habib, was shot dead. Susana Youssef describes to me the moments her son was killed. Suzanna Youssef describes to me the moments her son was killed. On Friday, he told me that there are bullets everywhere around them. They are surrounding them. Pray for me, Mother. Why did they kill them? What did my son do? He has nothing to do with the previous regime.

Suzanna also lost her sister and two other members of her own family. The Alawite women surrounding Suzanna in the living room soothing her pain are angry. They tell me they are being persecuted. Habib's father, Man, is a retired army officer who now spends his time farming his land. He walks me through his olive grove that has become a cemetery. Man has no faith in this government. He fears for their safety if they were to stay in power. We are Alawite, and the previous president was Alawite, but we didn't like him because

he was a bad person and not worthy of being a president. But the ones who came are meaner and crueler. In a nearby village, another massacre was reported. Ten bodies of government fighters were found, apparently killed by Assad loyalists. We followed the White Helmet Civil Defense who headed to the scene. Everywhere we went around, town after town, are deserted. Seems that from what we've seen that these soldiers that were tied behind their back shot dead and then thrown towards the valley. And the smell is reaching miles away.

Saber is a government security officer who accompanied us to the scene. I asked him about the brutal attacks against the Aalwad community. When Syria was liberated from the Assad regime, we tried hard to keep everything under our control to unite Syria. But honestly, the betrayal that we faced from the previous regime's fighters made these militias angry. And because our official forces were killed in the coastal area, that made us lose control of the area.

The officer tells me they have already arrested some of the perpetrators. This is Al-Qusr neighborhood in the heart of Banias where most of the killing took place. People talk about a bloodbath against the Alawite. It is deserted and those who stayed behind are too scared to speak their mind. The fear is the country is entering an endless cycle of revenge. In another Alawite village on the outskirts of Latakia, there are similar scenes. Volunteers move between destroyed and looted buildings, handing out aid to the survivors. Abdullah Jaber is a neurology student. His home was burned down by government forces. I want just to leave. I want just to continue my studying at university.

You want to stay in Syria. Do you feel that there is a future for you? There is no, but I have to stay here. That report from our correspondent Lina Sinjab. The new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is in France for talks with President Macron, which will focus on building European alliances after the election of President Trump in the US. The former Bank of England governor, who took over in Canada on Friday, will then travel to London for a meeting with Sikhiya Starmer.

The tour comes as Mr Carney's government grapples with how to respond to growing challenges from the United States. Mr Carney said it was in Canada's best interests to strengthen cooperation with allies who have shared values. I want to ensure that France and the whole of Europe works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, determined like you to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States. Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action during this age of economic and geopolitical crises.

Here's our chief international correspondent, Lise Dessette. The first foreign visit of a Canadian Prime Minister is traditionally to the country's biggest trading partner and closest ally, the United States. That's out of the question now. Not only is President Donald Trump imposing heavy tariffs, he's also repeatedly made it clear he wants Canada to become the US's 51st state. In his first speech after taking office, Mark Carney reiterated that would never happen.

Canada's unique identity, he said, was built on the bedrock of three peoples, Indigenous, British and French. So he will be in Paris, London, and then he'll travel to his country's northernmost city of Iqaluit. The former banker wants to talk to Francis Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Sir Keir Starmer about trade, tariffs and how to respond to President Trump. Now that he's Prime Minister, Mr Kearney has also adopted a less confrontational tone, emphasising that both he and the American president have a background in business, including

real estate, and he said he's looking forward to speaking to him, for now by telephone. It's still not clear whether President Trump will call him Governor Carney, as he did with his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have said they'll send a delegation to Angola to take part in peace talks with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are expected to start on Tuesday. Eastern areas of the country are now under the control of the rebels. Priya Sippy reports from the city of Bukavu. At the end of February, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels staged a rally in Bukavu. There was singing, dancing and music.

But moments later, panic ensued. People ran for their lives when explosions were heard. The rally is symbolic of life in Bukavu since M23 seized control of the city. People are applauding on the surface, but the changing regime has also brought fear and insecurity. The environment here in Bukavu is in a state of upheaval. It is full of fear. One 72-year-old resident of Bukavu says gunshots are regularly heard at night.

A 72-year-old resident of Bukavu says gunshots are regularly heard at night. We also have a lot of thefts from shops and many prisoners who escaped from prison, that have stolen weapons and are now armed. Civilians also have arms in the city. Shops have been destroyed. And we have thieves breaking into homes at night robbing people and killing them. With supply chain routes disrupted and some markets remain enclosed, residents say prices of basic goods like food and fuel have increased. The World Food Programme says items like maize flour have increased by 70% in some places.

One resident spoke to us about the rampant inflation. The products of necessities have increased in price. For example, a kilo of sugar, which was bought for 2000 or 3000 Congolese francs, today is bought for between 5000 or 6000 Cong 6,000 Conglis francs. Life has become very expensive. He also said there's a cash crisis. Banks are closed as they are controlled by the central government in Kinshasa. Banks do not work, and so the population needs money.

But money does not circulate. Despite promises from M23 that life will return to normal, the group have little experience of governing large cities. Some residents say the local economy is declining and social services are struggling to restart. While schools were recently reopened, one mother tells us that classrooms remain empty. Most parents refuse to send their children to school and for security reasons, because we have received messages and videos from parents in Goma who have sent their children to school and some have been abducted to be murdered and others have been enlisted to

fight. The BBC has not been able to verify claims the rebels are abducting and conscripting children to fight But on the social media platform XM 23 have said that the city of Bukavu is completely secure Meanwhile Rwanda has cut all diplomatic relations with Belgium with immediate effect the government in Brussels described the move as Disproportionate and said it would reciprocate the Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused Belgium of lobbying for international sanctions against his country. The English Premier League club Newcastle United haven't won a trophy for decades until now.

They won the FA Cup in 1955, the European Fairs Cup in 1969 and the EFL Cup in 2025 at Wembley on Sunday, beating Liverpool 2-1. Here's what it means to Newcastle fans. Absolutely buzzing, I'm just so pleased, best shift I've ever done for Northumbria Police. We've won a trophy, the 70 years have been erased. How are the lads? Absolutely elated. Come on! It's brilliant!

Was it ever in doubt? Never. Felicity Throw from the Newcastle United Supporters' Trust was at the game with her family. People did not think this would happen in their lifetime and for us to be there, to see families there, to see parents and kids there, to see friends and then further afield from the stadium, seeing the videos of back home and pubs across the country and the world, it's incredible, I cannot describe it. And this was my BBC colleague John Murray who described a match on the BBC World Service.

Inside Wembley Stadium yesterday, I'm not sure I've seen such a mass display of joyousness from such a large collection of football fans in one place. They didn't want to leave, so they didn't. You know, for anyone who's been to Tyneside, to Newcastle, I grew up in that part of the world. I know the passion that there is in the north east of England for football, for sport, for sporting success. And of course the north west of England has had so much success over recent decades, but the north east has been really starved of it.

Our chief football correspondent correspondent John Murray. And that's all from us for now. There will be a new edition of Global News to download later. If you'd like to comment on this podcast drop us an email globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk or on X we are at BBC World Service. Just use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was produced by Alice Adderley and mixed by Sydney Dundon. The editor is Karen Martin.

I'm Andrew Peach, thank you for listening and until next time, goodbye.