Global News Podcast - Warm welcome for President Zelensky in London

Episode Date: March 2, 2025

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky receives warm welcome in London after clash with Donald Trump at the White House. Also, Kurdish PKK separatists lay down their arms, and the bittersweet romance that could win an Oscar.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello, I'm Robin Ince. And I'm Brian Cox. And we would like to tell you about the new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage. We're going to have a planet off. Jupiter versus Saturn. It's very well done that because in the script it does say wrestling voice. After all of that, it's going to kind of chill out a bit and talk

about ice. And also in this series, we're discussing history of music recording with Brian Eno and looking at nature's shapes. So listen wherever you get your podcasts. This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jackie Leonard and in the early hours of Sunday, the 2nd of March, these are our main stories. A warm welcome for the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London after the angry

clash with Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. The NATO Secretary General Mark Rutter, meanwhile, says he's sure the US is committed to peace in Ukraine. And after decades of armed struggle, the Kurdish separatist group PKK has declared a ceasefire. Also in this podcast, tens of thousands of Romanians have marched in support of a far-right politician whose presidential election victory last year was annulled.

It's a great sea of Romanian flags. They've marched through the centre of Bucharest to Piazza Victoriae in front of the Romanian government building. And the father of Namibia's independence is laid to rest. Smiles, cheers, waving and a prime ministerial hug. A warm welcome for President Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street on Saturday evening. The mood in sharp contrast with the anger seen during his encounter with Donald Trump and JD Vance at the White House on Friday when he was berated for seeming insufficiently grateful for US help as he deals with the

Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Sunday Mr Zelensky is due to meet King Charles, there will also be a meeting of European leaders and the Canadian Prime Minister. But first a chat with Keir Starmer in number 10. Mr Zelensky spoke of the welcome he had received and thanked the Prime Minister and Britain. I saw a lot of people and I want to thank you people of the United Kingdom for such big support from the very beginning of this war. Thank you, your team and I'm very happy that His Majesty the King accepted my meeting tomorrow and I'm thankful that you organised such a summit for tomorrow and we are very happy in Ukraine that we have such strategic partners. It's understood that Britain and Ukraine have agreed a loan of around 2.8 billion dollars

to support Kiev's defence capabilities. Our correspondent Joe Pike spoke to us from outside No. 10 Downing Street. Sikhiastammer didn't just wait at the step of number 10 as some prime ministers do for President Zelensky to get out of his range of over and walk up the street instead he walked down to him and the two leaders embraced. I think the UK Prime Minister certainly wanted to demonstrate the warmth that he feels towards President Zelensky and his country, projecting the UK's unstinting support, as he said, for Ukraine. Of course, journalists here from across the world were throwing questions at largely President

Zelensky, not to Kier Stamer, including, you know, can your relationship be repaired with Donald Trump? And is a deal possible in Ukrainian peace? Now, President Zelensky did not answer that. The two men went inside, and we've seen a little bit and heard a little bit of the start of their meeting, which was filmed by broadcasters. Interesting that they both talked about.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer talking about his and the UK support for Ukraine, and it's been very appreciative of that. But no one of course in the room mentioned somebody who of course isn't here and that's Donald Trump. In the public part of that meeting of course they're going into a private discussion. And I suppose try and game what the next steps should be, especially with this all-important summit of European leaders taking place in central London hosted by Sir Keir Starmer, which President Zelensky will also attend. And what do they hope that European leaders will achieve? They haven't set it out, but speaking to sources within Downing Street, they argue Sir Keir

Starmer wants action. Talking to this source in the last couple of hours, they said that the UK and other nations have spent billions supporting Ukraine, but now is the time for nations to step up. My interpretation is that means that they want commitments from other European nations of support in a security guarantee, either financial support I suppose, or logistics, or troops on the ground as the UK has committed to. So I think the UK government certainly want progress to be made and not just to be you know some summit for the cameras and for European leaders to feel like they're achieving something. The other

point which I think is fascinating is that there is a very real concern within number 10 that tomorrow's summit is interpreted in the US in a way that it shouldn't be. They do not want this to look like the UK and the EU are ganging up on the US. That is not what is happening, they argue. This isn't about choosing between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. This is about supporting Ukraine and different countries across the world uniting to support Ukraine. But the fact they're worried about that isn't that fascinating and telling because we know who'll be watching all of this, President Trump, and one thing he may also be

watching is the meeting we're expecting between the King, King Charles and President Zelensky. The fact that the King is meeting President Zelensky I suppose is another sign of support for the Ukrainians. Two key questions that remain unanswered, one being can the relations between President Zelensky and Trump be rebuilt and is there any chance of a peace deal now? That was Joe Pike. And Keir Starmer also spoke to Presidents Macron and Trump on Saturday evening.

Well meanwhile, the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutter, has said that he's spoken to Volodymyr Zelensky since the White House meeting and has urged him to find a way to restore his relationship with his US counterpart. He was speaking in a BBC interview with Lewis Vaughan Jones. I think it was very unfortunate and I have been twice on the phone now with President Zelensky and I told him this. We need to stick together, the United States, Ukraine and Europe, to bring Ukraine to a durable peace. So we clearly discussed this. We really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine.

He was the one in 2019 who provided the Javelins these unlethal weapons. And without the Javelins in 2022, when the full scale attack started, Ukraine would have been nowhere. Of course, there was the training, particularly done by the UK and others, but it was primarily the Javelins which made the table for Ukrainians to fight back. And without they would not have stand a chance. So I told him we really have to give Trump credit for what he did then, what America did since then, and also what America is still doing.

When President Zelensky was talking about defending his country and Donald Trump says that he's gambling with World War Three, is Donald Trump right? Listen, I've spoken for half an hour on Thursday with Donald Trump on the phone with President Trump. We are friends. We have worked for years together. I know he's committed to bring Ukraine to a durable peace. He's committed to NATO. Of course, he expects the European NATO partners in Canada to spend more and to ramp up defense production. He's right there.

Just on the idea of the US withdrawing its military support for Ukraine, are NATO countries in a position to fill in that gap? You know, let's move beyond this question because it is crucial that we stay all in this together. The US, Ukraine, Europe, that we bring Ukraine to a peace. This is exactly what President Trump is fighting for. What we all are fighting for, we have to make sure that when a deal is struck, that the deal is lasting. I think Zelensky should find a way to restore his relationship with President Trump. That is important going forward. But I know as a fact that the American administration is extremely invested in making sure that Ukraine gets to this durable peace.

The NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is once more teetering on the edge. The first phase was due to expire on Saturday and it's not clear what happens next. Israel has been angered by what it's called a cruel Hamas propaganda video that's been published showing five hostages embracing each other before two of them were released. Our correspondent in Jerusalem is Paul Adams and he's seen the video. Well I think it's worth putting it into some context. This is the latest in what is now a very very long

series of frankly very cruel harrowing videos that Hamas has released throughout the past 16 months with the express purpose of playing on the frayed emotions of the Israeli public and heaping pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu. In this video, as you just mentioned, we see five Israeli hostages, two of them have their faces blurred. Two of them are brothers, Eitan and Yahir Horn. Now, Yahir was released just a couple of weeks ago. It seems though this video was filmed just before that moment and we see in the video Yair and Etan saying goodbye

to each other. It's an incredibly emotional and harrowing thing to watch and Etan pleads to the camera, pleads to Israel's Prime Minister not to abandon him and not to abandon the remaining hostages. There are thought to be 24 hostages still alive being held in Gaza. The Prime Minister's office, as you can imagine, has utterly condemned the video, calling it psychological warfare. And the families of the hostages actually who approved the release of this video which doesn't always happen but said that there was a right to broadcast this they have said that this underlines once again the importance of

getting all the hostages out. And just briefly where are we with the ceasefire negotiations? Well negotiations on phase two were due to begin yesterday. They did begin in Cairo, but then the Israeli delegation came back. We think that the negotiations are likely to carry on at a distance. Consultations going on with Mr Netanyahu and his senior colleagues, they want some kind of extension in which we will see more hostages and Palestinian prisoners released. Hamas seems to be resisting that and so far at the moment there is no sign of a breakthrough. That was Paul Adams in Jerusalem. After decades of armed struggle the outlawed Kurdish group the PKK

has declared a ceasefire with Turkey. The movement's jailed leader Abdullah Ercalan, who's been in solitary confinement since 1999, called on the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. Amirin Zaman is a Turkish journalist and chief correspondent for the Ulmonitor News website. Celia Hatton asked her how important she thought this latest announcement was. It's an extremely important announcement first of all because it came so quickly. It responded instantly and unequivocally saying that they would go along with Öcalan's call,

but they set conditions for this. So the ball is now very much in Turkey's court. Turkey has to secure this environment so they can be sure that they won't be attacked. Danielle Pletka First, just to look at Öcalan and his role in this. He's been in prison for the past 25 years. How does a man jailed for such a long time still hold so much influence over the organization that he created? This is almost like a personality cult that's developed over the years. He's an extremely

charismatic and authoritarian figure who cast a spell over his followers. When he was captured, you had people actually setting themselves on fire. They were so upset. The PKK itself has determinedly cultivated, sustained this myth around Ocalan as the absolute leader of the movement because this is the glue that's allowed them to keep things together. To turn back to Turkey again, you said that the ball's now in Turkey's court. How might President Erdogan respond to all of this, to the announcement of a ceasefire? What considerations does he have?

Erdogan needs Kurdish support because under the constitution, he cannot run for a third time. The elections are due in 2028, and he'd like to make constitutional changes that would allow him to run. And for that, he needs Kurdish support. So he's reached out to the Kurds again, but he's not in the picture per se. Erdogan is kind of being very clever about this. If things go south, he can easily say, well, I have nothing to do with it. Do you think that things could go south? What potential roadblocks could come up to stop this process, the potential end of a battle that has killed 40,000 people and displaced millions in southeastern Turkey.

It's going to be very tricky. Turkish public opinion may not be fully in favor of these negotiations. And we're talking about a time when the economy is really in very bad shape. The country is deeply polarized. And that's really also because the government has encouraged this polarization, criminalizing the Kurdish movement. Just to round up, what about Kurdish groups, for example, in neighboring Syria? How do they fit into all of this? Syria is very closely bound up with the PKK because when the PKK began its fight, in fact,

its leaders, including Erdogan, fled to Syria in the late 70s. And so that's where they were operating. People reckon that up to a third of their fighters are Syrian. Because the Syrian Kurds chose not to fight the Assad regime and instead to consolidate their autonomy. Now, Turkey views that entity as an existential threat. It has since 2016 been attacking Syrian Kurdish forces there, who by the way are the United States top ally in the fight against the Islamic State. And the fact that the US has partnered with them has kind of really blown a huge hole in the Turkish-US relationship. A big question now is whether Turkey will continue to attack those forces or not and whether Öcalan's call extends to those forces or not. So lots of risks but also quite a bit of hope I would say. Amber Inza Mann, chief correspondent of the news website El Monitor.

Still to come in this podcast. The mansion, Brighton Beach, the club where Annie works, they are a character in this story. The locations of a bittersweet tale of doomed romance that could be on its way to Oscar's success. Hello, I'm Robin Ince. And I'm Brian Cox and we would like to tell you about the new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage. We're going to have a planet off. Jupiter versus Saturn! It's very well done that because in the script it does say wrestling voice.

After all of that, it's going to kind of chill out a bit and talk about ice. And also in this series we're discussing history of music, recording with Brian Eno and looking at nature's shapes. So listen wherever you get your podcasts. wherever you get your podcasts. In its latest statement on the health of Pope Francis on Saturday, the Vatican said that the Pontiff had a peaceful night in hospital and was resting. The Pope, who is 88, is being treated for pneumonia. Our correspondent Sarah Rainsford is at the Vatican. Pope Francis is now stable after a sudden breathing crisis,

his second since he was taken to hospital. The Vatican says he is still receiving oxygen but he's had no more lung spasms and he doesn't have a fever. He's said to be alert, not confused, doing breathing exercises and eating normally. The Pope's doctors stress that he is not out of danger, but these latest details will reassure those Catholics who watch anxiously for the daily updates and who pray for the Pope each Doctors stress that he is not out of danger, but these latest details will reassure those Catholics who watch anxiously for the daily updates and who pray for the Pope each evening outside St Peter's Basilica.

Many have come to Rome as pilgrims in a special Jubilee year for the Church, one which Pope Francis had planned to be part of. Next week, though, he won't be able to say mass at the start of Lent and he has now been in hospital and out of the public eye for the longest ever period of his papacy. That was Sarah Rainsford at the Vatican. In Romania there was a big protest on Saturday in the Capitol book arrest in support of Colleen Gheorghescu, the far-right candidate who came first in last year's presidential election which was subsequently annulled. Mr. Gheorghezgu was detained last week and charged with being a member of a neo-fascist organization and attempting to

overthrow the Constitution. Our Eastern Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe was at the rally. There are tens of thousands of people here waving at a great sea of Romanian flags. They've marched through the center of Bucharest to Piazza Victoriae in front of the Romanian government building. This is a pro-Calin Gheorghescu protest organized by a far-right or nationalist party called the Alliance for the Union of Romanians.

The people here have come out as a show of solidarity with Calin Gheorghescu. He's the 62-year-old agricultural engineer who came first in last November's presidential elections here in Romania. A very surprise victory for him there, just the first round. That was subsequently cancelled because of suspicions, allegations of Russian involvement. But Mr. Gheorghescu was detained briefly by police. He's been charged with trying to overthrow the constitutional order of Romania. His supporters say that those charges are ridiculous, that he's just an anti-globalist and so they've really come

out onto the streets in big numbers in Bucharest, come from all over the country to support him. When we say he's anti-globalist, tell us a bit more about what his positions are, what it is he's for. He says he doesn't want to take Romania out of the European Union, which is very popular in some polls. What he stands for though, he says that Romania does not have a voice, unlike, for example, Poland, which is another East European country which is taken seriously in the EU and NATO. So basically, on one level it's about respect for Romania. It's also though about the war in neighbouring Ukraine. He's spoken in the past of his admiration

for the Russian president Vladimir Putin. So it's not exactly a pro-Russian message, but it's much more pro-Russian than the position of many countries across Europe now. As you say, last year's election was annulled and Mr. Gheorghescu was charged with membership of a neo-fascist organisation. Might he yet be the winner in May? What might happen? I think he would stand a good chance of winning in May if he's allowed to stand but I think many people in Romania believe he will not be allowed to put forward his candidacy and I think so many people have come out onto the streets today because they sense that,

that the court may be preparing to prevent their champion, their hero, Mr. Gheorgheescu, from running in that election. That was Nick Thorpe in Bucharest. A funeral has been held for the first president of Namibia, Sam Nyoma, with African leaders, past and present, gathering in the capital, Windhoek. The key figure in the country's independence struggle died last month at the age of 95. Our Africa regional editor Will Ross reports. Sam Nyoma's casket wrapped in Namibia's blue, red and green flag was taken by gun carriage to Heros Aka outside the capital Windhoek. The site honors those who fought against brutal German colonial rule and later South African occupation.

The current president, Nangolo Bumba, led tributes describing San Niyoma as a giant among leaders. He headed the Soviet-backed Liberation Movement that began cross-border attacks from Angola in the 1960s after South Africa refused a UN order to give up the colony. After independence, Mr Niyoma's critics pointed to his authoritarian style of rule, but today many more Namibians are praising him for unifying the nation. Will Ross. As Hollywood prepares for its biggest night of the year, the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, some are predicting that Anura, a dark fairy tale involving a sex worker in New York, stands a very good chance of taking home several trophies.

But it's not just the film that's getting attention, it's also the location, the Russian-speaking community of Brighton Beach in New York. Tom Brook went to Brighton Beach to meet Anora's location manager. This story of Annie, a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, a bittersweet tale of doomed romance, really highlights the New York Russian-speaking community of Brighton Beach, which lies 15 miles from Manhattan on the Atlantic Ocean. The film includes images of the cyclone, the iconic roller coaster nearby Coney Island. There's also a memorable scene in a local Russian restaurant on the ocean boardwalk. And it features a huge huge multi-million dollar mansion where much of the film's action takes place.

Ross Brodar was Enora's location manager. He found many of the places where the film was shot. You take a look at Enora, and I think the locations are profoundly important. The mansion, Brighton Beach, the club where Annie works, they are a character in the story. And a lot of times a backdrop of a film informs you so much as to the life

of the characters in the movie. Sean wanted to make sure that no matter what, we could get this block and be able to see the cyclone. And you know, it's just famous Coney Island. Anora is directed by Sean Baker, who grew up in nearby New Jersey. He is a very strong contender to win the best director trophy at the Oscars. Critics have praised him for the distinct style of his film.

It has a great sense of place. He told me he credits location manager Ross Broder with making that possible. This film wouldn't be what it is without Ross. He got me literally every single location I wanted. I'm waiting for you. He secured the mansion. Nice view. He secured Tatiana's.

He secured the wonderful candy shop that we shot at. I mean, literally he got everything we needed. Anora has many Russian speaking characters. So Brighton Beach with its large Russian speaking community worked perfectly as a location. Sean Baker had long been wanting to set a film in this New York neighborhood. I was shooting a fashion film there in 2021. I looked around and I said, you know what, I have to set my next film here. It's just so beautiful. With Ross Broder, I went to visit Tatiana, the Russian restaurant used in the picture.

Mushrooms, beef, cream, some onion, parsley. It's pretty good. Really good. Over a beef stroganoff lunch, we looked at sequences from Nora shot at locations that Ross had found. Watch this, here. He then showed me a scene that meant a lot to him.

I'm here for Mr. Zakharov. Ivan? In me a scene that meant a lot to him. In the film he has a small part betraying a security guard. Ross told me it meant a lot to work as part of the cast, albeit in a modest role. I love being the location manager, but it's fun to be in the movie and have a few lines and do some work with the actors. I love acting as well. So yeah, it was so appreciative that he threw me in there. Enora has certainly brought images of New York's Brighton Beach community to an international audience. People who live there are for the most part pleased that the film was shot in

the neighborhood. It's definitely given Brighton Beach some film tourism. On the boardwalk I came across Russian-born Alina Hughes in California. She'd just arrived in New York. First stop was Brighton Beach. I came to Brighton Beach because we watched movie Anora not so long time ago. It really inspired me and it was time for our trip to New York City. I'm like okay the first stop should be Brighton Beach. Actually, we just flew here this morning. For Ross Brodaw, that Enora is making such a far-reaching impact means a lot. To make a film on such a small budget and for it to resound so powerfully

is a feat in of itself. If Enora, as oddsmakers predict, does take home some Oscar trophies, it will bring the film to an even wider global audience, adding to the momentum that is making Ross Broder's Brighton Beach locations a growing destination for film tourists from around the world. Tom Brook in New York. And that's it from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast

later. If you would like to comment on this edition or the topics covered in it, do please send us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service and use the hashtag globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Zabihullah Qurush, the producer was Oliver Berlau, the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jackie Leonard and until next time, goodbye. And we would like to tell you about the new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage. We're going to have a planet on. Jupiter versus Saturn! Well, it's very well done that because in the script it does say, wrestling voice.

After all of that, it's going to kind of chill out a bit and talk about ice. And also in this series, we're discussing history of music, recording with Brian Eno and looking at nature's shapes. So listen wherever you get your podcasts.