Global News Podcast - Zelensky told to leave White House after clash with Trump

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

President Zelensky left the White House without planned peace negotiations, after President Trump shouted at him and accused him of 'gambling with world War Three'. Also the latest on Pope Francis' health.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. WISE gives you the real exchange rate, which means you'll spend less on fees and more of your money gets where you need it to be. Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. Hello, I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday, we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart. From the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives. We bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story

wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jackie Leonard and in the early hours of Saturday the 1st of March, these are our main stories. Raised voices and the acrimonious breakdown of Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. The Vatican says Pope Francis who's been in hospital with double pneumonia for two weeks has had another breathing crisis and a warning that future pandemics will be harder to contain because of aid cuts by Also in this podcast. The final call for a tech pioneer as Microsoft says it's shutting down Skype.

We begin this podcast with the clash in the White House heard around the world. What began as a much anticipated meeting to discuss a route to a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine ended with President Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance, berating President Zelensky and accusing him of gambling with World War III. Here's some of it. You're gambling with World War III and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country. In this entire meeting, you said thank you.

You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country. Please, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war you can speak? He's not speaking loudly. We are staying in our country, staying strong from the very beginning of the war. We've been alone and we are thankful. I said thanks in this cabinet and not only in this cabinet.

You haven't been allowed. We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion. You voted for your breath. We gave you military equipment and you met our breath but they had to use our military equipment. If you didn't have our military equipment, and you met our brave, but they had to use our military equipment. If you didn't have our military equipment, if you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks. Okay?

In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days. This is something new. Maybe less. In two weeks. Of course, yes. You don't have the cards.

You're buried there. Your people are dying. You're running low on soldiers. Listen, you're running low on soldiers. Your people are very brave. But you're either going to make a deal or we're out. And if we're out, you'll fight it out. I don't think it's going to be pretty. But you don't have the cards.

But once we sign that deal, you're in a much better position. But you're not acting at all thankful and that's not a nice thing I'll be honest that's not a nice thing. Subsequently President Zelensky left the White House reportedly told to leave on Mr. Trump's instructions. Our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg spoke to Helena Humphrey in Washington about the Kremlin's response. So far there's been no comment from Vladimir Putin about what happened in the White House.

Then again, President Putin doesn't need to say anything really about what happened in the White House, not right now. He can afford to allow events to play out. You remember Donald Trump a little bit earlier, he said that this is going to be great television. Well, you can just imagine the Kremlin leader sitting in front of the television set and enjoying the spectacle,

the spectacle of his fiercest enemy, the leader of the country that Vladimir Putin invaded three years ago, being so publicly rebuked by the President of the United States and the Vice President of the United States in front of the world's media. Quite astonishing. So no comment from Vladimir Putin, by the President of the United States and the Vice President of the United States in front of the world's media.

Quite astonishing. So no comment from Vladimir Putin, but we have heard comments from Dmitry Medvedev. He is the former Russian President, who is now the Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council. And he wrote on social media that after what happened, he's calling on America to stop military assistance to Ukraine. Wouldn't the Russians just love that? And Steve what do you think this tells us about relations between the United States and Russia right now? Are we witnessing a shift? A seismic shift absolutely. I mean

just look at what's happened in the last two weeks or so, right? It began with that phone call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, I think on the 12th of February, America bringing the Kremlin leader back in from the cold. We've seen the result. We've seen US-Russian talks beginning at a high level. We saw the extraordinary events at the Munich Security Conference with that open schism between America and Europe. And now, after these dramatic events in the Oval Office, we see a breakdown in relations between the United States and Ukraine. All of this is good news for Vladimir Putin. The Russians are very confident now that they are going to build a new relationship with America, a stronger relationship with the Trump administration, and that they are going

to get everything that they want in this war against Ukraine. That was Steve Rosenberg in Russia. Well following that meeting in Washington, President Trump published a statement on his Truth Social Network, which we've voiced over. We had a very meaningful meeting at the White House today. Much was learnt that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It's amazing what comes out through emotion.

And I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want peace. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace. People have been quick to react online with some calling the tone like playground bullies, others calling it an ambush. Some expressed fear. Elon Musk though retweeted someone thanking Mr. Trump for standing up for the American people. Tom Bateman has been watching from Washington.

This thing has completely watching from Washington. This thing has completely fallen to pieces. I've just watched President Zelensky leave the Portico entrance of the West Wing. There was no wave goodbye from President Trump after everything that had happened. Instead, President Trump was posting on Truth Social to say that Mr. Zelensky had disrespected the cherished Oval Office, that he said he wasn't ready for peace and that he should come back when he was ready. So, extraordinary turn of events. On a day in which Mr. Zelensky came here, I think at a critical juncture,

politically, diplomatically, everything weighing on this moment, that he was going to come here, yes yes to sign the Minerals deal which now appears to be dead in the water has not been signed here But more crucially he needed to try to leave with some sort of assurance from the United States president that there would be a Security guarantee for Ukraine in the event of Russia breaching any future ceasefire now clearly He doesn't have that and, what we have is an extraordinary historic moment where the rupture between the United States and not just Ukraine, but the entirety of Europe is now at an extraordinary level and has been played out in this unprecedented moment in front of the world's media and the

Oval Office. The US, though, still wants Ukraine's rare earth metal metal so it's not just going to shrug it off is it? I mean what happens next? In terms of the critical minerals that Donald Trump wants American hands on, that deal is of course dependent on the wider issue of whether or not Mr Zelensky is prepared to do this ceasefire deal with Donald Trump. Now, that is the card that he does actually hold.

That's what Donald Trump was effectively saying, is that he doesn't hold cards, but he does hold that over the US president. The gamble for him, of course, is the existential future of his country, if he doesn't cede to that demand. So the stakes have been raised even further, but, you. But in this moment of complete breakdown of relations here, it's very hard to see how it gets built back up any time soon. That was Tom Bateman. Reaction has been swift. The former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev,

posted on X that, and I quote, the insolent pig finally got a slap down in the Oval Office. And Donald Trump is right. The Kiev regime is gambling with World War III. But European leaders have been expressing their support for Ukraine and Mr Zelensky. The presidents of the EU Commission and Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa issued a joint statement on social media telling the Ukrainian president, you are never alone.

President Emmanuel Macron of France, who saw Mr Trump earlier this week, said Russia was clearly the aggressor and it was important to respect the people who have been fighting since the beginning. The UK Trade Minister Douglas Alexander said he found the exchanges in the Oval Office deeply troubling and sobering, adding that the world was in uncharted waters. Our correspondent Rob Watson told us more. I spent 11 years as a reporter for the BBC in the United States. I spent a lot of time covering some pretty powerful rows at the United Nations in New York and in politics

here in the UK and across Europe and I'm showing my age Jackie 40 plus years at the BBC I have never ever seen anything remotely like that a row played out in public between two erstwhile allies a row of course that could change the course of history and I don't know that's an overstatement it could change the course of history in terms of the future of Ukraine as a state and it could change the course of history in terms of relations between the United States and its traditional European allies, a relationship that has dominated security in Europe and the world since 1945. I mean it may just be that big. There's been a lot of diplomacy going on this week at the White House. What do you

think the international reaction to this is going to be? Well, some of it has been coming in already. Numerous European leaders have expressed horror. You will not, I think, you will struggle to find a European politician apart from those who are pro-Putin, who are just not utterly aghast. And I think what is going on in the foreign ministers and chancellors and government offices across Europe, literally as we speak, Jackie, is to say, what on earth do we do about this? Because it seems to me that it utterly undermines, it almost ridicules

those efforts by Sikir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron earlier in the week to say, yeah, we think President Trump is listening to us, he's going to stand by Ukraine after this. It looks as though it's right back to square one. That was Rob Watson. And there has been a statement from Downing Street. A spokeswoman said that the British Prime Minister has tonight spoken to both President Trump and President Zelensky. He retains unwavering support for Ukraine and is doing all he can to find a path towards a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine. The Prime Minister looks forward to hosting international leaders on Sunday, including President Zelensky.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has suffered what they called an isolated breathing crisis and received medical assistance to help him breathe. The 88-year-old has been in hospital with pneumonia for two weeks. Claire Gengravet is the Vatican reporter for the Religion News Service. She spoke to Julianne Marchand. Every evening we've been getting these updates from doctors and he had a bronchospasm which means a strong respiratory attack and that led to obviously a worsening of his overall condition. He had to be subjected to bronchial aspiration. This is to clear his airways and get rid of carbon dioxide in his lungs and they had to do what they call a non-invasive mechanical ventilation,

which leads us to believe that it is just a mask over his mouth and without doing anything else. But they do say that it improved his oxygen levels. So the situation is critical. The situation now is critical and this was after a brief period in which his conditions seemed to be improving. Yes, the past few days after suffering a really bad respiratory crisis on Saturday, we've seen the Pope getting these evening bulletins saying that there was slight improvement, that his medical tests were doing better. But you know, he's 88 years old and he's had a long medical history, including a part

of his right lung that was removed when he was a youth in Argentina. So bronchitis and pneumonia in this case can be really high risk. And his stay in hospital and his condition presumably being followed closely by Italians and particularly Catholics. Absolutely. All over the world we've seen people sending messages of support and to the Pope to get well. Also here at the Vatican, faithful gather every evening in St. Peter's Square to pray the Rosary for his well-being. We see Cardinals, some of them allies, some of them detractors, all coming together to pray for his recovery. Has the jockeying for succession begun yet,

Claire? I know that sounds rather unseemly, but there has to be those thinking about the future. In Rome, that is something that happens all throughout a papacy, not just when there's a health problem. So of course, we've seen it on social media with some of the Pope's opponents already picking favorites. with some of the Pope's opponents already picking favourites and then we've also seen it, you know, in the curial halls with prelates discussing what might come next. Claire Gengrave, Vatican reporter for the Religion News Service and she was talking to Julian Marshall. It was the first major player of its kind and now Skype will hang up for the last time in May. The owner,

Microsoft, said that the move is to focus on its Teams software. Stephanie Prentice has this report. The sound that heralded a major disruption to the telephone industry back in 2003. Skype calls were just as fast, just as clear and crucially, they were free. At the time, creator Yannis Friis outlined a goal of a complete takeover of the global communications industry and it worked. Skype quickly became a household name with millions of users worldwide, even those who needed a bit of help to get started. 82-year-old Kath Wilkie is about to make her first voiceover internet call. Michael, I'm speaking. Michael, it's Kath.

Hello Kath, how are you? I'm fine dear, I'm a nervous wreck here. Isn't this incredible what you can do now with a computer? Next came the money. The three founders sold it to eBay in 2005 for $2.6 billion. Later it was sold to Microsoft for $8.5 billion. Now, after two decades, the famous ringtone is being retired. Other platforms have edged it out of the market, including Microsoft's own Teams software, which flourished during the pandemic. Skype fans took to X to express their sorrow, saying it was the end of an era, with one

adding Skype's fumble during the pandemic will be studied for centuries. Microsoft says it will make the transition easy for users and that chats and contacts will automatically migrate to Teams. Adding in a statement, Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications, we're honoured to have been part of the journey. Stephanie Prentiss. Still to come in this podcast.

in this podcast? The Gen Z bell ringers keeping an ancient tradition alive. This podcast is sponsored by WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. If you're sending or spending money abroad, you should use WISE. You'll have up to 40 currencies in the palm of your hand. WISE gives you the real exchange rate, which means you'll spend less on fees and more of your money gets where you need it to be. Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. today or visit wise.com. Season C supply. Hello I'm Katya Adler, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. Each weekday we break down one big news story with fresh perspectives from journalists

around the world. From artificial intelligence to divisive politics tearing our societies apart. From the movements of money and markets to the human stories that touch our lives, we bring you in-depth insights from across the BBC and beyond. Listen to The Global Story wherever you get your BBC podcasts. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has urged the US and other governments to review their decisions to cut funding for international aid. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged the US and other governments to

review their decisions to cut funding for international aid. Mr Guterres said cuts to the main overseas aid agency USAID would harm the United States' own interests. Going through with these cuts will make the world less healthy, less safe and less prosperous. The reduction of America's humanitarian role and influence will run counter to American interests globally. I can only hope that these decisions can be reversed based on more careful reviews and the same applies to other countries that have recently announced reductions in humanitarian and development aids. The head of the Africa Center for Disease Control, Jean Casséa, has warned that pandemics

originating from Africa would be harder to contain with less support from the West. HIV programmes funded by USAID are closing down following the termination of their grants by the new US administration. Our Africa correspondent, Maenny Jones, reports. Dr Jean Kassair, who heads the Africa Centre for Disease Control, was keen to sound the alarm and to remind the world of the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago. He pointed out that with less money, recent outbreaks of the Marburg, Ebola and EMPOC viruses in Africa would have spread further

and posed a greater danger to the public. The world is playing with fire. I want to send a clear message to our partners from the US, UK and all other western countries that please don't come to blame Africa when there will be a pandemic coming from Africa because you decide to stop funding to critical programs. In South Africa, HIV programs funded by the US are closing down and letting thousands of staff go. They've urged the government to step in and plug the gap left by the loss of foreign aid. When asked why South Africa, the continent's most industrialized country, was still dependent on the US for 17% of its HIV budget, Health Minister Dr. Aaron Watsalwa-Adi

considered his government should have done better. It's a wake-up call. I believe so, fully and 100%. That we are a country which should have been on our own, but it's only that you remember the era when PEPFAR started, when people offer you money, you couldn't reject it. But I believe it was something that we should not have allowed to flourish. This is a real moment of reckoning for African leaders,

who now have to decide how to fund health care systems that have long been dependent on foreign aid. The CDC says it's urging them to consider alternative funding models including import taxes to generate revenue for health care but with mushrooming regional conflicts and economies across the continent still reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic raising money for health may be out of reach for most African countries. That was Mayani Jones. The ancient practice of bell ringing is being given a boost by Italian Gen Zias. That's late teens and 20s if you don't follow these things. Italy has a

centuries-old tradition of manual bell ringing with different regions sometimes having their own distinctive style. One of them is the Ambrosian technique and a group of young bell ringers is determined to keep it alive. Carla Conte reports. It is a sound as old as time. Many of us associate it with festivities like Christmas or with the Christian faith more generally. And if you ever find yourself in Europe, chances are you won't be too far away from the chiming of church bells. The practice of bell ringing itself is a long and storied history that dates back centuries, but what you might be surprised to hear is that Italian teenagers are bringing it back. Take the Federation of Ambrosian Bell Ringers, for example. In the tower of a parish church

in Mugano, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Milan, a group of young bell ringers are tugging on ropes as a leader calls out their numbers. Some of them are 13 years old and still in school, while others are in their early 20s. And their common goal is to save the art of manual Ambrosian bell ringing. Known for its distinctive melodies, the Ambrosian style dates back to the 18th century and is characterised by heavily counterbalanced bells and the optional use of a carry-on keyboard, where a single player hits the keys with their fists to make the bells ring. These more obscure techniques have struggled to maintain

relevance due to the spread of automated bell ringing in the mid-20th century. But perhaps this renewed interest in a centuries-old practice suggests that tradition does have a future after all. That was Carla Conti. Soundtrack to a Kudai Taa is one of five films nominated for the Oscar for best documentary at the ceremony this weekend. It looks at American and Belgian involvement in the politics of the Congo at the end of the colonial era in the early 1960s and unusually it relies heavily on jazz music to tell that story. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to the film's producer. The theory behind the new documentary is that in the early 1960s,

the US government used cultural visits to the Congo and elsewhere to disguise and divert attention from intelligence operations. One of America's most popular emissaries gets a warm reception as he arrives in the troubled Congo on a State Department-sponsored Goodwill mission. Louis Satchmo Armstrong arrives in truly royal style. Recordings by Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and others make soundtrack to a coup d'etat a great listen. But at the core of the Oscar nominated film is the death of Patrice Lumumba from June 1960, Prime Minister of the Congo, who was shot dead only months later. Lumumba's stormy career was checked by Colonel Joseph Mobutu. As Lumumba's followers raised the

threat of civil war, the news came that he had been slain. Many alleged then that America and the colonial power Belgium were complicit in the death, fearing Lumumba as a dangerous radical. The film's producer is Remy Greleti. Lumumba and his assassination and the plot around that was the centerpiece. But to tell that story, you need to tell it like holistically. The US, the CIA in particular, are plotting with the Belgian to overthrow and eventually assassinate Patrice Lumumba. But that means speaking about the minerals of the Congo, that means the Cold War, the jazz and the jazz ambassadors.

Does the inclusion of the jazz, is it partly there to make it more palatable to a general audience who don't know a huge amount about African politics? I think eventually it does and it works very well in that sense. The idea behind the use of jazz was that jazz and those artists like those jazz men and women were real part of that story you know. Louis Armstrong was sent to the Congo and he was touring the Congo at the end of 1960 which is a moment where basically the country is the equivalent of a civil war. And so it's about how they become almost a character to that story, you know, the jazz

and what was happening at the time, politically speaking, I think that make one actually. The film is a highly unusual mix of heavyweight politics and gorgeous music. We'll see what happens at the Academy Awards but producer Rémi Gréletti says the film had an effect even before its Oscar nomination. In Belgium it was released in early September of last year and it's been very successful. The press was great. I think Belgium overall is more ready than it used to face that dark chapter of its history to the willingness to learn more. That report by Vincent Dard. to face that dark chapter of its history to the willingness to learn more.

That report by Vincent Dard. 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 globalpodcasts.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service. Just use the hashtag globalnewspod. This This podcast is sponsored by WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. If you're sending or spending money abroad, you should use WISE. You'll have up to 40 currencies in the palm of your hand. WISE gives you the real exchange rate, which means you'll spend less on fees and more of your money gets where you need it to be. Download the WISE gives you the real exchange rate, which means you'll spend less on fees and more of your money gets where you need it to be.

Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply.