The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 6th, 2025: Zelensky Reveals Conditions For Ending The War & Israel Prepares For Palestinian Exodus From Gaza

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, we’ll begin in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested that the U.S. provide Kyiv with nuclear weapons as an alternative security guarantee if NATO membership remains off the table. We’ll discuss the implications, and how President Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine is responding. Then, an update on Donald Trump’s proposal for a US-led takeover of the Gaza Strip, as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructs the IDF to prepare plans to allow Palestinians to voluntarily leave the enclave. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First, we'll begin in Ukraine, where President Zelenskyy has requested that the U.S. provide Kiev with nuclear weapons as an alternative security guarantee if NATO membership remains off the table. We'll discuss the implications and how President Trump's special envoy to Ukraine is responding. Then, following President Trump's remarks, proposing a U.S.-led takeover of the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the IDF to prepare plans to allow Palestinians to voluntarily leave the enclave. But first, our afternoon spotlight.

Ukrainian President Zelensky is revealing his conditions for ending the war with Russia, and they come with a major ask, from the United States, provide Keeve with nuclear weapons to serve as a deterrent. Oh, is that all you want? Zelensky made the request on Tuesday during an interview with British journalist Pierce Morgan, arguing that if there is to be any lasting and just peace in Eastern Europe, Ukraine must be granted meaningful security guarantees by the U.S. and Europe that will keep the Putin regime at bay. Now, while Zelensky would prefer to be granted NATO membership, he said if the Trump administration remains opposed to their accession to the alliance, nuclear weapons would

serve as a viable alternative. So you either put us in NATO or how about you give us some nukes. Zelensky acknowledged that even if Kiev is offered a pathway to NATO membership, the process could drag on for years or even decades, and that in the meantime, nuclear weapons could deter Vladimir Putin from attempting to invade Ukraine again. Zolensky said, quote, what will be defending us against this evil. Will we be given nuclear weapons? Then let them give us nuclear weapons, end quote. During the interview, Zelensky noted that Ukraine once had a stockpile of nuclear weapons that they inherited after the fall of the Soviet Union, but voluntarily gave them up in 1994 after receiving security assurances from the U.S., the U.K., and believe it or not, Russia.

Zelensky was highly critical of that decision, arguing that the security security. guarantees lacked real teeth, well apparently so, leaving them vulnerable to Russia over the long term. He wants to avoid putting Ukraine in a similar position under any potential peace plans offered by the Trump administration. The Ukrainian leader continued, quote, let's do this, give us back nuclear arms, give us missile systems, help us finance a million strong army, or deploy your contingence in parts of our country where we want stability so that people feel safe, end quote. But Zeletsky's hope, are likely to be dashed by the Trump administration. Retire General Keith Kellogg,

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, dismissed the idea during an interview on Wednesday night, arguing that it was a non-starter. Kellogg said, quote, the chance of them getting their nuclear weapons back is somewhere between slim and none. And that's, frankly, so there'd be none. Let's be honest about it, he said.

We both know that's not going to happen, end quote. Kellogg did confirm that people. plans are underway for meetings between President Trump, Zelensky, and Putin, and said both sides would need to make significant concessions if pieces to be achieved. But a timeline is still unclear, and the administration remains tight-lipped on how they plan to bring the nearly three-year-old conflict to a just resolution. Coming up, an update on President Trump's proposal for a U.S.-led takeover of the Gaza Strip, as Israeli defense minister Israel Katz instructs the IDF to prepare plans to allow Palestinians to voluntarily leave the enclave.

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quote, special arrangements for departures by sea and air. Katz framed it, as granting Palestinians the, quote, freedom to leave and emigrate, as is customary everywhere in the world, end quote. Now, as we discussed on today's PDB, Katz's comments follow Trump's remarks on Tuesday alongside Prime Minister Netanyahu, in which he suggested that the U.S. should take a, quote, long-term ownership position of Gaza, redevelop it, and resettle its displaced population. However, Trump's proposal has faced intense pushback, as you might imagine, with human rights organizations, accusing him of advocating for ethnic cleansing. Netanyahu, in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, defended the idea stating, quote, the actual idea of allowing first Ghazans who want to leave

to leave, what's wrong with that? He added that the displaced Palestinians could return if necessary. The push for so-called voluntary immigration has long been championed by Israeli hardliners, who view mass Palestinian resettlement as a resolution to the conflict. In the early months of the Israel-Khamas war, Nanyahu's government lobbied allies, including the U.S. and the U.K., to pressure Egypt into accepting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Now, that effort was met with broad rejection, as regional leaders feared Israel would permanently block their return.

Neighboring countries, such as Jordan, have largely refused to accept Palestinian refugees, citing economic burdens and security concerns. Katz's plan marks a notable shift in Israeli policy, policy, as Israel has maintained a strict blockade on Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took power following Israel's withdrawal after nearly 40 years of occupation. In announcing his instructions to the IDF, Katz called on countries that recently recognized Palestinian statehood, such as Spain, Ireland, and Norway, to open their doors to Palestinian refugees, stating that refusal would

expose their, quote, hypocrisy. Spain's foreign minister swiftly rejected Katz, idea, stating, quote, Gazan's land is Gaza, and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state, end quote. On Thursday morning, Trump took to truth social to clarify his comments from earlier in the week, claiming that Israel would hand over Gaza to the U.S. after hostility ceased, and the population was resettled elsewhere. It's important to note that the president insisted that no American troops would be needed, and that Palestinians would be, quote,

resettled and far safer in more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes in the region, end quote. For now, Gats's directive remains an early stage plan with no clear timeline or logistical framework. However, as both Trump and Israeli hardliners push for Palestinian resettlement, the debate over the enclave's future intensifies. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday, 6 February. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please, Please reach out to me at PDB at thefirstTV.com. And of course, as you may already know, to listen to the show ad-free, well, simply become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com. See how simple that is.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings,

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