The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | May 23rd, 2025: Will Iran Walk Away From Nuclear Negotiations? & Russia, Ukraine To Swap 2,000 Prisoners In Largest Exchange Of The War

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  First, another round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran took place today in Rome, but increasingly intransigent leaders in Tehran are growing skeptical that they will be able to reach a new deal with the Trump administration. We’ll have the details. Later in the show—despite the diplomatic deadlock over the war in Ukraine, leaders in Kyiv and Moscow are carrying out the largest prisoner swap of the more than three year old conflict that will see 2,000 soldiers freed. 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 Jacked Up Fitness: Go to https://GetJackedUp.com and use code BAKER at checkout to save 10% off your entire purchase TriTails Premium Beef: Visit https://TryBeef.com/PDB for 2 free Flat Iron steaks with your first box over $250 Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, another round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran took place today in Rome, but the Iranian regime is signaling that they may walk away from the negotiating table over the Trump administration's demands to end all uranium enrichment. We'll have those details. Later in the show, despite the diplomatic deadlock over the war in Ukraine, leaders in Kiev and Moscow are conducting the largest prisoner swap of the more than three-year-old conflict. Some 2,000 soldiers are involved in this exchange. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

We begin today with the latest on the U.S. Iran nuclear talks, as leaders in Tehran reportedly grow skeptical that they'll be able to reach a new deal with the Trump administration. Well, actually, to be honest, maybe if they quit pursuing, nuclear weapons and also stopped funding and training and otherwise supporting their various terrorist proxies, they could probably reach a new deal. The fifth round of negotiations played out earlier today in Rome, led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abasarachi, and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Whitkoth. They spoke indirectly through Omani mediators. The talks ended without any major breakthroughs, but Oman's foreign minister said progress was made towards at least establishing a framework for a potential

future deal. That's diplomatic speak for we didn't really get a lot done, and said he hopes to, quote, clarify the remaining issues in the coming days. While the White House remains hopeful that they can find a diplomatic off-ramp to the Islamic regime's nuclear ambitions, two Iranian sources exclusively told CNN on Friday that the Mullahs may decide to walk away from negotiations entirely. The impasse is reportedly over whether or not Iran will be allowed to continue their domestic enrichment of uranium at a lower level for what they dubiously claim are civilian purposes. Now, President Trump has repeatedly insisted that any deal must include Iran's full abandonment of enrichment activities. That's an outcome that Iran's leadership continues to reject.

Whitkoff reiterated that message in a recent interview with ABC News, stating, quote, we cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability, calling that red line non-negotiable. As we've previously discussed, Iran has been rapidly expanding their nuclear program in recent years with the enrichment of uranium to 60% purity. Now, that's far above civilian energy needs and dangerously close, frankly, to the 90% weapons grade levels. They now have enough material, reportedly to produce six nuclear weapons and reportedly hold nearly all the components needed to assemble a bomb. In a joint message, the Iranian sources told CNN, quote, that media statements and negotiating behavior of the U.S. has widely disappointed policymaking

circles in Tehran. Oh, it's a shame to disappoint them. When the U.S. knows that accepting zero enrichment in Iran is impossible and yet insists on it. It is a sign that the U.S. is fundamentally not seeking an agreement and is using the negotiations as a tool to intensify pressure, end quote. Iran claims that they are willing to commit to never developing a nuclear weapon, getting rid of their stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and allowing international inspectors to supervise the process, in exchange for the U.S. lifting all sanctions on the regime and allowing low-level domestic enrichment to continue. The Iranian sources told CNN that their participation in the Rome talks was not aimed at pursuing a potential diplomatic breakthrough, but solely to gauge whether there is any

wiggle room with the Trump administration on the question of enrichment. The Iranian foreign minister made his demands plain in a statement ahead of Friday's talks, saying, quote, figuring out the path to a deal is not rocket science. Zero nuclear weapons equals we do have a deal. Zero enrichment equals we do not have a deal. Time to decide, end quote. But it goes without saying that assurances from Iran that they'll not flout the terms of any potential agreement, well, they're not really worth much. The 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive plan of action, or JCPOA, because, as you know, everybody loves a good acronym. In theory, it limited Iran to enriching uranium to 3.67 percent. That's far below the 90 percent levels

that are considered weapons grade. But Iran was quickly accused of covertly violating the terms of the deal to continue their pursuit of nuclear weapons, which is in part what prompted President Trump to pull out of the deal in 2018 during his first term. Still, the White House, projected their usual optimism ahead of Friday's talks, with press secretary Caroline Levitt telling reporters that Trump believes in negotiations are, quote, moving in the right direction. We should mention that looming over the ongoing discussions are reports from earlier this week that Israel is making preparations to potentially strike Iranian nuclear facilities. It remains unclear, however, if Israeli leaders have made a final decision on whether or not to attack.

The Iranian foreign minister warned the Trump administration, ooh, now they're issuing warnings, not just demands, but warnings. They will hold the U.S. personally responsible for any military action taken by Israel and will adopt, quote, special measures to protect its nuclear sites and material if such threats continue. A separate statement from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, threatened a, quote, devastating and decisive response should Israel strike. A spokesman for the IRGC said, quote, They're trying to frighten us with war, but are miscalculating as they are unaware of the powerful, popular, and military support, the Islamic Republic can muster in war conditions, end quote.

Well, for now, talks will continue, but it does appear that between Iran's hardline stands towards enrichment and Israel's concerns over the Islamic regime's true endgame, the Trump administration may have a difficult time finding a viable diplomatic solution, And by that I mean, well, they will have a difficult time finding any viable diplomatic solution. All right, coming up next, Russia and Ukraine are carrying out the largest prisoner swap of the more than three-year-old war, which will see some 2,000 soldiers freed. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, this July, and maybe you've heard about this, but there's going to be an important global summit of Bricks Nations, and it'll be held in Rio de Janeiro.

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Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. While diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine appear to be deadlocked, Moscow and Kiev are moving forward with the largest prisoner exchange of the more than three-year-old conflict. Russia and Ukraine both confirmed that they had completed the first phase of the prisoner swap on Friday, with each side returning 390 soldiers and civilians. The exchanges will continue through Saturday and Sunday, with a total of 2,000 prisoners of war, expected to be freed by the end of the weekend, that's according to a report from Reuters.

The agreement for each side of at least 1,000 prisoners was reached during negotiations in Istanbul last week, as the first direct talks between Moscow and Kiev since the early months of the war. It was, however, the only significant outcome of the otherwise ineffective bilateral peace talks. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy celebrated the moment in a statement on Friday, saying, quote, we are bringing our people home the first part of the agreement to exchange 1000 for 1,000 has been implemented, he added, quote, we will definitely return everyone, every one of our citizens, end quote. Officials in both countries said the first phase included the release of 270 soldiers and 120 civilians who were transferred at the

Ukraine-Belarus border. The Russian Defense Ministry said their soldiers and civilians were now in Belarus, where they're being provided with psychological and medical assistance before being brought back to Russia. The Ukrainian prisoners, were brought to a hospital in northern Ukraine near the Belarus border for examination, after which they'll return to their families. Most appeared thin and pale with shaven heads, though pictures released by Zelensky showed them smiling and draped in Ukrainian flags. President Trump took the truth social to congratulate both sides on the negotiated swap and suggested that this quote could lead to something big. It appears both Russia and Ukrainian

officials may agree in a rare sign of potential progress towards a ceasefire. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that once the full swap is completed on Sunday, the Kremlin will hand Ukraine a draft, quote, outlining the conditions for achieving a sustainable long-term comprehensive settlement agreement. Ukrainian defense minister Rustam Umbrov, meanwhile, called the exchange the first stage of a potential ceasefire with Russia. He said, quote, we achieved 1,000 for 1,000. After this, if it will be successful, as I said, first is exchanges, second is the ceasefire, end quote. Still, as we discussed on this morning's PDB, the road to a potential piece looks like it will still be a long one. While Ukraine has already

agreed to a proposal from President Trump for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, in order to allow time for more substantive negotiations to begin, Putin, on his part, continues to resist these efforts. Instead of a ceasefire, Putin said earlier this week that Russia is, quote, ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord. Well, that sounds like he's kicking the can down the road, which would define the principles of settlement and the timing of a possible peace agreement. He added that, quote, the main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis. Now, the mention of root causes is telling, as it is a phrase commonly used by the Kremlin to place blame on Kiv for the war, despite the inconvenient truth for Putin, that this is

Putin's war. Putin is sticking to his long-held demands, calling for Ukraine to end their pursuit of NATO membership, officially cede Crimea and four occupied regions in eastern Ukraine to Russia, and withdraw their military from the front lines. Moscow also continues to demand a halt to all-Western military aid to Kiev as a condition for a ceasefire, and Putin reportedly wants a pony. These terms, of course, remain non-starters for Ukraine, except for perhaps the pony. Russia, of course, knows that, which you could argue, suggest that Putin is not serious about ending the war at this time. I know that's shocking. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday the 23rd of May. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.

And to listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that, and it's very simple. Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdb premium.com. Now, if you glance at the calendar, you'll notice that once again, it's Friday. And your reward for making it through another week is a brand new episode of our ever-popular extended weekend show, The PDB Situation Report. This week's guests include Ben-Talablu from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, along with author of the terrific book, Winning Space and All-around Smart Guy, Brandon Weikert. We're talking about a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure,

the ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iran, the recently announced Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield for the U.S., hypersonic weapons, and, of course, laser beams. As always, new episodes hit the airwaves at 10 p.m. every Friday on the first TV, and can easily be found on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief, as well as podcast platforms everywhere. By the way, the Situation Report just celebrated its one-year anniversary. It is crazy how time flies. As Ferris Bueller said, life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Hopefully you're not missing the Situation Report. Stop and check it out. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report.

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