Trump aide tells Ukraine to ''tone down'' US criticism
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What are the main highlights of the podcast?
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jalil and in the early hours of Friday the 21st of February, these are our main stories. The White House National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, tells Ukraine to tone down its criticism of the US and sign a minerals deal being pushed by President Trump. A planned news conference between President Zelensky and a visiting U.S. envoy is abruptly cancelled as a rift between the two countries deepens. The Mexican army arrests a senior leader of the notorious Sinaloa drugs cartel. Also in this podcast, Amazon takes over creative control of the James Bond franchise after agreeing a deal with the Broccoli family.
They have had their hands on that wheel for a long time, but we are here still talking about Bond 64 years later. And I think they will still be looking over the backseat at who's driving.
We look at what this means for the future of the world's most famous fictional spy and how a wrong turn saw a cycling race descend into chaos. A day after Donald Trump called the Ukrainian leader a dictator for daring to say that the US president lived in a Russian disinformation space, an aide to Mr Trump has said that Vladimir Zelensky needs to tone down his criticism of the US and sign a deal for mineral rights to pay for American support in Ukraine's war against Russia.
Why is the US urging Ukraine to tone down criticism?
Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor, told Mr Zelensky to get over his reluctance to sign the deal, which he thought could be worth as much as half a trillion dollars to the US.
President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelensky. The fact that he hasn't come to the table, that he hasn't been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered, I think he eventually will get to that point, and I hope so very quickly.
Meanwhile, a U.S. envoy, retired General Keith Kellogg, has been holding talks with Mr. Zelensky in Kiev. He said he'd come to listen. But a planned joint news conference on Thursday afternoon was cancelled at the last minute, the Ukrainians say, at the request of the American side. However, afterwards, the Ukrainian president described his meeting with the US envoy as productive and called for stronger ties with Washington. In just over a week, President Trump has dramatically upended US foreign policy. Speaking to Vladimir Putin on the phone, allowing high-level face-to-face talks between Russia and the US that excluded Ukraine and Europe,
What is the status of US-Ukraine relations?
and suggesting that it was Ukraine that started the war. Our international editor, Jeremy Bowen, is in Kiev, and he told me U.S.-Ukrainian relations have plummeted to a new low.
I think the fact that the news conference was cancelled, guesswork on my part, but the indications I'd say are that they had nothing good to say about each other, so best not to say it in public. And also, General Kellogg, the US envoy, would have been asked all sorts of awkward questions about, does he agree that Zelensky, who presumably would have been standing next to him, is a dictator? as president trump has said as for waltz the national security advisor and one of the criticisms of the american approach has been is that they are treating ukraine potentially like a colony where they can extract its mineral wealth its natural wealth and just walk off with it in a very very one-sided deal and waltz was saying you've got to get that contract signed and tone down the uh
the nasty comments about our leadership, even though the Americans, of course, have license to say, President Trump particularly, about what he wants about the Ukrainians. So I think they are saying, look, it is an unequal relationship. We are stronger than you. And you know what? Bad luck. We're going to do what we want and you better go along with us.
President Zelensky clearly feels he's got nothing to gain by biting his tongue. What do Ukrainians make of the Trump administration lashing out at their president in this way and the way that Vladimir Zelensky is responding to that?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What are the main highlights of the podcast?
0:28–1:59
2
Why is the US urging Ukraine to tone down criticism?
1:59–3:09
3
What is the status of US-Ukraine relations?
3:09–7:40
4
How might Amazon's acquisition impact the James Bond franchise?
7:40–11:29
5
Who is the Mexican army's latest arrest in the drug war?
11:29–14:50
6
What challenges are faced by independent media in Azerbaijan?
14:50–18:39
7
Who could be the next James Bond?
18:39–28:27
Speakers
10 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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