and hamas until the attitudes of both sides improve. the eu's chief diplomat promises unwavering support to ukraine — with donald trump's election causing uncertainty about us assistance. and huge protests in the spanish city of valencia over the handling of last week's deadly flash floods. welcome to bbc news. the white house says presidentjoe biden and president—elect donald trump will meet wednesday at the oval office, as the transition gets under way. president biden�*s invitation to mr trump is a tradition between the outgoing and incoming presidents, though mr trump did not invite his predecessor the white house in 2020. the two were last seen together in new york at an event to mark 23 years since the september 11th attacks.

before that, their most notable recent meeting was injune, the first debate of the presidential election. a poor performance by president biden on stage that night fuelled calls for him to end his re—election campaign. and now that kamala harris has lost, some democrats are blaming mr biden for not dropping out soon enough, including former speaker of the us house of representatives, nancy pelosi. she played a key role in convincing mr biden to eventually step aside. the bbcs anna foster is following reaction from here in washington. the noise and fury this election generated isn't quite over yet. here in washington, police sealed off roads around a conservative think tank as several hundred protesters gathered, anxious about what donald trump's new government means for them. i think it puts me in a position where i feel like i'm not being accurately represented. it's frustrating, i feel a little powerless. i think that society was moving towards a direction that was much more open and progressive and inclusive of people like us, and it's scary to think we might be

going back in the next couple of years. the different branches of the us government are often held by different parties, which builds in checks and balances to stop one from becoming too dominant. but as the final votes from tuesday's election are counted, it isn't looking that way. the republican party now controls the senate, which is half of the us congress, and as the final votes are being held they are getting closer all the time to having control of the house of representatives as well, and they've also got a majority on the supreme court — and that is making people nervous about the amount of power that they could eventually hold. not the majority of americans, though, who got the comprehensive republican victory they voted for. now, one of the most senior democrats, nancy pelosi, has conceded thatjoe biden�*s late withdrawal from the presidential race harmed kamala harris�*s chances of winning it. he stepped aside too late

for a contest to be held to pick a successor. the anticipation was that if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary. and, as i say, kamala may have... i think she would have done well in that and being stronger going forward, but we don't know that. that didn't happen, we live with what happened. donald trump remains at the mar—a—lago estate in florida, assembling his top team. and on wednesday he will fly to washington to meetjoe biden and return to the west wing for the first time, ready for his big comeback. anna foster, bbc news, washington. president—elect trump is expected to announce his cabinet soon. he has said he will not have mike pompeo and nikki haley in his administration, ms haley was

his main challengerfor administration, ms haley was his main challenger for the republican presidential nomination. cbs reports that robert f kennedyjunior, a noted vaccine sceptic and conspiracy theorist will be working with trump. let's speak to matt terrill — former chief of staff for senator marco rubio's presidential campaign. great to have you back on bbc news. you heard their president biden will be hosting donald trump on wednesday in the oval office, a long—standing tradition that mr trump did not extend to biden after his 2020 loss, but looking at this meeting, how important do you think it is going to be, in terms of mr trump seeking to unite the country? it is terms of mr trump seeking to unite the country?— unite the country? it is an important _ unite the country? it is an important meeting - unite the country? it is an important meeting and i unite the country? it is an i important meeting and both leaders will want to do their part to unite the country. president trump recognises, i suspect, the importance of doing that, and so does

president biden. the punch line is that this is a moment to unite the country and both sides need to do that, but it can'tjust be through rhetoric, it has to be through action. they need to focus on the policies, for example inflation, the economy, these are issues that all americans can get behind, so i suspect they will focus on those issues, those are the kind of issues, those are the kind of issues that can unite all americans will see what happens here. i americans will see what happens here. , , , ., americans will see what happens here. , ,, ., ., ., here. i surprised to hear that donald trump _ here. i surprised to hear that donald trump has _ here. i surprised to hear that donald trump has already i here. i surprised to hear that i donald trump has already ruled out two of his most senior members of his last administration, nikki haley and mr pompeo? hat administration, nikki haley and mr pompeo?— mr pompeo? not necessarily, i think he will— mr pompeo? not necessarily, i think he will bring _ mr pompeo? not necessarily, i think he will bring loyalist - mr pompeo? not necessarily, i think he will bring loyalist to i think he will bring loyalist to the administration. i think it is going to be a network approach, he will bring some folks from his previous term and new people, i think it will be people buy from government but also some people from the

private sector, and we are hearing about mr kennedy and potentially elon musk playing an out side role in the administration as well. different people playing different roles but i think this transition is much more organised than the first transition, i think people like susie wls, for example, has run a very disciplined operation within the trump orbit, i think that will help in making the transition smooth and i suspect we will see more announcements soon, with respective senior staff and other positions being announced. it staff and other positions being announced-— announced. it seems that the verdict so _ announced. it seems that the verdict so far— announced. it seems that the verdict so far is _ announced. it seems that the verdict so far is definitely - verdict so far is definitely that this drug administration is a bit more prepared for the transition than last time around. we also know donald trump has said he will prioritise immigration on day one, he has promised this mass deportation. how is that being viewed as a priority among republicans? how risky do you think this might be? this is an operation likely to be very expensive and potentially difficult to pull off.- difficult to pull off. well, look, president -

difficult to pull off. well, look, president trump i difficult to pull off. well, i look, president trump has difficult to pull off. well, . look, president trump has a mandate, the scenario right now, particularly with immigration, we are seeing two different things, one, republicans have a mandate, not just with president trump and well in the electoral powers but he won the popular vote and to that end, a lot of americans voted for president trump because they were concerned about border security and immigration so i think we are going to see on day one president trump and republicans enacted many policies with respect to immigration. i think they will pick up where they left off, take for example title 42 and other policies that president trump enacted in his first presidency. i think americans expect, the majority who voted for him, expecting my president trump and republicans in congress, to take action on border security, in congress, to take action on bordersecurity, i in congress, to take action on border security, i think he will move forward with mass deportation, bringing

potentially 10,000 new border agents to the border. these are all things that president trump promised during the campaign, he has a mandate to go for it, lots of policies, including on immigration.— immigration. you talk about that mandate, _ immigration. you talk about that mandate, a _ immigration. you talk about that mandate, a large - immigration. you talk about l that mandate, a large number immigration. you talk about - that mandate, a large number of african—american and latino voters did vote for donald trump in this election, how do you view this? do you think this is a one off? the majority based on his own popularity and personality or could this be more of a lasting coalition for republicans?— republicans? that is a great question- — republicans? that is a great question- i _ republicans? that is a great question. i think— republicans? that is a great question. i think president l question. i think president trump obviously one i have a lot of key voting blocs, many had traditionally voted in high numbers for the democrats, young voters, latino voters, black voters, union voters, other key voting blocs that really mattered in this election, they had been at the base and essentially of the democrat party, the key question to your point is will

that state with the republican parties? were those voters just voting for president trump and agreeing with him on key policies like border security and the economy, or will they show up two years from now for the midterm elections? if the republican party can keep those voters, the voters that voted for president trump, and keep them in the party, that will be very impactful. them in the party, that will be very impactful-_ very impactful. already talk about the — very impactful. already talk about the midterms, - very impactful. already talk about the midterms, just i very impactful. already talk i about the midterms, just two years away, it feels like we're only just years away, it feels like we're onlyjust finishing this election. thank you forjoining us. donald trump's election victory has cast uncertainty over us backing for ukraine in its fight against russia. remember, ukraine gets military aid from both the us and europe. and previously, the president—elect has characterised the continued military assistance to ukraine as a drain on us resources. the eu's foreign policy chief josep borrell has been meeting ukraine's foreign minister

in kyiv — the first top eu official to visit since the us election. support from western allies has been key to ukraine's ability to defend itself against russia's much larger and better—equipped forces. mr borrell pledged continued support for ukraine from the eu. the clear purpose of this visit is to stress european union support to ukraine. this support remains unwavering, this support is absolutely needed for you to continue defending yourself against russian aggression. meanwhile, a campaign advisor to donald trump has told the bbc that the aim of ending the war in ukraine is about finding peace, not winning back territory. bryan lanza said ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, needed to acknowledge that crimea, annexed by russia in 2014, had been lost. he said the priority of the united states is to stop the killing. listen, i have a tremendous amount of respect for the ukrainian people,

they have proven over the last couple of years that their hearts are made of lions. europe needs ukrainian people to protect them as well. these citizens know how to fight russia, they've done it successfully. now, the challenge becomes, when you have an honest conversation with your partners is what are goals? zelensky, for example, he says his goal is to get crimea back. well, that is not the goal of the united states, and that is not the goal of the european nation states. we learned that in 2014, that when putin invaded crimea, europe did nothing. and so, now, when zelensky says, you know, we will only stop this fight, there will only be peace, once crimea is returned, we've got news for president zelensky — crimea is gone. and if that is your priority, is getting crimea back, and having american soldiers fight to get crimea back, you are on your own. that is not the priority of america. the priority of america is peace, and to stop the killing. a spokesperson for trump's transition team — which prepares the incoming administration for office — said mr lanza was "a contractor

for the campaign", but "does not work for president trump and does not speakfor him". on the ground, early on saturday russian drones struck ukraine's black sea port of odesa for a second successive day, killing one person and injuring 13 others, according to the regional governor. residential and commercial buildings were damaged. and across the border, a chemical plant in russia's tula region was hit by a ukrainian drone. the plant produces gunpowder, ammunition and weapons. a source within the security service of ukraine told reuters that the attack was part of a broader strategy to target russia's munitions factories. it's as we're also hearing reports from news agency reuters of blasts in kyiv. it comes after ukraine's airforce said a number of russian drones were heading towards the city. breaking news now, cbs tells us that donald trump has won the state of arizona. that would bring him clean sweep of all seven battleground states that

were closely fought in this election, taken some time since tuesday because my collection, that breaking news, donald trump has won the battleground state of arizona, making that all seven in the column folk donald trump. we will bring you more on those updated totals in electoral college but again a result that was mostly expected but has now been confirmed by our news partner cbs. joining me live is kurt volker. he served as united states special representative for ukraine negotiations during donald trump's administration. pray to have you back on bbc news. i want to ask you about those comments by trump ally brian lanza, essentially saying that ukraine might be saying to crimea in terms of these negotiations prioritising peace over land. what do you make of that? is this the beginning of may be a shift in tone from the us? i may be a shift in tone from the us? ., ., , ., , ,

may be a shift in tone from the us? ., ., , ., , ., us? i want to emphasise what the trump _ us? i want to emphasise what the trump campaign - us? i want to emphasise what the trump campaign actually i the trump campaign actually said which is that nobody speaks for president trump. he is going to make up his own mind, he is going to do what he is going to do and frankly none of us know what exactly that is. as for what he is saying, there are a couple of things to keepin there are a couple of things to keep in mind. one, the only reason there is a war is because vladimir putin has chosen to that they are to be a war. he attacked ukraine any attacks ukraine every day. second, when president trump met with current president of ukraine zelensky in new york, he said there needs to be peace and it needs to be a fair piece. and third, because the only reason there is a war is because putin is waging it, the issueis because putin is waging it, the issue is how do you convince putin to decide he needs to end it? and that is where president trump and his advisers, whoever they may be, are going to focus. what do we have to do to convince putin that this is no longer in his interests? how do

ou think longer in his interests? how do you think donald _ longer in his interests? how do you think donald trump - longer in his interests? how do you think donald trump will. you think donald trump will answer that question? what will go through his calculations? i guess i would say two things. one of them is to point out to putin, look, you are hurting your economy, you've got inflation over 20%, you've got interest rates over 20%, you have a labour shortage, you are really damaging your economy. you are also decimating your military, you've lost so many people, you have to bring in north koreans to come and fight for you, you are dependent on north korean artillery shells, this is not good for russia, it is in your own interest to stop this now. if you don't stop it, then we are going to let ukraine borrow as much money as it needs, they will buy american weapons and do whatever they want with them. so it is in everyone's interest to stop this war. i think that is where this goes. some of the

other issues that bryan lanza pension, the ideas of americans fighting in ukraine to retake crimea, nobody is talking about that, that is crimea, nobody is talking about that, that