ukraine out of the process. this map shows the extent of russian progress in the war, here in red, territory regained or held by ukraine, in purple. we are just days from the third anniversary of russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine. we'll have reaction to president trump's comments shortly, but first, here's our north america editor sarah smith. donald trump and vladimir putin — not friends exactly, certainly not allies, but able to work together. like at this summit in helsinki in 2018. mr trump seems to have a wary admiration for the russian

strongman, and he says they enjoyed a long, productive phone call today, even promising to visit each other�*s countries. on social media, he posted... there have actually been over 100,000 deaths not millions. and he went on... thatjust raises so many questions.

when there is so much hurt here, and there's so much funding that our people need. so although we have always been the country bailing everybody out, i think, at a certain point, we need to take a step back, and see, like, are our people hurting? people the return last night of marc fogel, an american teacherjust released from a russian prison and welcomed to the white house, helped set the positive mood between the two nations. i want you to know that i am

not a hero in this at all, and president trump is a hero. it is all part of a carefully choreographed diplomatic dance, a rapprochement between russia and america that must be deeply worrying to ukraine. earlier on wednesday, the us defence secretary pete hegseth said the us didn't support ukrainejoining nato, and that a return to the country's 2014 borders was unrealistic. james waterhouse reports from the capital kyiv. the heightening talk of peace has changed little in kyiv. an all—too—familiar tragedy at dawn, after russian missiles once more targeted ukraine's capital, killing one and injuring four more. but the blows for ukraine kept coming. at this conference centre in brussels, america's new defence secretary laid out a blunt message from the white house. we want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous ukraine. but we must start by recognising that returning to ukraine's pre—2014 borders

is an unrealistic objective. that means ukraine is going to lose land to russia. the united states does not believe that nato membership for ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable european and non—european troops. to be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be us troops deployed to ukraine. ukraine is also grappling with a battlefield reality of minimal progress. it is the invaders who have been dominant. tonight, president zelensky had his own call with donald trump. translation: we discussed many issues, and president trump - informed me of what putin told him.

we believe that america's strength is enough, together with us, to pressure russia and putin towards peace. and that road to peace is neither going to be straight nor smooth for ukraine. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. i'm joined now by maria snegovaya, seniorfellow with the europe, russia, and eurasia program at the center for strategic and international studies. thank you, maria, for talking to me about this. what are your first thoughts when you have the comments from president trump, orfrom the the comments from president trump, or from the white the comments from president trump, orfrom the white house, saying that the chances of ukraine joining saying that the chances of ukrainejoining nato are ukraine joining nato are unrealistic?— ukraine joining nato are unrealistic? . ., ., unrealistic? yeah, thanks for havinu unrealistic? yeah, thanks for having me- _ unrealistic? yeah, thanks for having me. certainly, - unrealistic? yeah, thanks for having me. certainly, like . unrealistic? yeah, thanks for having me. certainly, like so| having me. certainly, like so many analysts today, i'm a little bit surprised to discover the us administration to deliver so many concessions to deliver so many concessions to putin pre—emptively, before the talks have even started, and putin seems to be already getting so much of what he was

hoping for, while continuing to invade ukraine, and without being given anything in return separately. he is get guarantees of no nato membership for ukraine. it has also been mentioned there will be some territorial concessions delivered to russia. there are future elections in ukraine, which was one of the kremlin talking points potentially, and seemingly ending, suggesting allegedly that trump —— p ten�*s internationalisation will be ending with the meeting between trump and putin. so it seems for some reason putin is getting a lot. it is very unclear what he is willing to get in return, and the problem is whether the deal with russia is whether the deal with russia is going to be very successful, when the us pre—emptively is making so many concessions to putin already.— putin already. yes, and how will this be _ putin already. yes, and how will this be viewed - putin already. yes, and how will this be viewed in - putin already. yes, and how will this be viewed in kyiv? l will this be viewed in kyiv? president zelenskyy must be incredibly concerned? certainly. unfortunately,

ukraine's position not ideal right now on the battlefield. russia has an upper hand in advancing further over the last several months. to the same time, to my knowledge, there hasn't been any serious moves by the current administration to offer more military aid to ukraine, which is absolutely needed to at least prevent further russian advances in ukraine, and in this situation zelenskyy probably has no other chance than to go with the flow, because he of course, and the future of his country is definitely highly dependent on the continuing western assistance.— the continuing western assistance. , , assistance. president trump said zelenskyy _ assistance. president trump said zelenskyy would - assistance. president trump said zelenskyy would not. assistance. president trump said zelenskyy would not be| said zelenskyy would not be frozen out of the discussions but he did also seem to suggest that they would need to be an election in ukraine. that must be a concern for zelenskyy personally, and for the country as a whole?— as a whole? definitely ukraine at the moment _ as a whole? definitely ukraine at the moment is _ as a whole? definitely ukraine at the moment is a _ as a whole? definitely ukraine at the moment is a country - as a whole? definitely ukraine at the moment is a country of| at the moment is a country of war, with martial law in place, is not in a position to hold

war, with martial law in place, is not i had osition to hold war, with martial law in place, is not i had to tion to hold war, with martial law in place, is not i had to flee to hold war, with martial law in place, is not arei to flee to hold war, with martial law in place, is not are in)flee to hold war, with martial law in place, is not are in otherto hold war, with martial law in place, is not are in other territories others are in other territories so it is very unclear how such an election could be organised. lastly i am not convinced this is the most important, urgent need for ukraine at the moment. as i mentioned before there are more important issues to be resolved, such as the front line situation and specifically the continuing supply of weapons to ukraine to stop further russian advances. i am not tracing what the kremlin is saying, what the russian elites are saying. there is no indication that putin has given up indication that putin has given up his original plans, which are ultimately to as to cease ukraine's existence as an independent

imperial advances. maria, thank ou so imperial advances. maria, thank you so much. — imperial advances. maria, thank you so much, we _ imperial advances. maria, thank you so much, we will— imperial advances. maria, thank you so much, we will leave - imperial advances. maria, thank you so much, we will leave it. you so much, we will leave it there for now. maria snegovaya, a senior fellow with the europe, russia and eurasia programme at the centre for international strategic studies. separately, us officials say they have a secured the release of three people who'd been detained in belarus. among them is andrey kuznechyk, a veteran journalist with radio

liberty. us officials had designated him as a political prisoner. he was freed alongside another belarussian national and a us citizen, both of whom have yet to be named. we are in the countdown to a crucially important weekend in the middle east, with a resumption of the war in gaza now a very real possibility. israel says that unless hamas produces all its hostages by this weekend, then the ceasefire will be over. the israeli defence minister israel katz warned on wednesday that the campaign would be even greater in intensity than the one before the ceasefire. it will facilitate, he said, the plan president trump has set out for gaza. translation: if hamas does not release the israeli hostages - by saturday, then the gates of hell will open upon them, just as the president of the united states promised. i come here today to ensure that the idf is properly prepared to renew the war in gaza. the entire ceasefire agreement with the hamas murderers

was intended to bring about the swift release of the israeli hostages, who were being held in grave conditions in gaza, and for that, israel has agreed to pay a heavy price. if hamas stops the hostage release, then there is no ceasefire agreement and there is war. the new gaza war will be of another intensity from the one before the ceasefire, and will not end without the defeat of hamas and the release of all the hostages, and it will also allow the realisation of trump's vision for gaza. president trump is pushing jordan to back us control of gaza. butjordan�*s king rejected the idea on tuesday in a white house meeting. he pointed to an egyptian effort that would see palestinians keep their land in a reconstructed gaza. the white house press secretary acknowledged the king's position, but said that president trump believes his own idea is "more majestic". the king would much prefer

that the palestinians stay in place, with the additional land to be used for new developed, which would greatly create jobs at levels never seen before, but the president feels it would be much better and more majestic if these palestinians could be moved to safer areas. our middle east correspondent wyre davis gave us this update from jerusalem. the ceasefire looks increasingly precarious as we get to saturday's deadline, a deadline imposed on hamas to release israeli hostages or the ceasefire deal comes to an end and the war against gaza resumes. but apart from mr trump specifying that all 76 hostages should be released, outside the framework of the existing peace agreement, the israeli prime minister and the other ministers have not specified how many prisoners they want

to see released. mass is only due to release three or hostages every weekend mass is only due to release three six—week s every weekend mass is only due to release three six—week period ' weekend mass is only due to release three six—week period but ekend over a six—week period but hamas is not release the over a six—week period but ham. gaza |ot release the names , , . . over a six—week period but ham. gaza on release the names , , , , over a six—week period but ham. gaza on saturday. e names , , , , over a six—week period but ham. gaza on saturday. e�* it mes , , , , from gaza on saturday. if it does from gaza on saturday. if it d: going to be very difficult is going to be very difficult for benjamin netanyahu is going to be very difficult for ber and n netanyahu 2:77 w is going to be very difficult for ber and say etanyahu 2:77 w is going to be very difficult for ber and say all 1yahu 2:77 w is going to be very difficult for ber and say all bets| 2:77 w is going to be very difficult for ber and say all bets are was.-. w around and say all bets are off, the ceasefire is finished, we are war, we are going to resume the war, even though that might be his instinct to do so. so we are in a very, very difficult period. and qatari today, egyptian and qatari negotiators, who helped of course brokered negotiators, who helped of course br the ed negotiators, who helped of course br the bbc that are they

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maybe a touch brighter, and again there could be some sunshine in scotland, perhaps into some northern parts of england, as well, but another chilly day. those temperatures are really aren't changing very much over the next couple of days. now, let's head into the weekend, and there's still some colder air around, but there's signs of something a little bit milder trying to come into western areas, and that's where we see these weather fronts pushing their way northwards through the weekend. that last one, then, tending to weaken,

and as you can see, the cold air still firmly in place, any mild air really not making much inroads across the uk. there's still going to be a lot of cloud around this weekend. for northern and perhaps western areas, there could be some rain, maybe on sunday morning, some snow over the scottish hills and the northern pennines. a bit brighter in the southeast and temperatures may be a little higher.