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my needs, my career path, i matter here. ♪ ♪ narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. tar>> i'm caitriona perry in washington. this is bbc world news america. donald trump in a press conference talking about ending the war in ukraine but without any input from ukrainian leaders. lebanon withdrawal, losing soldiers in five locations.

usaid pause brings uncertainty to organizations around the world, including those fighting for humanitarian aid in sub-saharan africa. ♪ hello. it is great to have you with us. the u.s. and russia have agreed to go ahead with negotiations aimed at ending russia's war in ukraine. diplomats held four hours of talks in saudi arabia, the first of its kind since the full-scale and quick vision invasion of ukraine. diplomacy focused on ukraine this week, but neither ukraine or europe were granted a seat at the table, when u.s. and russian officials met in riyadh tuesday. while the u.s. and russia were

talking, yesterday, european leaders held an emergency summit in paris, a discussion for ukraine, underlined the urgency being felt by president donald trump's plans to resolve the war. a little earlier, the bbc asked u.s. president trump about kyiv and how it has been treated in these negotiations. have a listen. pres. trump: i'm really disappointed in what has happened. i have been watching this for three years. it is a war that would have never happened if i was president, and i have been watching these, you know, people be killed at levels that you would rarely see, not even close, since the second world war, and i'm very disappointed. i hear that they are upset about not having a seat. they've had a seat for three years, and a long time before that. this could have been settled very easily. when they are worried about not

being seated, humane, somebody should have gone in and made a deal a long time ago. caitriona: president trump responding to questions from my colleague, brendan boozman. correspondent james mandel has the latest on the days ahead. james: a moment of history, americans on the left, russians on the right, senior officials face-to-face for the first time in years, both sides silent and grim face for the media, but russia back at the top table without making any single concession and clearly glad to come in from the cold. america's top diplomat marco rubio saying they are pleased to find what he called a fair and enduring solution to the war in ukraine. >> i came away today to -- convinced they are willing to engage in a serious process, to

determine how quickly, what mechanisms came an end be brought to this war. it will obviously depend on every side of this conflict to agree in certain things. james: today, russia moves from being an international pariah to america's partner. the u.s. insisted no one was being sidelined, but just look around that table. no europeans and certainly no ukrainians. russia's veteran foreign minister said both sides had listened and heard each other but gave no sign of conceding anything. he said not only could ukraine never join nato, but russia would also not tolerate any western deterrence force within its borders. . minister lavrov: we explained today the appearance of armed forces in nato countries, under the european union or under a national flag does not change

anything in this regard. this is, of course, unacceptable to us. james: but britain and other european allies believe western troops are deployed to ukraine after any peace deal, not for training like this but to deter future russian aggression. president zelenskyy was today in turkey. he was not invited to the talks and has canceled his own plan trip to saudi arabia later this week. pres. zelenskyy: i am convinced that for ukraine and for our region, for europe, that it is critical to any negotiations to end the war are not happening behind the backs of the key parties affected by the russian aggression. james: the talks in saudi arabia went on for more than four hours, long enough for both sides to take a break. image is unthinkable in recent years. remember, russia's

foreign ministry still subject to u.s. sanctions. remember, too, after almost three years of war, russia is still attacking ukraine, launching yet another drone attack on kyiv and elsewhere overnight. for all the diplomacy, the fighting continues. james landale, bbc news. caitriona: the global magnitsky act, named after his colleague who died in russian co custody after exposing government corruption there. thanks for being with us on bbc news. why is it that the u.s. appears to be offering concessions to moscow, do you think? >> well, i think that is an extremely good question. vladimir putin is the one who launched this war of aggression. he is the one who has been

responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent ukrainians. he continues to push forward and take over a neighboring country that does not belong to him, and for america to say that russia should be brought in from the cold and somehow ukraine is at fault for not cutting a deal is just incomprehensible for anybody paying any attention to this war since the start. caitriona: discussing the move or sanctions allowing more diplomats at this point, does it undermine any future potential negotiations? sir bill: well, i mean, pressure should withdraw from ukraine, and until they do come and until they pay reparations for what they've done, until people face accountability for the crimes they have committed, i don't know how you could give russia any type of rewards in this

situation. the idea that the sanctions could be lifted is an unbelievable slap in the face for ukrainians and any victims of the regime. this is shocking. caitriona: we know president putin is an incredibly strategic individual. is this a great day for him, a great day for russia? sir bill: my god, they are dancing the jig in moscow right now. this could not be better. i would not say he's a great strategist, he's able to sustain the kind of pain that no other world leader can sustain. they lost hundreds of billions of dollars, lost thousands of soldiers, equipment, and he just kept going and going, sort of like a game of chicken, and until he swerved. donald trump is doing the swerving right now. it's truly a victory for vladimir putin. caitriona: president trump had been speaking from mar-a-lago earlier this afternoon, talking

about how the eu has been lax over the last couple of years, have the u.s. is not sidelining the eu and ukraine in this process. how do you see it? sir bill: well, the image of the meetings as everything. who was at the table? the russians, the americans, and their saudi hosts. the other party of this war, the defending party, ukraine, was not there, nor was the european union. to put it in simple numbers, the european union has provided the same amount of military age ukraine as the united states has. so for the european union not to be at the table, one of the major parties, which has a big interest in this whole thing and a big responsibility in this whole thing means that it is hard to imagine how this war will resolve itself in any meaningful, peaceful, long-term way. caitriona: just to flesh that out, if president trump and president putin do forge a deal,

and again, president trump saying today he will probably meet with the president before the end of six months, if they do a deal, then how is that in any way put in to prospect with ukrainian input not there? sir bill: well donald trump does have some leverage some of the levers that he does provide about half of the military aid to ukraine. he could say, "we are going to stop providing that military aid," at which point the europeans could say ok, well, we are going to double down. but that is a huge ask, considering the amounts involved. europeans could also confiscate the russian central bank reserves that are frozen. that would be enough money to tide the ukrainians over and not increase the budget problems in the european union. but america has the ultimate trump card, and that is that if they are not happy with the way europe has behaved, they can withdrawal nato soldiers from europe, and that would put the

europeans in a very difficult situation. i think that is the threat they are going to make. caitriona: is the concept of a deal further away than president trump may be presenting? he says at the press conference in mar-a-lago today that he would welcome european peacekeeping troops in ukraine. he wanted to see that. he does not want it to fall to the u.s. but you have minister lavrov saying it is completely unacceptable to russia to have eu troops under a nato flag or any other flag in ukraine. sir bill: first of all, it is kind of crazy for donald trump to say he wants the european union to put soldiers on the ground, but he's not allowing the european union to participate in the negotiations. so i think there is a disconnect there. and furthermore, why would the ukrainians accept any type of situation in which they are effectively being asked to surrender, surrender territory, surrender sovereignty, without any type of meaningful security

guarantees? how are they going to have those guarantees if there is soldiers from other countries there to help them enforce those guarantees? caitriona: sir bill browder, thank you so much for joining us here on bbc news with those insights. sir bill: thank you. caitriona: the israeli military has withdrawn from tents and villages in southern lebanon. the united nations says that is a violation of the terms of the cease-fire agreement that ended the 13 month conflict with hezbollah. november truce said that israeli troops are withdrawn within 60 days, a deadline that was extended to the 18th of february. the military is holding onto five outposts to protect israel, according to a minister, to protect israel from hezbollah. the lebanese army troops have

deployed in the areas that hezbollah has vacated. the lebanese are returning to their villages and have seen widespread destruction. our middle east correspondent in southern lebanon and has this report. >> this is the village in southern lebanon, and today was the first opportunity for residents to come and see the destruction caused by the war. that is to see what is left of their homes. and for many of those families, there's nothing really left to go back to. this is a village right next to the border with israel, and today is the end of the deadline , for the withdrawal of israeli troops from lebanon. israeli troops have left communities like this one, but they have stayed in positions along the borders. the israeli authorities describe those hill posts as strategic locations, and they say they will stay there indefinitely, because the lebanese army has

not clearly deployed in those parts of the country. now, if this is something that is rejected by the lebanese authorities, and they say that any remaining israeli presence will be considered as an occupation of lebanese territory. now, we seen a lot of people here with has blood flags, also posters with the face of the group's late leader n has seen nasrallah. now, this is just the beginning of the efforts to rebuild what has been destroyed. it is estimated that the cost of reconstruction, also economic damage caused by the war, will be reaching more than $10 billion, and nobody really knows who is going to help to pay for that. caitriona: in relation to gaza, officials say israel and hamas will begin in direct negotiations on the second phase

of the cease-fire deal, following the palestinian group of the agreement to release more israeli hostages held in gaza. hostages were released on thursday. hamas says the bodies will include those of one that was less than a year old, and families said they have not received official confirmation of their desk. israel says the deceased hostages will undergo identification in israel before they are renamed. hamas will then release an additional set of hostages. u.s. president donald trump and take billionaire elon musk gave a joint interview to fox news. the two have discussed the department of government efficiency, or doge, as it has been known. they have a goal for president trump's first 100 days in office. doge in recent days has been

charged with usaid and the department of education, looking for what they call waste, fraud, and abuse. hundreds of federal workers have been laid off. elon musk has long been a supporter of president trump, contribute $250 million to local committee supporting trump presidential campaign. the relationship has been shrouded in controversy, when he was given access to information. trump a blaming the media for the negative outlook. pres. trump: they have many different things. actually, elon called me, he said you know, they are trying to drive us apart. i said absolutely. we have breaking news, donald trump has ceded control of the presidency to elon must. president musk will be attending a cabinet meeting. [laughter] it is just horrendous. they are so bad at it. i used to think they were good

at it. they are bad at it. if they were good at it, i would never be president, because i think nobody in history has ever gotten more bad publicity than me. it's the greatest thing, i get 98% of bad publicity viewed outside of you and two of your very good friends, is like the craziest thing. but you know what i have learned, elon? the people are smart. they get it. elon: yeah. they do. pres. trump: they get it. caitriona: critics in nigeria are discussing the usaid withdrawal. the freeze on aid funding still is not clear. among those affected are millions of people living with hiv and aids, many in sub-saharan africa. our correspondent reports from legos now. >> it has been three weeks for many involved in health care in

places like nigeria come after president trump gave an executive order suspending usaid. here in lagos, the impact is being felt by many, including those dependent on u.s. funding for treatments for hiv and aids. concealing this woman's identity, because she fears the stigma of being hiv-positive. >> i feel like i'm dying already. i worry about the future. >> three of the president's emergency plan for a relief, known as pet far, have been sent in a sense 2003. >> last year, every time, but when i started, i feel all right.

>> it's africa's most populous country, an estimated 2 million people are living with hiv here. it is backed by international leaders, mostly in europe and america. another, whose identity we've hidden, has been living with hiv for 15 years that he says his viral load is zero, meaning if undetected and cannot be translated. >> we are at zero level. we are fine. most other groups come about 800 or 900, we stand as united. >> and $500 million for primary care. >> last week the nigerian government proposed to buy treatment packs associated with the virus, and health workers say it is not enough. >> when you compare the data,

it's close to 30,000, so what about all of that? by the end of march, all of the government, including the private citizens in nigeria, we should be prepared for the bombardment. sec. rubio: there are things it does that are good, and -- >> u.s. secretary of state marco rubio says its future remains unclear. the move has led african countries to ditch their dependence on foreign aid. and for those depending on life-saving drugs, a solution cannot come quickly enough. caitriona: in the eastern democratic republic of the congo, m23 rebel fighters,

backed by rwanda, took control of the city. it follows their capture of goma, the largest city in the mineral rich region two to 3000 people were killed as goma fell, and 400,000 were forced to flee in recent years. our senior international correspondent orla guerin sent this report from goma. just a warning, you may find the report distressing. orla: the road to victory for the m23. self-styled liberators, they now control the second major city they have taken in recent weeks. the rebels have been advancing for three weeks, backed by rwandan troops, u.n. experts say. on the streets of bukavu, a

body lies unburied. the m23 say they are bringing order to chaos. but their gains come at a cost, paid by many like heshima, now in a tent in an overcrowded hospital in goma. gheshima is 13 and has lost his leg and his parents. he struggles to stand, so a relative can change the sheets. and in the next bed, david, who is 15, and was hit by a stray bullet. one says it was the rebels who orphaned heshima. >> it was a sunday.

it was the m23 who dropped the bomb. there was fighting between them and the army. they dropped the bomb. i lost six members of my family. orla: in goma these days, the rebels like to steer clear of the cameras. their fight is not just for land but for what lies beneath it, rare earth minerals, crucial for global technologies. human rights groups accuse the rebels and their enemies, the congolese army, of indiscriminate shelling, mass rape, and executions. the m23 have spread fear among the displaced, and camps like this, a refuge perched on volcanic rock. the rebels won the camp to be erased, along with any rival armed groups hiding in them. >> they came and told us, you

have three days to leave. we were very scared, because we have nowhere to go. our houses have been destroyed. >> hunger is killing us here, but how can we go home to nothing? orla: we saw this extended family doing just that. whoever controls the vast mineral wealth here, they won't see the benefit. the family are on their way now. they told us it will be a two-day journey by foot. around the camp, we seen others who are packing up, getting ready to go. many say they are frightened to leave, but they are also scared to stay. the m23 now say they are encouraging voluntary returns, but this looks like one more forced displacement in decades

of conflict in the drc. orla guerin, bbc news, goma. caitriona: the vatican canceled all of pope francis' engagements as he continues to receive treatment in hospital. the pontiff was admitted four days ago. he's been diagnosed with an infection of the tract, including bilateral pneumonia. the vatican described it as a clinical situation. marking the catholic holy year, those and other engagements have been canceled. delta airlines claimed crash at a toronto airport monday. all people on board survive. passengers inside were dangling by their seatbelts before the flight was evacuated. the flight was traveling from

minneapolis. passengers described it as a forceful event, saying there was no warning. canadian investigators are looking into just what led up to that crash. you can keep up with that story and all of the day's news on bbc.com and your favorite social media platforms, too. that is it for today narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming" that's because the free pbs app let's you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight, united states officials meet with their russian counterparts in saudi arabia to discuss the end of the war in ukraine without european or ukrainian representatives at the table. geoff: elon musk's department of government efficiency group faces fresh criticism for seeking access to sensitive taxpayer data from the irs.