tv BBC News America PBS February 24, 2025 5:30pm-6:01pm PST
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it can be very nerve wracking, not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. 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. ♪ anchor: this is bbc world news america. world leaders gather in kyiv, pledging more aid for ukraine. three years since russia launched its full-scale invasion. the french president meets with u.s. president donald trump to discuss ukraine, saying neither country wants a peace deal that is fragile.
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the united nations adopts a resolution calling on the withdrawal of russian troops from ukraine, with the u.s. voting no on it. ♪ welcome to world news america. a rift between the u.s. and its allies over the war in ukraine appears to be widening, as ukraine marks the third anniversary of russia's full-scale invasion. emmanuel macron is here in washington making europe's case to its u.s. counterpart donald trump. the two put on a cordial display, talking fondly about their countries' relationship and the strength of their alliance. but not far away, the united nations aiming new york. the u.s. was at loggerheads not just with france but the rest of its european allies. the u.s. noted -- voted against
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a european resolution calling for the withdrawal of russian troops from ukraine along with russian allies including ukraine and belarus. the u.s. put forth its own resolution that did not mention russia's aggression at all, only to abstain from voting on it until european members added language that was critical of russia. at the white house or earlier, reporters asked mr. trump about that move. >> can you explain the rationale about having the u.s. vote against resolutions that ukraine and proposed? pres. trump: i will not explain it now, but it is sort of self-evident, i think. anchor: mr. macron told the news conference the pair had made good progress, and he said that he and mr. trump were aligned on their core aid. >> we want peace, he wants peace. we want peace swiftly, but we do not want an agreement that is weak. the fact that there are europeans that are ready to provide for security guarantees and now there is a clear
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american message that the u.s. as an ally is ready to provide that solidarity for that approach, that is a turning point, in my view. anchor: our north american correspondent was in the room for that news conference. what did macron want to achieve in these talks with trump, and did you think he was successful? correspondent: look, emmanuel macron is the first european leader that president trump has hosted since he was reelected. whilst it was all very chummy, they were hugging each other and lavishing praise on one another to try and show that they have built up this friendship for quite a number of years, mr. trump even referring to him as my friend in the press conference started, the fact is mr. macron came here with an agenda, and he wanted to make sure that europe and you radar at the center -- and ukraine are at the center of any kind of peace deal, because it was sidelined all the windows talks
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in saudi arabia. did mr. macron get what he wants? i'm not sure. during that press conference, he answered in a very long answers, but he kept coming back to his point about how there needs to be security assurances for ukraine. mr. trump never said that once and instead said europe needs to do the heavy lifting when it comes to coming up with a peace deal. if mr. trump wanted to soft in his tone on ukraine and harden it on russia, he did not seem to do that in this press conference. anchor: i was going to mention about the security guarantees, the fact that macron kept mentioning those, do you feel there was some kind of revolution between the u.s. and eu with macron there, or do you think that divide is just getting bigger? correspondent: it is difficult to say, because on the one hand you have mr. macron wanting
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guarantees from donald trump, but as i said in the press conference, you had the opportunity -- he had the opportunity to agree with that, but he did not. mr. trump wants peace and once the war to end. they both do, but they both have different views on how to get there. i think with this you in resolution that has been introduced in which the u.s. has extraordinarily sided with north korea, belarus, and pressure, sort of its usual democratic allies, sort of tells you exactly where the u.s.'s position on this. mr. trump said interesting -- said something interesting. he said vladimir putin will accept peacekeepers in ukraine, but mr. putin on the stand has said he has not had any conversation with donald trump. in conclusion, did mr. macron get what he wanted, not entirely sure, but mr. trump is wanting -- is going to host another prime minister this week at the white house. anchor: thank you for keeping us
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across with that story. as we mark the third anniversary of vladimir putin's full scare -- full-scale invasion, some ukrainian allies are proposing billions of dollars in additional military and financial support. leaders from norway, denmark, spain, and canada met with president volodymyr zelenskyy along with ursula wagner leyen at a summit in kyiv, hoping to show their solidarity with ukraine amid increasing hostility from washington. mr. trump and mr. macron later joined via video link. the u.k. also joined those discussions. prime minister keir starmer is among those stressing that the u.k. must have a seat at the table in peace negotiations. addressing the summit, he said mr. trump had created an opportunity to end the war, but that the west must increase the pressure on russia even further. mr. zelenskyy said he had a great conversation with the u.s. president during the summit, but gave no further details. he talked with delegates about
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his hopes for the months ahead. >> this year should be the year of the beginning of a real lasting peace. putin will not give us peace or give it to us in exchange for something. we have to win peace through strength and wisdom and unity, through our cooperation. >> our international editor has more from the meeting in kyiv. >> cars destroyed in the fight for key of three years ago have been gathered into a memorial in the suburb where ukraine won the battle for its counsel. next to the new bridge, the ruins of the old one between kyiv and their pain are also preserved. the ukrainian army blew the bridge to stop russian tanks using it. ukraine's western allies, like the kremlin, expected these men with used to russia within days or weeks -- would lose to russia within days or weeks. russian shelling was intense for
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ukrainians and felt like the worst of times. it was a dangerous journey for thousands of civilians who used the rubble as steppingstones to cross the river into relative safety inside kyiv, but the country rallied when americans offered to evacuate residents zelenskyy. he told them they needed ammunition, not a ride. so linsky donned military attire and posted videos telling ukrainians he was staying to lead the fight. but three years after they stopped the russian invaders marked with a c from scoring a quick victory, the old ukrainian nightmare of national inspection is back. ukrainians modernized army is just about holding its own, here trading -- training out the border. there nightmare is donald trump.
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he has put restoring america's relationship with russia above ukraine's fight to stay independent, and trump has repeated russian lies. like the claim ukrainian started the war. edward said russia started it. they came to our home to kilis, our sons, our daughters, and our parents. that is why we are fighting. along the border, ukrainian troops are getting ready to rejoin the battle in -- a chunk of russia it received last august and is fighting to keep. these men are facing the prospect of losing the american support that has been bite -- has been vital for three years. a squad leader and the veteran of the war says ukraine is making were weapons of its own and they will keep going. >> it is good to get help from abroad. help will not last forever.
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it is here for today and might be gone tomorrow. correspondent: soldiers here know that putin believes ukraine belongs to russia, which is why they are alarmed with talk of trump making a deal with him. >> putin wants to destroy our political system and make ukraine its vassal state. correspondent: are there any circumstances under which western countries, the americans, should trust president putin? >> no. i don't have enough fingers to count how many times putin lied to everyone, to the russians, to us, and to the west. correspondent: fighting men in a snow-covered forest, it is a scene from europe's past, and the challenge for leaders, for diplomats, is to make sure it is not a scene from europe's future, because it might be. the point the ukrainians make is that if president putin is able to get what he wants by breaking international law and going to
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war, then it will not be the last time. not just for him, but for others. >> back in kyiv three years ago, it was a straightforward fight for survival. for ukrainians, it still is, but it is not straightforward. then, volunteers signed up to fight, talking about protecting their families. now that early enthusiasm has gone after huge casualties, and the authorities pursue men who will not fight. to me through and max -- dmitro and max both fought. three years on, both fear trump will appease putin as britain appeased nazi germany before 1939. >> it is a very dangerous moment
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for the entire world, not only for ukraine, and even if the united states will not provide us anymore weapons or other support -- >> i think that donald trump wants to become like a new chamberlain or sign some treaty with hitler. we all know what was that result. mr. trump should focus on becoming somebody like churchill. >> three years ago, you young guys volunteering for the army, you must have changed. >> everyone changed. i have changed. i think that every ukrainian person matured during these three years. everyone who ended military and everyone who was fighting for such a long time drastically
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changed. >> cost of this war is heavy, but not so unbearable that neither side will sue for peace. it is about more than controlling land. it is about existence for these ukrainians' independence. putin is fighting them for russia's place in the world, and that is why making a peace deal might be impossible, and now for the ukrainians and their european partners, the sense that trump's america is not just an unreliable ally, it might be no kind of ally at all. at this memorial in kyiv, every flag commemorates a dead soldier. ukrainians one piece, but the alternatives to not fighting on look like defeat. in the square next to the memorial is a weekly vigil for men missing in action. the ukrainians -- the americans won ukraine to accept they cannot win and make a deal, even if it rewards putin for invading their country and killing so many people.
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julia's father was posted is missing in kursk in december. we just want to know what happened to them, she says. need answers. they do not tell us anything. every month, more go missing, she says. it does not end, maybe for a long time. whatever donald trump wants. rajini: with me is jeremy schapiro, research director of the european council on foreign relations. welcome, jeremy. europe seems quite concerned about trump's stance on this war. we have heard trump renton to pull away support. he has called zelenskyy a dictator. he has praised putin. macron's trip to d.c. seemed like an effort to rein trump in or try to prevent a rest ukraine deal. what do you think his objectives were, and do you think he was successful in them? >> i think his objectives were
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to use his personal relationship with donald trump to change donald trump's mind about ukraine. you heard him saying we cannot allow ukraine to surrender. it will be a problem for the west. i think this is a typical way that europeans have tried to handle donald trump. they have sort of see him say something that they feel is crazy or misguided and they say, well, we have taken him he is wrong. we have had very little success with that in the past and i do not think we will have much this time. >> macron a cup's -- macron's trip comes to d.c. at the time that the u.k. and e.u. have imposed sanctions on russia. into the u.s., there are talks of potentially lifting sanctions on russia. do you think that is a possibility, and what do you think that means for this growing divide between the europe -- between the u.s. and europe's response? >> it is very clear. what we saw in the last week or two is that the u.s. or european
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position, or at least the position of most of europe on ukraine, has seriously divided. the u.s. is out to get a deal. they do not care much what the content of that deal is. part of that deal will certainly be, because the russians are asking for it, at least a partial lifting of sanctions in the context of some sort of agreement. it is very unlikely that europe will be part of that, and i think putting new sanctions on today was to signal that. rajini: speaking of deals, the minerals deal seems at the heart of ukraine's bid to win over u.s. support. how much do you think is riding on this deal? jeremy: on a certain level, a lot, and on a more accurate level, nothing. what i mean by that is there is a lot of money involved, and i think the radiance see it as a way of cementing the u.s. fealty to their cause, but from what i understand, there is not much
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money there to exploit, certainly in the near term. secondly, i think it is very unlikely to succeed in getting the u.s. to get what they want, particularly with the trump administration, if he makes it demanded to satisfy it, i would expect another demand. >> trump has said european leaders need to contribute more to the cost and security of you rain area european leaders meeting in kyiv and have pledged to get more support, but can they do it without the u.s.? jeremy: they can certainly get more support. whether they can give sufficient support to sustain ukraine in the war is a very difficult and open question. the truth is from a distant removed, we do not know precisely what the u.s. contribution is. we know it is bigger than anybody else, that they have given all sorts of weapons and arms, but there is an almost intangible intelligence quality to what the u.s. is doing to support ukraine, and it is not
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clear at all to me that europeans can substitute for that. thank you heard zelenskyy say that last week i'm aware he essentially admitted that they cannot win this war without the united states. rajini: one of the big criticisms of the way the u.s. has handled it is with taking negotiations off the table, giving land back. what is russia going to give in return? it has been the big question, has it not? jeremy: it certainly is. if you look at the riyadh meeting that the russians had with the u.s. last week, what they are thinking about is trading issues outside of ukraine for american and ukrainian concessions within ukraine. things like the arctic, things like oil and gas exploration, things like iran, china, and north korea. rajini: europe not having a seat at the table has been one of the big issues at a deal being made
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without ukraine's presence. do you have any more insight into what a deal could look like without them being involved, and how this is going to go down from european leaders? jeremy: europeans and ukrainians will have to be part of the solution, but they don't actually have to be a part of the deal. the only way they can insist they are part of the deal is if they have assets they can withhold. so far, it seems as if -- if the russians and americans agree on anything, the europeans and ukrainians, no matter how much they dislike it, will have to accept it. i think a lot of people do not see it that way, but i think of what you have seen in the last couple of weeks is they do not feel like they have a lot of other options. jeremy: mike roman mentioned -- rajini: mike roman mentioned -- macron mentioned security
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guarantees for ukraine, and we did not get much of a reaction from trump on that. i want your take on how that is going to be, between the u.s. and what europe wants. jeremy: obviously, ukraine wants security guarantees. i think trump has been fairly clear, jd vance even clearer, that there are not going to be any american security guarantees for ukraine, even in the context of the mineral deal, they absolutely refused that. it has been their position that europe can give any security guarantees it wants. whether that is sufficient for ukraine to stop fighting is up to them, but it gets back to this question of whether they have them or not, can they continue fighting without the united states? rajini: thank you so much. it was jeremy shapiro of the u.n. council on foreign relations. joining me is our russia editor, steve rosenberg. steve, but as the mood like in russia three years into the war -- what is the mood like in russia three years into the war?
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steve: goodness me, but a dramatic three years it has been. this started out as a special military operation as far as the kremlin was concerned. it went badly wrong. the kremlin had to mobilize people, call up reservists. it had to put down a mutiny by russian mercenaries. remember that crazy 24 hours? and so many russian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield. but we are in this position three years on where russia feels it has the initiative on the battlefield. not only that, it feels it has the ear of the president of the united states. it can hear president from criticizing president zelenskyy, not criticizing vladimir putin. we see that talks have begun between the u.s. and russia, and there is talk of a possible summit soon. things have turned around completely. i think there is a confidence here, certainly, in moscow, a
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confidence born of the fact that they have been gaining territory in eastern ukraine on the battlefield, and confidence because they see that the kind of things that donald trump has been saying and the trump administration has been saying go down very well in moscow. rajini: russia and u.s. teams reportedly planning another meeting. what are the russians expecting to come from that? steve: we don't have a date for that, but what the russians say is they are continuing to repair bilateral relations. the talks that are continuing between the u.s. and russia will focus, as far as the kremlin is concerned, on rebuilding this relationship between moscow and washington. not directly concerned with the war in ukraine, but ukraine will be mentioned. interestingly and unexpectedly, vladimir putin popped up late tonight on russia state
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television. they interrupted regular programs to bring this. he said lots of things that would have gone down very well with donald trump. there was flattery. he said that president trump was not driven by emotion, but had a rational approach to what was happening. there was praise. he praised donald trump's idea for america and russia and china to slash defense spending, and he came up with offers of big money projects. the idea of economic cooperation between russia and the united states. for example, in the aluminum industry. i think the kremlin clearly knows which buttons to press to make a positive impression on donald trump. >> we will have to leave it there. thank you so much to our russia editor, steve rosenberg. the united nations secretary general rising violence in the occupied west bank after
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israel's announcement that it is expanding military operations there. residents were expelled from three refugee camps in the occupied west bank on sunday. the camps are now empty after residents were evacuated, a move that the human considers to be the forced displacement of 40,000 people. the israeli military will now prepare for a prolonged presence in this -- those areas over the coming year. palestinian authority condemned the move. it comes as mediators try to solve the latest hurdle in gaza's cease-fire negotiations. on sunday, the u.s. ordered an indefinite delay on the release of six for palestinians in return for six living in four dead hostages who had already been freed by hamas, accusing the palestinian armed group of repeated cease-fire violations, including humiliating handover ceremonies. hamas says the move puts the cease-fire in grave danger.
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negotiations for a second phase of the cease-fire have yet to start. let's turn to some other important news around the world. the vatican says there has been a slight improvement in the pope's condition as he continues to be treated for pneumonia, but he is still in critical condition. the 88-year-old is spending an 11th night in the hospital. people held a prayer in st. peter's square in vatican city. tech giant apple says they plan to invest more than 500 billion dollars in the u.s. over the next four years and create 20,000 jobs. that will start with a new advanced manufacturing factory in texas, set to open next year. the vast majority of new jobs will be in research and development software and artificial intelligence. one of soul and r&b's great artist has passed away, roberta flack. she was best known for her hits
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in the 1970's, including "the first time ever so your face," and "killing me softly." in 2022, flack announced she had als, also known as lou gehrig's disease. roberta flack was 88 years old. you can keep up-to-date with all the stories on the website, bbc.com/news, or on the app. thank you for watching world news america. 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
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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "news hour" tonight, three years after russia invaded ukraine, the u.s. breaks with european allies and sides with russia on a vote at the u.n. geoff: the trump administration's latest firings at the pentagon and irs raise new concerns.
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