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nicole: at bdo i feel like a true individual, people value me for me, they care about what i want, 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. ♪ lucy: hello, i'm lucy hockings. this is "the context" on bbc news. >> we had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work in collaboration have yielded unprecedented results. >> that would "respect" for claudia sheinbaum will go down well with her administration,

her supporters in mexico, and indeed, with her as a fellow leader. >> the keyword is uncertainty. markets historically do not like uncertainty. we have seen these swings mirror -- all three major u.s. indexes are down. donald -- lucy: donald trump has pulled back on the imposition of tariffs on canada and mexico two days after announcing them. he made the announcement after speaking with mexican president claudia sheinbaum. the reprieve will last until early april. in brussels leaders have approved a statement in support of ukraine after president zelenskyy says he will visit saudi arabia next week for talks. the defense secretaries of the u.k. and the u.s. will hold talks. this is the latest attempt to convince washington to continue support of ukraine. so in the latest twist to

president trump's tariff plans, the u.s. leader will delay them on many products from canada and mexico, for now at least. currently they will not come into effect until early april. this latest move is seen by some as the second climbdown on the issue. he says this was out of respect for the mexican president. for her part, claudia sheinbaum thanked mr. trump and said the two countries will work together on border controls and stopping the fentanyl crisis as well. have a listen. pres. sheinbaum: many thanks to president donald trump. we had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed about our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results, while respecting our sovereignties. we will continue to work together, particularly on migration and security issues, which include reducing the illegal crossing of fentanyl into the united states, as well as weapons into mexico. lucy: let's speak to will grant, joining us from mexico city, and aaron donald in new york.

where exactly are we at, what has been agreed now? >> it is a day of flux. guessing the social-me -- we have seen the social media post from president trump saying he will grant a reprieve to canada and mexico. it was hinted at by his commerce secretary early this morning, and the commerce secretary went a step further, saying that canadian goods and services would face the one-month reprieve. that is the point we are looking for more clarity on today. this has had an effect on the u.s. markets. we are seeing all three major u.s. indexes down this morning as investors are weighing what effect this could have on u.s. businesses and when, seeing as mexico and canada are two of the united states' largest trading partners. lucy: there must be a feeling of whiplash in mexico at the moment. take me through the reaction there has been to the fact that we are now not going to see these tariffs imposed until april. will: i think there is a sense

of whether or not this is a climbdown by president trump or skillful negotiation by claudia sheinbaum, or some combination of the two of them simply reaching agreement as they did a month earlier. from her point of view, as she made clear in her morning press briefing, she had shown figures that were the u.s.'s own figures from customs and border protection that the fentanyl seizures were significantly down at the u.s. border, have dropped to their lowest level in three years, showing in essence the two sides were actually having achievement in terms of the stated goal of reducing fentanyl trafficking. lucy: will, erin, great for the update. thanks for joining us from mexico and new york. we will keep you posted on those developments with the tariffs. let's take you to rome. people around the world have been watching and waiting for news about pope francis, who has

been battling pneumonia in hospital in rome for nearly three weeks. we are being told he remains in stable condition and did not have any new episodes of respiratory trouble. that is according to the vatican. they released an audio message by the pope, which is going to be a huge relief for his followers. let's take you to st. peter's square and joint sarah rainsford, who is there. what was in the audio message? sarah: you can hear behind me in st. peter's the evening prayers that have just begun. this is the rosary prayers. catholics have been gathering to say every evening the last couple of weeks -- the pope has been in hospital for three weeks, and this is the first time that anyone outside a small group of doctors treating him has been able to hear his voice. a very, very short message, just 22 seconds that the pope managed to record today, we are told in hospital, in his hospital room,

that is what the vatican is saying. it's in plea said, "i thank you from the bottom of my heart -- it simply said, "i think you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers." and he said he accompanies them and he asked for god's blessing. he said essentially thank you to those who are remembering him in their prayers. he said it in spanish, which is his native language. his voice was really very weak. it was a mixture of huge relief for many people who have been following very closely he twists and turns of the pope's health updates, but also people will be worried to hear him sounding so we can still struggling for breath three weeks-- so weak and still struggling for breath three weeks after he was taken to hospital, and he has pneumonia, although his condition has been described as a stable the past couple days. lucy: how does it work in terms of getting information about the pope's health? do you have to rely as a member of the media just on what you

got from the vatican? sarah: yeah, it's very, very difficult to get anything other than the information we are getting from vatican officials. they released daily statements, two a day, one in the morning and one later which comes from his doctors, the medical team treating the pope. we were able to speak to vatican officials and ask them questions, but the information is pretty limited. i think they have been pretty unprecedented in terms of the details that they have been giving us. we have asked a lot of questions and we have got a fair amount of quite extraordinary detail about the exact details of the pope's condition, talking about his various respiratory crises, his moments when he has really struggled for breath and what kind of treatment he has been given. as i say, even three weeks after he was taken to hospital, and we know how weak he was at that point, his voice did sound very very weak. a real mixture of emotions for catholics who are listening. it would have been a huge

surprise. no one here would have known that that message was coming. they would have gathered here as usual to say their prayers, and we saw a round of applause from the people here on the square who had come to pray and then heard this message from the pope. there are lots of priests, lots of nuns, and just lots of catholics from around the world here in rome for what is a big year, the jubilee year, and the pope had hoped to be part of that. he is having to follow things at a distance from his hospital as he tried to recover. lucy: sarah, the fact that there was applause suggests that the message was reassuring for many people, and it is unusual that we consulate get these updates from vatican officials. but speaking to people in the square, what sort of things did they say about pope francis? sarah: i think they are realistic, to be quite honest. they no of course that the pope is 88 and he only has 1.5 working lungs in any case. yet part of a -- he had part of

a lung removed in his early 20's and he has often had problems with breathing. this is a long-standing issue he has had. we have reported and we have been told about three separate episodes, crises, essentially, since he has been hospitalized. when he has really struggled to breathe, doctors have had to intervene to aspirate him, to clear his lungs for him. he has been various kinds of ventilation. he hasn't been intubated, but he has been receiving help to breathe for this entire three weeks. i think people know he is very sick, and the doctors have been clear that they are remaining cautious, getting over prognosis at all. slightly reassuring that doctors today have said that he is stable and that they are not going to give a medical update for the first time in three weeks because they are somewhat reassured by his current condition. as i say, people generally on the square of following very closely and many of them very, very worried that the pope may struggle to recover. lucy: yes, of course. sarah, thank you so much for

joining us from st. peter's square. do stay with us. we are going to bring you more from brussels on "the context." european leaders meeting to discuss ukraine. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. ♪

lucy: welcome back to "the context." good to have you with us. eu leaders have approved a statement in support of ukraine in the latest emergency talks being held in brussels after the trump administration's decision to halt all military aid to kyiv. this comes as ukraine's president says he will visit saudi arabia next week. mr. zelenskyy certainly getting a warm welcome in brussels. as you can see, all smiles as he walked the red carpet with ursula von der leyen and the council president. after his bruising encounter with donald trump, you will remember last week come in the oval office, president zelenskyy said he was thankful his country was not alone. pres. zelenskyy: very thankful

that we are not alone, and these are not just words, we feel it. it's very important. we made a strong signal to ukraine and people in ukraine, to civilians, to all our families, and it is great that we are not alone. we feel it and we know it. thank you so much for everything. lucy: laying on the choreography is the easy part. the much harder part of this is the critical question of how europe fills that gap left by president trump's suspension of aid for ukraine. this is the urgent short-term issue being discussed right now. the 27 leaders discussed how they intend to transform europe's defense industry in the years to come and discussed a coalition of the willing, something proposed by the u.k.'s prime minister keir starmer and france's president macron. could this be a watershed moment for europe? according to poland's prime minister, they only need to

realize their own strength. >> europe as a whole is really able to win the financial and economic and military confrontation with russia. we are singly stronger. we just have to start believing in it, and today it is probably happening. lucy: but from moscow's vantage point, the view of these meetings is very different. foreign minister sergey lavrov has one he would see any european deployment in ukraine as involvement in a war against his country. has been speaking in moscow. >> we will see the presence of such troops on ukrainian territory the same way as we saw potential nato presence in ukraine. this would mean not suppose of the h -- not supposedly hybrid, but direct, official, and unconcealed involvement by nato countries in a war against the russian federation. lucy: vladimir putin said russia would only make peace on its own terms. he has been speaking while meeting with women who lost relatives in the war against ukraine. president putin said russia must

choose a peace that suits it and works for russia in the long term. he said his country won't need anything that belongs to others but won't give up "what is ours either." around the plan for the european commission, president urszula bundle land to dramatically food --urszula von der leyen to dramatically boost blocs of european spending. >> it gives the to invest in defense and the possibility to invest in the ukrainian defense industry, or to procure military capabilities that go right away to ukraine. so it is to the benefit of rearming europe, rearming the european union, but also arming ukraine and its existential fight for its sovereign integrity. lucy: ms. von der leyen's plan is designed to address ukraine and long-term needs of european

security. that since be a reference to the fear in many capitals that they may not be able to rely on the u.s. for aid. one of the proposals is to suspended strict budget rules to allow for more defense spending. as part of the plan, the commission would provide 150 billion euros in loans to eu governments for defense, helping to reduce costs through joint procurement. by way of comparison, the u.s., the biggest military spender in the world, has earmarked $883 billion for defense, and that is this year alone. it w would allow countries to redirect funds earmarked for cohesion programs to countries and that leveling offenses between more and less advantaged regions for defense spending. it could free up 850 billion euros, $860 billion, for defense. let's talk to a french member of

parliament for president macron's party, where she sits as a member of the foreign affairs committee, also a french army officer. she is on leave from the military to serve in parliament, so she can bring as many perspectives on what is happening at the moment. good to have you with us on "the context." ukrainians are constantly saying they are sick of just nice words from europe, they need action and they need money. are they going to be satisfied about today's efforts? have they done enough, or are we guessing more words from european leaders --just to more words from european leaders? >> we are going through an emergency situation, and we absolutely need to support ukraine, and this is what we have done . i am proud of it. france is supporting ukraine since the beginning and is doing a great defense effort since 2017. and certainly we were right to

do so. lucy: are you happy with president macron's commitment and france's commitment, or do you believe more could be done from the french perspective? laetitia: you know, in seven years we almost doubled the defense budget. it was a surge we haven't seen since the end of the cold war. macron's mp and former officer, i'm convinced it was needed, and i am proud of it. to renew everything and remain an expeditionary force, i am proud of it. and now we were right maybe before our partners, but we went in the right way. lucy: do you believe, laetitia, that there should have been discussion today about the freezing -- the seizing of russian foreign assets, though, that's been called on by ukraine

for some time now? laetitia: i know that is a question of what billion euros. i'm not a specialist of the loan assets. but we need to be creative. and of the economic situation in france -- i know the economic situation in france, we cannot invent new taxes to support this defense effort. according to the law, the ability to use the russian assets, of course we could do it. lucy: we're just watching as we talk to you, laetitia, various members of the eu bloc coming out of this meeting in brussels. we are listening to just make sure we are covering all the news lines and information coming out and we will bring you anything that we hear. what about the difference in outcome that we are now seeing from the eu, who want to look at strengthening ukraine if possible to continue fighting,

whereas it seems the u.s. and president trump just want an end to this war by whatever means and as quickly as possible? laetitia: you know, i always thought that it was antithetic -- it doesn't exist, it can't be frozen. if we miss having a kind of good peace, it means that we will have -- it will have an end when pressure will be strong enough to fight again -- russia will be strong enough to fight again. so i don't believe in trump's position, and i'm convinced that we are not this political dwarf. we are supposed to be. altogether the defense budget including u.k., of course, was huge. i hope that we are going to manage this -- the peace without

this crazy way of life of trump administration. lucy: very good to have you with us. thank you so much for joining us from france. laetitia thank: you. lucy: well, let's break to ukrainian mp, who is also international secretary of the people's party and first deputy chairman of the committee on ukraine's integration into the european union. good to have you with us. can i first get a comment from you on your thoughts that president zelenskyy will go to saudi arabia next week to meet with the u.s. team there? >> thank you for inviting me. all of the events of the recent weeks and days have been developing very fast, and as president zelenskyy made it very clear, ukrainians wanting peace more than anyone, will do

anything and everything that we can in order for russia, first of all, to become -- to get serious about any away of finding diplomatic solution for this war, and also to work with our allies, with our biggest partner, the united states of america, on finding those solutions. therefore, any opportunity that is there we are going to use to explain our position, to give as much information on as we can to our partners for them to understand why our position, why our demands are such. therefore we are looking forward to this encounter, too, which hopefully will bring us to the next level. lucy: well, let's bring in the

view of donald trump's special envoy. he has said he is in discussions with ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end hostilities with russia. this comes after president zelenskyy had a letter to president trump and he was coordinating a meeting with the ukrainians in saudi arabia. >> i think he felt that zelenskyy's letter was a very positive first step. there was an apology, there was an acknowledgment that the united states has done so much for the country of ukraine, and a sense of gratitude. i think that is the biggest deal. we've supported that country, and i think it is important when you support somebody that that person comes back and acknowledges that and says how is it that we should be. it is not just some unilateral way of processing things. >> [indiscernible] >> i think we are going there to meet, presumably. i think it will be a good

meeting, i really do believe that. hopefully that will be a good signal to the russians, because they have been proactive to wanting to get something done. i think that is what the president -- that is who he is. he is a peace through strength president. the best wars are the wars that never have to get fought. if we can solve this and not fight anymore and save lives, that is the aim of president trump. lucy: listening to him there, i wonder what you're feeling is about this olive branch that was extended by president zelenskyy, because so far we have not seen anything from the u.s. diving down. ain fact, the punishment has increased with them also is battlefield intelligence and ukraine. do you think that college branch has made a difference yet? -- olive branch has made a difference yet? >> oh, we have made it very clear that we want our american partners to carry on with us and we just wanted for them to

understand our positions. and we were very clear on the issue that when ukraine is excluded from negotiations, it's not good for the negotiation process altogether. the exchange that happened in the white house in a way allowed everyone to sort of get very clear that we need a very honest, very direct discussion, to be very open, and therefore hopefully our american partners can see it now. again, we are looking forward to this next level, next step in our relationships. in the recent news about delays, or the pause, as it was called, was worrisome. however, we understand that in

order for those decisions to take place, for them to become permanent, you need the congress decision. therefore we hope that the pause was needed for whatever purposes will end. as soon as we talk again, honestly and openly and directly to each other, and carry on. lucy: very briefly, what about what is happening in brussels today? eu leaders once again saying they want to strengthen ukraine, supporting ukraine as well. there has been a commitment from all 27 leaders to boost defense spending. is this enough from europe? >> ukraine's place in the european union, ukraine has been doing a lot in recent years to become a fully fledged member of the eu, in due time and due process. therefore the eu is of course our biggest partner and our main ally in terms of our main threat, russia, and our main

goal, to become strong enough to withhold any sort of foreign pressure. lucy: very good to have you with us. thank you for joining us with the view from kyiv, as we continue to monitor what is happening in brussels, those eu leaders still meeting, agreed to boost defense spending across the continent. we are expected to have ursula von der leyen 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.

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nicole: at bdo i feel like a true individual,