Episode description

Today, Russia and the US hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia, but a noticeable absentee was any representative of Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war in Ukraine after talks in Saudi Arabia. Speaking after, Lavrov said his country wouldn’t accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine.

Are relations between Russia and the US thawing? And are we on the brink of a deal? We speak to the BBC world affairs editor, John Simpson.

And, President Trump has said he wants access to Ukraine’s rare minerals. But what exactly are they? We speak to Dr Julie Klinger, author of Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://discord.gg/NbuxWnmY Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Teodora Agarici and Shiler Mahmoudi. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.