Episode description

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says a "dangerous new era" is behind his decision to boost defence spending and cut the aid budget.

But will it impress President Trump ahead of Sir Keir’s visit to Washington later this week? And could this move help Ukraine?

Shashank Joshi from the Economist joins us to discuss this and answer listener questions on rare earth minerals.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producer was Julia Webster. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The assistant editor is Ben Mundy. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord