Episode description

President Zelensky says Ukraine is "ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership" to negotiate a peace deal and is ready to sign a minerals deal.

His comments come after the US decision to pause military aid. We get reaction from Ukrainian MP Oleksandra Ustinova and ‘Neo’, a soldier currently fighting in Donetsk region.

And we speak to Mark Galeotti, Director and CEO of the consultancy firm, Mayak Intelligence.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.

It was recorded on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30pm UK time. The producers were Ryan Johnston and Ben Carter. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. 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