Trump edition: America's embrace of Russia and how to end a war

02/21/25 • 35 min

This week a very public spat erupted between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Vlodomoyr Zelensky after Washington took the unprecedented step of starting peace negotiation talks with Moscow - but without Kyiv.

After Zelensky accused Trump of disinformation, Trump retorted by branding Zelensky a dictator, something that has been roundly condemned by European leaders.

So why has Trump turned against Zelensky, what is behind his embrace of Russia and is his view shared by Americans?

Plus: How do you end a war? Do they always end in negotiations, as the cliche goes? And is there a fair way to do it - particularly if neither side has been militarily defeated?

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, the Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London, looks to history to discuss all these questions and more.

Contact us with feedback or ideas:

[email protected]

@venetiarainey

@RolandOliphant

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Zelensky accused Trump of disinformation, Trump retorted by branding Zelensky a dictator, something that has been roundly condemned by European leaders.

So why has Trump turned against Zelensky, what is behind his embrace of Russia and is his view shared by Americans?

Plus: How do you end a war? Do they always end in negotiations, as the cliche goes? And is there a fair way to do it - particularly if neither side has been militarily defeated?

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, the Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London, looks to history to discuss all these questions and more.

Contact us with feedback or ideas:

[email protected]

@venetiarainey

@RolandOliphant

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

500 days of war: what has Israel achieved?

As the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire-hostage deal enters its final weeks, the region is on tenterhooks to see what will happen next.

Will the rest of the hostages be released and aid continue to enter Gaza? Or will the deal be blown up and fighting restart? And as we mark 500 days since the October 7th massacre, we’ll be asking to what extent Israel has achieved its original war aims.

Plus, we go behind the scenes at the most dramatic Munich Security Conference yet, and look at why deputy US vice president JD Vance’s speech left European leaders speechless.

Contact us with feedback or ideas:

[email protected]

@venetiarainey

@RolandOliphant

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

What Britain learnt from the Ukraine war & Germany's east-west election divide

Today marks three years since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine began. As Europe prepares to boost its defence in preparation for a future possible war with Russia, we ask: what has the British army learned from the Ukraine war? To find out, Venetia Rainey went to visit one of the host camps for Operation Interflex, a mammoth operation that has seen the UK and 13 partner nations train up tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers since June 2022.

Plus: James Rothwell brings us the election results from Germany and explains what Friedrich Merz's upcoming leadership means for European defense and what the East-West election divide reveals about German society today.

Contact us with feedback or ideas:

[email protected]

@venetiarainey

@RolandOliphant

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.