Joanna Kakisis
Appearances
Up First from NPR
Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
Well, Steve, Ukrainians really hope the White House will change its tone after this meeting and its actions because the past couple of weeks have really unsettled everyone I've spoken to here, including Roman Kostenko. He's a military commander and lawmaker, and he said Ukraine has no choice but to work with the Trump administration because Ukraine will struggle to defend itself without U.S.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
support.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
We have to manage or we will die. It's not even a choice.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
Well, Steve, no final decisions are set to be made today. Zelensky's in Saudi Arabia on a state visit, but he said he isn't planning to attend this meeting and Trump won't be there either. The Ukrainian team includes Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Germak, as well as Ukraine's foreign and defense ministers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the U.S. delegation.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
Rubio did say on Monday that he wants Ukraine to show that it's serious about ending the war. He talked about Ukraine making concessions like giving up land taken by Russia. Now, Ukraine has said repeatedly that it's always been serious about ending this war, and it wants a peace deal with security guarantees so Russia does not rearm and attack again.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
Well, Zelensky has already proposed a partial ceasefire covering aerial attacks in the Black Sea. Not sure if Russia would agree to this, but Rubio seemed to welcome the move. And public opinion polls show between 20 and 30 percent of Ukrainians would consider giving up occupied territory in return for peace. However, Kostenko told us, look, Ukrainians do not trust Russia to honor any truces.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
He said Russia also invaded Chechnya and Georgia and violated ceasefires there. The same thing happened to Ukraine after 2014 when Russia first attacked. And eight years later, Russia launched the full-scale invasion. So Kostenko is saying, I'm a person who has experienced dozens of truces and all were violated by Russia. So everyone needs to understand that when negotiating this truce.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
Well, yeah, everyone, every Ukrainian I've spoken to is trying to convince the Trump administration that it's in the U.S. 's interest to support Ukraine. Here's Ivana Klimpush-Tinsada. She's a member of Ukraine's parliament.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
And she said, look, it's not clear this argument will work, but President Trump does not like looking weak.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
You're welcome.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
Businesses don't like uncertainty.
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Ukraine Ceasefire Talks, Stock Market Slide, Columbia University Arrest Latest
My name is Willie and my question is, is magic real?
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
President Trump says he plans to visit Russia. His Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has poured cold water on two of Ukraine's most important goals, joining NATO and getting back all of its territory occupied by Russia. And these developments have really unsettled Ukrainians.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
I've spoken to many who say they feel like the U.S., the country they most admire for its democratic values, is betraying them.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Well, Zelenskyy admitted that he has a lot of work to do to convince President Trump and his team that Russia is dangerous. Speaking in Munich today, Zelenskyy said he will not give up pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. He sees this Western alliance as Ukraine's strongest security guarantee against Russia, though he did question why NATO is so cautious around Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Now, the U.S. and other NATO member states are cautious about Moscow because they don't want this war to escalate. Russia is indeed a nuclear power. So Zelensky has tried to use the moment as a call for unity in Europe.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Well, you know, Ukraine is in talks to be a European Union member state. Zelensky wants to tie the EU's fate with Ukraine's, reminding Europeans that it's Ukraine's army that's holding back Russian troops from further aggression into Europe. And he told them, look, Russia takes advantage of perceived weakness and Europeans must be strong and united.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Zelensky echoed President Trump's call for Europe to take the lead in its own security.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Now, European army is not something that can be pulled together very quickly, of course. And, you know, negotiations are moving very quickly. Talks about how to end this war, this three-year war set to continue next week when the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is expected in Ukraine.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
You're welcome, Scott.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Thanks for having me, Scott.
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The Future of Ukraine ... and a US Consumer Agency. More on Black Hawk Crash
Yeah. Scott, it's given Zelensky an opportunity to publicly advocate for his country, surrounded by European allies who want to see Ukraine in the strongest possible position going into any negotiations to end the war. And Scott, this is important because the U.S., Ukraine's strongest single ally, is now speaking directly to Russia, the country that invaded Ukraine and continues to attack it.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Well, Michelle, the idea of swapping revenue from Ukraine's natural resources for continued U.S. support came from Zelensky himself last year. as part of his proposal to end the war. Zelensky says the deal on the table today is a framework rather than a final agreement, and it says the U.S. and Ukraine will jointly develop deposits of rare earth metals and critical minerals.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
These are used in high-tech devices, and also develop deposits of oil and gas. I spoke about all this with Yuri Sak. He is an advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Strategic Industries.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Now, this agreement establishes a fund to help Ukraine recover should the war end. The fund would be managed by both countries, with Ukraine committing 50% of revenues earned from state-owned natural resources.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Well, Zelensky said earlier agreements would have used revenue to pay back aid Ukraine has already received from the U.S. In the current version, the terms are more favorable to Ukraine, and the revenue appears to go to future U.S. investment in Ukraine. Zelensky says he's pushing for security guarantees to be added to any final agreement.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Well, Michelle, Ukrainians I spoke to say it is a victory that this meeting is happening at all. Sergei Fursa, he's a financial consultant who is deputy director of Dragon Capital in Kiev. He's been following this deal very closely. And he said today's meeting gives Zelensky a chance to talk to Trump in person before Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
And he said this is also a crucial opportunity for Zelensky to reset Ukraine's relationship with the Trump administration.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Yes, I heard that fear from many Ukrainians, including Anna Kolesnik. She's a communications manager in Kyiv.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Because, she says, these days it feels like the U.S., Ukraine's most important ally, seems to be threatening to take things away, its friendship, its support, and that leaves Ukraine in a vulnerable position.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
You're welcome.