US President Donald Trump says he will likely meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia in the near future for negotiations on Ukraine. Also: London's first Roman basilica found under office basement.
Chapter 1: What are the key topics covered in this podcast episode?
And Jonathan, there was a clear indication that European nations will be expected to police any ceasefire deal in Ukraine, if and when it comes, and provide much of the aid. Is there the ability and the will amongst European leaders to do that?
The UK defence secretary who chaired the Ukraine contact group and said that Europe is stepping up, Europe needs to step up. That last year, for example, Europe provided 50%, more than 50%, 58% of the military aid to Ukraine. That said, Europe cannot fill the void left by America in terms of military support for Ukraine.
It does need to increase its defence spending, and there are discussions about that at the moment. And the fact is that European armies... have been reduced greatly because of the peace dividend at the end of the Cold War. Numbers are down.
And to get that figure of what people are talking about, you'd need on the ground a number of troops from other countries, 100,000 to make sure that that was some kind of meaningful peacekeeping force. Europe would struggle to do that on its own. And that is why President Zelensky has been clear that it needs America.
But today he's got a clear message from the US that they are not going to put their own boots on the ground.
Now to other news. Egypt and Qatar are said to be intensifying mediation efforts to try to save the troubled Gaza ceasefire agreement. President Trump has warned that unless all the remaining hostages held by Hamas are released on Saturday, the war will resume. The position of Israel's Prime Minister on the issue isn't as clear as our correspondent in Jerusalem, Wira Davis, explains.
A senior Egyptian source told the BBC that Egypt and Qatar, who helped broker the current ceasefire deal, are trying to prevent its collapse after recriminations between Hamas and Israel over the planned release of more hostages on Saturday. Failure, said the source, would lead to a new wave of violence with serious regional repercussions.
Donald Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister have both said that if hostages aren't handed over, as agreed under Stage 1 of the ceasefire, the deal would be off and the war in Gaza would resume. But while Mr Trump says that all hostages should be freed and there are 76 still in captivity, Benjamin Netanyahu has been less clear, perhaps intentionally so, not saying if he agrees with Mr Trump...
or if he's demanding three more hostages to be freed on Saturday, as outlined under the deal. Either way, the uncertainty and Donald Trump's regular interventions have complicated the already fragile ceasefire. If Hamas, as before, does publish a list on Friday of which three hostages it intends to release, Mr Netanyahu may find it difficult to cancel the deal.
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Chapter 3: What was discussed during Trump's call with Putin and Zelensky?
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