Global News Podcast
Ukraine's Zelensky meets US vice-president at Munich security conference
Sat, 15 Feb 2025
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has held talks with US vice president, JD Vance, as a rift grows between the US and Europe over how to end the war in Ukraine. Also: YouTube celebrates its 20th birthday.
Chapter 1: What are the main topics covered in this episode?
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles, and in the early hours of Saturday, the 15th of February, these are our main stories. President Zelensky of Ukraine has met J.D. Vance at the Munich Security Conference after the U.S. vice president launched a wide-ranging attack on European politicians.
African leaders at a summit in Ethiopia have agreed to increase their health budget and taxes to compensate for a freeze on foreign aid by the United States. The latest figures from South Korea indicate that the suicide epidemic among young people is continuing despite efforts to address it. Also in this podcast. Well, if you're familiar with YouTube, you may have heard that video.
Believe it or not, the video sharing platform is 20 years old. The future of Ukraine took centre stage at the International Security Conference in the German city of Munich on Friday. It came after several days of speculation about how President Trump's telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday might be the start of a process that will end the conflict.
On the sidelines of the conference, the US Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters that Washington could impose economic sanctions on Russia if it refuses to agree what he called a good peace deal that guarantees Kyiv's long-term independence. There are economic tools of leverage, he said, and there are, of course, also military tools of leverage the US could use.
Chapter 2: How did Zelensky's meeting with the US Vice President unfold?
Later, he addressed the delegates at the meeting.
This is a security conference, and I'm sure you all came here prepared to talk about how exactly you intend to increase defense spending over the next few years in line with some new target. And that's great, because as President Trump has made abundantly clear, he believes that our European friends must play a bigger role in the future of this continent.
We don't think, you hear this term, burden sharing, but we think it's an important part of being in a shared alliance together that the Europeans step up while America focuses on areas of the world that are in great danger.
So the emphasis there was on American expectations of more military spending by Europe. Well, later in the day, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met the US vice president at the Munich conference. Mr Zelensky said they'd had a good conversation and that it would not be their last.
He said they needed to prepare a plan on how to stop President Putin and finish the war with Russia and that President Trump was key to making that happen.
I hope and we count that really President Trump will help us. And I really count on him. He is the president, and the United States is the biggest denator during the war. I mean, comparable with other countries. As I said, Europe also, but it's Europe, totally continent. Yes, United States gave a lot. That's why I count on him.
People voted, and we really think, I see, yes, that he is a strong man. And if he will choose our side, And if he will not be in the middle, I think he will pressure and he will push Putin to stop the war. He can't do it.
The head of the European Commission is Ursula von der Leyen.
President Putin says he's willing to meet, but on what terms? It is up to him to demonstrate that his interest is not to prolong this war. It is up to him to show that he has given up his ambition to destroy Ukraine. And let me be very clear, a failed Ukraine would weaken Europe, but it would also weaken the United States.
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Chapter 3: What is the European perspective on the security conference?
Ursula von der Leyen. Our chief international correspondent Lise Doucette is covering the conference. Sumi Sumaskanda asked her what the mood among the delegates in Munich was like.
First of all, there's great relief among the Europeans, among the Ukrainians, that at last, after three years of a grievous war, that peace talks, or at least discussions about peace talks, are finally on the table. But there is great worry too. This is a very troubled Munich Security Conference, probably one of the most troubled it's seen in its 61-year history.
that they really feel what they regard as the foundation of this, what they call a transatlantic partnership, is falling apart, that President Trump's kind of diplomacy involves the kind of unilateral step that we saw earlier this week when he had this 90-minute telephone conversation with President Trump and President Putin and seemed to give away the main issues, some of the main issues that should be
on the negotiating table, that Ukraine should be at that table to decide on its own future. And so the value of Munich Security Conference is that finally President Zelensky can sit down with Vice President J.D. Vance.
And although both of them struck up a very diplomatic tone for the cameras when the talks began, no doubt those talks were very candid as they tried to narrow the gaps on what they say is a mutual ambition. which is to end this war and end it in a way that it doesn't start again.
What about U.S. relations with European leaders there, Lise? We know that JD Vance was very critical of fellow allies there. How are people responding to that? Shocked.
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Chapter 4: How is the US-Europe relationship evolving at the conference?
When the U.S. Vice President took to the main stage here in Munich, it was expected he would perhaps give more details about the war in Ukraine and how to resolve it. Instead, he gave a lecture to the gathered delegates. Many of them were very high-level officials from European countries and basically said... the main threat to Europe is not from Russia, is not from China, it's from within.
And basically excoriated them about what he said is attacks on information, on political freedoms. He accused Britain of backsliding on religious rights.
And the comments afterwards, you can imagine there wasn't very much clapping, Sumi, but afterwards, even Germany's defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said that it seemed as though the Americans want to look at Europe through the lens of autocratic regimes.
Lise Doucette in Munich. As President Zelensky prepared for his visit to Munich, the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine was targeted in a drone strike in the early hours of Friday morning. Russia has denied any knowledge of the attack, but Mr Zelensky said it showed President Putin was definitely not preparing for negotiations, but instead continuing to deceive the world.
A protective shelter that covers the remains of a destroyed reactor at the nuclear power plant was damaged. The shield was built to prevent radiation from spreading after the Chernobyl reactor melted down in 1986. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said the explosion caused a fire in the structure, which has since been extinguished.
The radiation levels inside and outside the building were currently normal. With his assessment of how optimistic people in Kiev are feeling about an end to the war, here's our Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse.
President Zelensky is facing one of his steepest political challenges in taking on a White House which is warming to Russia. His message? While all sides are looking to win, Ukraine deserves to. The pace of these ceasefire politics is blistering, but no less consequential for a country which doesn't want three years of sacrifice to be for nothing.
In Kiev, and countless other cities, there is a desire for peace, but the terms are seen as just as important.
The main thing is that the negotiations have started. For three years, there were none at all.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of the Chernobyl attack?
Trump first called Putin, and then he called our president. It's nonsense. It's silly. We are defending our country now, and negotiations must be held with the head of our country. How would they decide our destiny without us? It's not right. I think it's not right.
The fact Ukraine didn't fall to Russia within days, as many expected, is a victory. But three years on, if Ukraine over-compromises and doesn't secure sufficient security guarantees, it could still lose.
James Waterhouse in Ukraine. Next to Ethiopia and African Union leaders meeting in Addis Ababa have agreed to increase taxes and government budgets to create alternative health care funds on the continent following the USAID funding freeze by the United States.
Many African countries rely on USAID and other donors to provide billions of dollars for programmes including those tackling malaria and HIV. Will Bain spoke to Dr Jean Kesea, Director General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who's at the conference.
We can say this is a timely meeting because It came when we saw a number of partners decided to stop funding to a number of programs in Africa. And today, our leaders, they decided collectively to take strong action to increase domestic resources and to reduce dependence to external funds.
What does that strong action look like? What kind of things?
It's a combination of a number of actions, from increasing the health budget, second, for putting in place some taxes to create innovative funding, and also for providing some innovation, the innovative approach for Africa CDC and other countries.
And what about barriers in terms of moving things, moving people, rules, regulations? I'm guessing those kind of things will be on the table once again as well.
Yes, what our leaders did, it was first to open the door for this kind of topics. And, you know, it was not common to discuss innovative financing mechanisms. Now they decided to put in place a committee of AU, Africa CDC and African Medicine Agency to sit together to develop with some experts a concrete plan how we can now start to raise this fund.
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Chapter 6: What actions are being taken by African leaders regarding healthcare?
Meanwhile, Will, the World Health Organization is saying that fighting has caused a number of patients with the Mpox virus to flee hospitals in the eastern part of the DRC. What do we know?
Yeah, well, the World Health Organization says that there were more than 140 confirmed Mpox cases. So these were patients who were in isolation rooms.
units in the city of goma and close to goma so in various hospitals and clinics and it says out of those more than 140 128 fled and only 15 remained in those isolation wards i mean eastern congo is chaotic at the best of times but you add on top of it a fast moving conflict and the kind of effort at any health care and humanitarian assistance just gets that much harder
Our Africa regional editor, Will Ross. YouTube is 20 years old. The video sharing platform was created at a time when broadcasting was confined to expensive TV studios. But not many people would have predicted the way it's turned the world of entertainment on its head. This report by Alfie Habersham.
It seemed like a normal home video when the YouTube co-founder Javed Karim spoke to the camera in front of a pair of elephants in San Diego. But what it really meant is for the first time anyone, anywhere could film something and the whole world could watch it. A year later, Google bought YouTube for more than a billion dollars and introduced a new rule.
The more views you get, the more cash you make. And teenagers filming in their basements became rich overnight. That's Baby Shark Dance, showing kids making chomping gestures with a cartoon sea background. It's been viewed 15 billion times, earning its Korean creator, Kim Min-suk, about $30 million. And it does seem to be the bizarre videos that do the best. Just take the keyboard cat.
99,995, 99,996, 99,997.
99,999.
100,000. What am I doing with my life?
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Chapter 7: What is the current situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
Yep, we're talking about Marcus Persson, the Swedish coding king who programmed the world's most successful game, Minecraft, all by himself.
He made a billion, but is he good, bad, or just another billionaire? Find out on Good Bad Billionaire, listen on the BBC app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hamas has released the names of the three hostages that it is to release on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. They are the Argentine-Israeli Le Horn, the US-Israeli Tzagil Dekel Chen and the Russian-Israeli Alexander Sasha Tufanov. Hamas had earlier said it would postpone the handover, claiming that Israel had breached the terms of the Gaza ceasefire.
But after mediated talks in Cairo, the Israeli threats to resume the war if the releases didn't go ahead as scheduled, Hamas agreed to abide by the deadline. One of the hostages had been held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Qaza Madira spoke to Moshalavi, the brother-in-law of the hostage Omni Muran, who's not on the list of the hostages to be released on Saturday.
What are his thoughts on this development?
It's a difficult day for us again as a family. We want to see him home. My sister wants to hug him. My nieces want to run to him and spend time with him again. But he's not expected to return anytime soon. But at the same time, I'm so happy for the families of the three hostages who will be released. So grateful that hopefully they'll be released and be able to rehabilitate and recover.
We're one big family, the families of hostages, and I know all these families very well. I'm embracing them today, but our battle doesn't end. And I just returned from D.C. yesterday after campaigning there with the administration, with Congress. Hoping to make sure they understand we have to pressure all stakeholders until all the hostages are home.
And Moshe, we know that this has been an agonizing week for you, for all the families of the hostages, because we were seeing just how this ceasefire was so, so fragile. It twists and turns throughout the few days. Hamas are saying that they expect talks on the Gaza truce phase two to begin next week, early next week. Moshe, that must be good news for you.
Yes, this is good news, but we have to monitor the situation. We have to ensure that our own government in Israel abides to what it promises us, which is negotiating the second phase. We have to ensure that Hamas, their accomplices and their sponsors, countries like Qatar, Iran and Turkey, force Hamas to the table.
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Chapter 8: How has YouTube transformed the entertainment industry?
My name is Marcelo Cantón and I'm the communication officer of the Nord Delta Neighbours Association. Our aspiration and desire are to live harmoniously with the local flora and fauna. We love living surrounded by this natural environment. In the specific case of the capybaras, they are one of the many species in the area.
The difficulty is that the environment surrounding the lake and wetland is ideal for their reproduction.
They have no natural predators, nor are they hunted like happens in rural areas.
As a result, their population has been growing without any control, doubling every year.
Thanks to Marcelo for that. Lucia, has there been much criticism of this plan?
There are a few groups of environmentalists and also some other neighbours who don't agree with this vision. What I want to clarify is that this measure is thought and planned by the National Research Council. So regardless of the opinions... It has a scientific background. It's not that neighbours are going to sterilise capybaras because they are tired of them being in the gardens.
Lucia Chalakian Herrera in Argentina. Now, quite a few of you may relate to this. You've had a big meal, maybe a starter and a main course. You're feeling pretty full up. But when the offer of a dessert comes, magically you feel like you've still got a space in your already bloated belly. The joke is that we have another separate stomach for desserts.
Not true, of course, but it seems there is a biological reason why we're able to carry on eating sweet things even when we've really had enough to eat. And it was uncovered by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany through a study of mice. Team leader Dr Henning Fensenlau has been telling James Menendez more.
What we found in mice is that once we are in a state of satiety, so when we have enough food, that there's a switch that activates this specific neurons in the brain that then ultimately make us guide towards eating more high sugar containing foods.
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