Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky receives warm welcome in London after clash with Donald Trump at the White House. Also, Kurdish PKK separatists lay down their arms, and the bittersweet romance that could win an Oscar.
Chapter 1: Why was President Zelensky warmly welcomed in London?
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Jackie Leonard, and in the early hours of Sunday, the 2nd of March, these are our main stories. A warm welcome for the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London after the angry clash with Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.
The NATO Secretary General Mark Rutter, meanwhile, says he's sure the US is committed to peace in Ukraine. And after decades of armed struggle, the Kurdish separatist group PKK has declared a ceasefire. Also in this podcast, tens of thousands of Romanians have marched in support of a far-right politician whose presidential election victory last year was annulled.
It's a great sea of Romanian flags. They've marched through the centre of Bucharest to Piazza Vittoria in front of the Romanian government building.
And the father of Namibia's independence is laid to rest. Smiles, cheers, waving and a prime ministerial hug. A warm welcome for President Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street on Saturday evening. The mood in sharp contrast with the anger seen during his encounter with Donald Trump and J.D. Vance at the White House on Friday when he was berated for seeming insufficiently grateful for U.S.
help as he deals with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Sunday, Mr Zelensky is due to meet King Charles. There will also be a meeting of European leaders and the Canadian Prime Minister. But first, a chat with Keir Starmer in Number 10. Mr Zelensky spoke of the welcome he had received and thanked the Prime Minister and Britain.
I saw a lot of people, and I want to thank you, people of the United Kingdom, such big support from the very beginning of this war. Thank you, your team. And I'm very happy that His Majesty the King accepted my meeting tomorrow, and I'm thankful that you organized such a summit for tomorrow. And we are very happy in Ukraine that we have such strategic partners.
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Chapter 2: What is the significance of the NATO Secretary General's statement on Ukraine?
It's understood that Britain and Ukraine have agreed a loan of around $2.8 billion to support Kiev's defence capabilities. Our correspondent Joe Pike spoke to us from outside No. 10 Downing Street.
Sir Keir Starmer didn't just wait at the step of No. 10, as some prime ministers do, for President Zelensky to get out of his range rover and walk up the street. Instead, he walked down to him and the two leaders embraced. I think the UK prime minister certainly wanted to demonstrate his...
The warmth that he feels towards President Zelensky and his country, projecting the UK's unstinting support, as he said, for Ukraine. Of course, journalists here from across the world are throwing questions at largely President Zelensky, not Sir Keir Starmer, including, you know, can your relationship be better? repaired with Donald Trump and is a deal possible in Ukrainian peace?
Now, President Zelensky did not answer that. The two men went inside and we've seen a little bit and heard a little bit of the start of their meeting, which was filmed by broadcasters. Interesting that they both talked about... Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer talking about his and the UK's support for Ukraine, and Vladimir Zelensky being very appreciative of that.
But no one, of course, in the room mentioned somebody who, of course, isn't here, and that's Donald Trump. In the public part of that meeting, of course, they're going into a private discussion, and I suppose try and game what the next steps should be, especially with this all-important summit of European leaders taking place in central London, hosted by Sir Keir Starmer, will also attend.
And what do they hope that European leaders will achieve?
They haven't set it out, but speaking to sources within Downing Street, they argue Zakir Starmer wants action. Talking to this source in the last couple of hours, they said that the UK and other nations have spent billions supporting Ukraine, but now is the time for...
nations to step up my interpretation is that means that they want commitments from other european nations of support in a security guarantee either financial support i suppose or logistics or troops on the ground as the uk has committed to so i think the uk government certainly want
progress to be made and not just to be you know some summit for the cameras and for european leaders to feel like they're achieving something the other point which i think is fascinating is that there is a very real concern within number 10 that tomorrow's summit is interpreted in the US in a way that it shouldn't be. They do not want this to look like the UK and the EU are ganging up on the US.
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Chapter 3: What is the current status of the Kurdish PKK ceasefire?
And the families of the hostages, actually, who approved the release of this video, which doesn't always happen, but said that it was all right to broadcast this, they have said that this underlines once again the importance of getting all the hostages out.
And just briefly, where are we with the ceasefire negotiations?
Well, negotiations on phase two were due to begin yesterday. They did begin in Cairo, but then the Israeli delegation came back. We think that the negotiations are likely to carry on at a distance. Consultations going on with Mr Netanyahu and his senior colleagues, they want some kind of extension in which we will see more hostages and Palestinian prisoners released.
Hamas seems to be resisting that. And so far, at the moment, there is no sign of a breakthrough.
That was Paul Adams in Jerusalem. After decades of armed struggle, the outlawed Kurdish group the PKK has declared a ceasefire with Turkey. The movement's jailed leader, Abdullah Ercalan, who's been in solitary confinement since 1999... called on the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. Amberin Zaman is a Turkish journalist and chief correspondent for the Almonita news website.
Celia Hatton asked her how important she thought this latest announcement was.
It's an extremely important announcement, first of all, because it came so quickly. It responded instantly and unequivocally, saying that they would go along with Öcalan's call and But they set conditions for this. So the ball is now very much in Turkey's court. Turkey has to secure. this environment so they can be sure that they won't be attacked.
First, just to look at Odilan and his role in this. He's been in prison for the past 25 years. How does a man jailed for such a long time still hold so much influence over the organization that he created?
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Chapter 4: How does the Kurdish ceasefire affect Turkey's political landscape?
Chapter 5: What role does Abdullah Öcalan play in the Kurdish peace process?
Celia Hatton asked her how important she thought this latest announcement was.
It's an extremely important announcement, first of all, because it came so quickly. It responded instantly and unequivocally, saying that they would go along with Öcalan's call and But they set conditions for this. So the ball is now very much in Turkey's court. Turkey has to secure. this environment so they can be sure that they won't be attacked.
First, just to look at Odilan and his role in this. He's been in prison for the past 25 years. How does a man jailed for such a long time still hold so much influence over the organization that he created?
This is almost like a personality cult. that's developed over the years. He's an extremely charismatic and authoritarian figure who cast a spell over his followers. When he was captured, you had people actually setting themselves on fire. They were so upset. The PKK itself has determinedly
cultivated, sustained this myth around Erdogan as the absolute leader of the movement, because this is the glue that's allowed them to keep things together.
To turn back to Turkey again, you said that the ball's now in Turkey's court. How might President Erdogan respond to all of this, to the announcement of a ceasefire? What considerations does he have?
Erdogan needs Kurdish support because under the constitution, he cannot run for a third time. The elections are due in 2028 and he'd like to make constitutional changes immediately. that would allow him to run. And for that, he needs Kurdish support. So he's reached out to the Kurds again, but he's not in the picture per se. Erdogan is kind of being very clever about this. If things go south,
he can easily say, well, I had nothing to do with it.
Do you think that things could go south? What potential roadblocks could come up to stop this process, the potential end of a battle that has killed 40,000 people and displaced millions in southeastern Turkey? It's going to be very tricky.
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