Up First from NPR
Ukraine Talks, U.S. Health Agency Cuts, NYC Mayor Eric Adams Fallout
Tue, 18 Feb 2025
American and Russian officials meet in Saudi Arabia for talks on negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration has started making broad cuts to federal health agencies. Days after the Justice Department moved to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, four of his top aides and deputy mayors announced their resignations. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Ryland Barton, Jane Greenhalgh, Denice Rios, Reena Advani and Janaya Williams. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent and our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Our Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What are U.S. and Russia discussing in Saudi Arabia?
Top foreign policy officials from the U.S. and Russia meet in Saudi Arabia today.
Yeah, Ukraine isn't invited, but ending the war is a primary focus. What's on the bargaining table without Ukraine present?
I'm Amy Martinez, that's Leila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News. The country's health agencies have not been spared from federal job cuts.
Regardless of whether they were filling an important role or how they were performing in that role.
We'll hear what people were told about why they were let go.
And the governor of New York may try to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. Controversy surrounding the mayor has deepened since four of his top aides and deputy mayors announced that they will resign. What Mayor Adams is saying about his own future. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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Neuroscientist Ethan Cross says you may think it's healthy to vent about what's bothering you, but... The problem is you often leave that conversation feeling really good about the person you just communicated with, but all the negative feelings are still there. Sometimes they're even more activated.
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Chapter 2: How are U.S. health agencies affected by federal job cuts?
Chapter 3: What controversies are surrounding NYC Mayor Eric Adams?
And the governor of New York may try to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office. Controversy surrounding the mayor has deepened since four of his top aides and deputy mayors announced that they will resign. What Mayor Adams is saying about his own future. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
This message comes from 48 Hours. Want more 48 Hours? Four days a week, the 48 Hours podcast is bringing one of TV's most popular true crime series straight to your ears. Listen for original reporting and exclusive insights. Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts. NPR informs and connects communities around the country, providing reliable information in times of crisis.
Federal funding helps us fulfill our mission to create a more informed public and ensures that public radio remains available to everyone. Learn more about safeguarding the future of public media. Visit protectmypublicmedia.org.
Neuroscientist Ethan Cross says you may think it's healthy to vent about what's bothering you, but... The problem is you often leave that conversation feeling really good about the person you just communicated with, but all the negative feelings are still there. Sometimes they're even more activated.
Tools for managing our emotions. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR.
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Chapter 4: What was the outcome of the U.S. and Russia peace talks?
Today, in Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Russian diplomats met to discuss ways to end Russia's war in Ukraine. After the meeting, which was billed as peace talks, the U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed reporters.
We agreed on what the goal is. The goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that's fair, enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all parties involved.
Joining us to talk about what was achieved and what wasn't is NPR's Russia correspondent Charles Maines. Good morning, Charles.
Hi there.
Okay, so this meeting just wrapped up. What can you tell us?
Well, the meeting was a direct result of that phone call last week between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which these two leaders agreed to pursue this negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as we heard, headed the U.S. delegation, along with White House envoy Steve Witkoff,
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz as well, who said that they showed up determined to get things done.
President Trump is determined to move very quickly. We just had a head of state phone call, the first in years. And here we are less than a week later at the highest level of the U.S. and Russian government. And we expect to continue to drive that pace.
Now, these talks paced out at about four and a half hours. Both sides described them as positive, as serious. They also made clear this was just an initial step towards more negotiations to end the war. They didn't expect to solve it in one day.
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Chapter 5: Who is being impacted by the federal health agency cuts?
Yet the American delegation, Waltz in particular, pushed back against this idea that somehow Kiev or Europe was being ignored. He said, no, this was just shuttle diplomacy. You talk to different sides and pass on what they have to say.
Now, given the atmosphere you describe, are we witnessing something more here? Is this a reset between the U.S. and Russia?
It certainly feels like it's headed that direction. Both sides said they would move forward with plans for a meeting between Trump and Putin. They've now agreed to meet face to face. So by all accounts, Russia's isolation over its actions in Ukraine appear over.
In fact, after the talks, Lavrov spoke about how it wasn't normal for big countries like the US and Russia to not engage as they hadn't during the Biden years. But things were different now. I think it's very useful. So here he says that the talks were useful and for the first time in a long time, Russia felt not just heard, but listened to.
Okay, following these talks, do we have any sense of what the outlines of a deal might look like?
Well, President Trump has said Ukraine must give up both its NATO ambitions and territory to Moscow. These are two key Russian demands that have really fed fears that Ukraine won't have a say in its own future. But Secretary of State Rubio, as we heard in that intro, says he wants a deal acceptable to all parties.
How that works, where borders are drawn, I don't think anybody knows, including Rubio. But there's clearly a concern in Ukraine that while Kiev wants a just peace agreement, Trump just wants peace. And because of that, and because Moscow has the upper hand, both on the battlefield and around the negotiating table, they're nervous.
NPR's Russia correspondent, Charles Maines, thank you for your reporting.
Thank you.
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