It’s been 3 1/2 years since Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of its Ukrainian neighbour. Ukraine’s capacity to resist has depended on two things: its own will to fight and support from its allies. Until January this year the US was one of those allies. Then things changed. But in the last week President Trump seems to have taken a turn against Russia. The US president said he was “very unhappy” with President Putin over the lack of progress towards a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Ukraine. On Monday the White House announced 100 per cent tariffs on countries which do business with Russia - those tariffs to begin in 50 days time unless a ceasefire with Ukraine is agreed. President Trump also announced that the US would be sending weapons to Ukraine which NATO allies - and not America - would pay for. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss whether the tide is turning in the Trump-Putin relationship and if this could change the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Guests:
Paul Adams, BBC World Affairs Correspondent
Anton Grushetskyi, Executive director Kyiv International Institute of Sociology
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist
Angela Stent, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former US National Intelligence Officer for RussiaPresenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Studio engineers: Tom Bartlett and Alyson Purcell-Davis
Editor: Richard Vadon
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28:31
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The Trump hokey cokey is back - what happens to world trade now?
The Trump hokey cokey is back. Tariffs on, tariffs reduced - now they’re heading back up again.
It really got going on April 2nd- President Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” - when he announced a swathe of punitive tariffs on trading partners across the world. The markets tanked and then there was a pause. Countries had 90 days to strike a trade deal - 90 deals in 90 days - we were told. But there weren’t. There were only 2. The deadline was this week but now it’s next month. But in the past few days the White House has been sending out a flurry of letters with higher tariffs for those without a deal - which is almost everyone. David Aaronovitch asks his guests just what is going on, what’s happening to world trade and what happens next? Guests:
Soumaya Keynes, Economics Columnist The Financial Times
Meredith Crowley, Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge
Justin Wolfers, Professor of Economics and Public Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan
Philip Coggan, author, The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump: What the Trade War Means for the World Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill and David Crackles
Editor: Richard Vadon
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Why is there a row about disability benefits?
The Government was forced into a humiliating climbdown over its controversial benefits bill this week, and any savings the Treasury had hoped to make were wiped out. The politics of this is a subject on its own, but the underlying problem the government was trying to solve, however, remains. David Aaronovitch asks his guests why the cost of disability benefits has ballooned so unexpectedly, who gets them and why and whether the system works for disabled people.Guests:Paul Lewis, Presenter Moneybox, BBC Radio 4
Tom Waters, Associate Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Louise Murphy, Senior Economist, Resolution Foundation
Ruth Patrick, Professor of Social and Public Policy, University of GlasgowPresenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Sally Abrahams
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: Sarah Hockley and Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon
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Iran: What happens next?
President Trump says the conflict between Israel and Iran is over after 12 days. For the US and Israel the declared objective has been to destroy Iran’s capacity to make a nuclear bomb, with a side order of regime change if possible. They have damaged Iran’s capacity to build nuclear weapons but for how long? And what now is the objective for Iran? To rebuild their nuclear weapons programme? Or just for the regime to stay in power? David Aaronovitch and his guests discuss what's next for Iran.Guests:
Dr Patricia Lewis, arms control and nuclear physics expert
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor at The Economist,
Dr Lina Khatib, Associate Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House
Professor Ali Ansari, founding director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrews UniversityPresenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Richard Vadon
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Explainer: Tensions over Kashmir
Following a deadly terrorist attack in Indian administered Kashmir in April a short military conflict broke out between India and Pakistan. For a brief history of the tensions over Kashmir Caroline Bayley spoke to former BBC India correspondent, Andrew Whitehead, who’s an expert on Kashmir and its history and author of “A mission in Kashmir”.
This is part of a new mini-series called The Briefing Room Explainers. They’re short versions of previous episodes of the Briefing Room.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producer: Caroline Bayley
Editor: Richard Vadon
South Africa