Trump and Putin to meet for 'high stakes' summit on Ukraine

0:02Hi, I'm Charlie Duffield and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk. Coming up later in the show. From Jesse Nixon's debut show to Lily Phillips' examination of motherhood, a roundup of some of the best performances from this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I would say the comedy is hotting up as much as the temperature is hotting up.

0:34But first, Donald Trump has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not going to mess around with me ahead of a highly anticipated summit in Alaska on the Ukraine war. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022, with tens of thousands of soldiers killed on both sides. Today will be the first one-on-one meeting the pair have attended in six years. But Ukraine's President, Vladimir Zelensky, is excluded from the talks and has warned that the decisions made in his absence will be meaningless. UK Defence Secretary John Healy said the talks between Trump and Putin were first steps towards a potential peace which could lead to serious negotiations which involve Ukraine in the future.

1:20Here's what he had to say when speaking earlier to BBC Breakfast. The military and fighting solves nothing. The end to war must come through talking, must come through diplomacy. And so today in Alaska is what I hope we all hope to see, a first step towards serious negotiations. Now the pressure's on Putin. He's declared four times in the last six months that he wants peace, but he's been escalating the attacks on Ukrainian cities and killing Ukrainian civilians as well as attacking the military with thousands of drones each month launched into Ukraine. And so today is a day when really eyes are on Putin.

2:00Is he serious about what he says? Does he want to put and is he willing to talk about putting an end to the war in Ukraine? The UK's role is to stand with Ukraine on the battlefield and in the negotiations and prepare as we have been leading 30 other nations with military planning for a ceasefire and a secure peace through what we call the Coalition of the Willing. Joining us now is The Standard's Chief Political Correspondent, Rachel Burford. Rachel, can you give us some context to today? How significant is this meeting between Trump and Putin? Pretty significant meeting. They are going to discuss coming to a peace deal in Ukraine.

2:36What is, I think, quite significant is it is just going to be Trump and Putin there. We've not got any other European leaders and notably Volensky, the president of Ukraine, is not there, which has been a bit of a point of contention. They're going to meet at 11.30 local time, which is about 8.30 p.m. our time. We won't get exactly what comes out of this meeting until quite late into the night over here. Donald Trump has been sort of talking about this for days now. I think his most recent comments, he said he's not going to let Putin mess him around. It's sort of been built up and there's been a lot of sort of pre-meetings before it with Trump, you know, talking to European leaders.

3:13Obviously, J.D. Vance has been over in the UK where it's been a point of discussion when he's met various people over here. Trump, he has been sort of playing it up sometimes and playing it down sometimes. He said, I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. No second meeting has actually been confirmed yet, but Trump suggested there will be a second meeting with Putin and Zelensky and maybe some European leaders as well. But then he also added, maybe there won't be. We don't exactly know whether this will be a sort of meeting where a peace deal is sort of thrashed out, perhaps, and caveats are put in place.

3:48But it does sound like there will be some kind of second meeting as well that will involve Zelensky. So what's at stake here and what are some of the key issues which need to be solved? One of the big points of contention is how much territory, if any, that Ukraine will perhaps have to give away in order for Russia to agree to end the war. This has been a huge point of contention. Zelensky has said on numerous occasions he is not willing to give up any territory. He's not willing to change Ukraine's borders. That is a sort of line in the sand for him. Whereas Putin has suggested and it's been suggested that perhaps the Donbass region could go to Russia.

4:28It's a place that has quite a lot of Russians living there. And it is a place that Russia certainly sees as Russian. That is going to be a big point of contention in these meetings, I think, because Trump has also suggested that Ukraine should give up some territory that Russia was occupied in order to end the war. That, I think, will be discussed today. Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine at the moment, and Zelensky and other European leaders are worried that he's going to try and cement those gains in this. And they are sort of saying they'll be rewarding Putin, essentially, for 11 years of efforts to seize parts of Ukraine land and it could embolden him to further expand into Europe.

5:10That is a key worry, particularly for those European countries bordering Ukraine and bordering Russia. That, I think, is going to be one of the main things that is talked about. Another sort of point will be on sanctions that Russia has been facing because of its war and it's been facing for years now because of its war from European countries and Canada and the US. Putin will definitely want to be discussing those with the president. Putin has also said he'll make sincere efforts to halt the war on Ukraine and suggested that Moscow and Washington could agree a nuclear arms deal as part of the peace deal.

5:42What that would actually entail in practice is sort of unclear at the moment, but he said he wants to create long-term conditions for peace between the US, Russia and countries in Europe, and he wants to reach agreements in areas of control over strategic offensive weapons. So that will definitely be on Putin's mind when he enters these talks with Trump. And what's Sir Keir Starmer's role in this? Keir Starmer is obviously a key member of what they're calling the Coalition of the Willing, which is this group that supported Ukraine throughout Russia's invasion. That includes French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor as well.

6:19Obviously, he's not going to be at this meeting. He may be at this second meeting that Trump has kind of suggested may happen. The Defence Secretary John Healy was on the media around this morning and he defended or sort of dismissed suggestions that Britain's approach to the war is to wait and watch as the US holds the talks with Putin. Britain has always said that the UK's role is to stand with Ukraine on the battlefield and in negotiations. And we're helping to lead the other 30 nations with military planning for a ceasefire and to secure peace. So that is kind of Britain's stance at the moment, is that we want peace, but we are staunchly backing Ukraine, as we have done since Russia's full-scale invasion.

7:03Finally, what are we expecting to happen next? Trump said this meeting sets up like a game of chess. The first meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 % chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting, is his direct quote. You know, take from that where you will. But Trump has also said that it will be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an actual agreement. He said he's not going to negotiate bare deal, which I think is interesting. So whatever comes out of this meeting, we're not going to see Russia immediately putting down its weapons and saying we're not going to see Russians stop fighting immediately, I don't think, after this meeting.

7:39There is going to be a lot more discussions and negotiations down the road. But this is certainly laying the foundation to peace, I think, European leaders are hoping. When he came in for this second term, you know, he was quite sort of anti-Ukraine. And we saw that really quite distressing meeting that Zelensky had in the White House, where he was sort of ambushed by the vice president particularly, told off for not wearing a suit and things. But Trump has definitely, after all these discussions he's had with European leaders in the previous weeks and months, he's definitely softened on his stance to Ukraine.

8:14and he's shown a willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine. Obviously, they signed that minerals deal with the country. And I think the general consensus that we got from the phone call that Trump had earlier this week with European leaders, Anzalensky, was that the prime minister and other European leaders were quite positive about the way that had gone and that Trump was still sort of backing security guarantees for Ukraine and that this meeting should go well. I think the Prime Minister warns Downing Street, you know, warned the US not to trust Putin, take him at face value in many ways.

8:54But I think we've definitely seen the US's stance and Trump's particularly softened towards Ukraine. And that has led to sort of more hope that these talks could eventually lead to a proper peace deal. Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, The sun has been shining for this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival and our comedy critic is here with plenty of recommendations if you're in need of some light relief. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

9:28Welcome back. Now the world's biggest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, is in full swing at the moment with thousands of shows being performed across the Scottish capital. Running for three weeks from August 1st until the bank holiday weekend, there's plenty of buzz about the city and a dizzying array of performances to choose from. I spoke to The Standard's comedy critic, Bruce Dessau, who has been rounding up the very best acts from the festival each week. So Bruce, how has your Fringe experience been so far? The biggest surprise is the weather. I know I'm here to talk about the comedy, but the weather has been a bit amazing as well.

10:05We had a massive storm in the first week, and then this week we've now got a heatwave. Normally I come up to Edinburgh in August and cool off a bit, but we're all sweltering in the sun here. It would be interesting to see how it affects ticket sales, because everyone wants to sit outside. I always feel that gigs in Edinburgh are more popular when it's raining, and people buy tickets just to shelter from the rain. And tell me about some of the shows you recommend. It's interesting, because I think in the first week I was sort of seeing newcomers, but this week I've sort of, everything's gone up a notch, and the awards judges are out, and there's a bit of a buzz about some shows.

10:39I saw a show a couple of nights ago by Pierre Novelli, which I think people are talking about. He's a stand-up comedian who does a bit of TV and his show's all about trying to move house, going through all sorts of traumas with deadlines and time limits and trying to get across London in time to organise the move. He's also recently been diagnosed as autistic, which a lot of comedians have actually, but it's made his organisation of his move particularly. That's a really funny show and you follow him on his journey of missing deliveries, picking up keys, doing all sorts of things, which I felt were very relatable, just that kind of stress of living in London.

11:14It's the sort of thing quite a lot of us have gone through over the years. So that one I enjoyed. And in complete contrast, last night I saw an amazing show by a comedian called Joss Norris, which I'm still sort of processing. It's not stand-up comedy, I would say that, but it is very funny. And there's no category in the programme for performance art, but it's sort of performance art. But Joss comes on stage completely dressed in white, and he's like a cross between a cult leader and an artist. He's got a headband on that says artist, just in case you're wondering. His one-hour show is all about how he's about to reveal to the audience his life's work that he spent 30 years working on.

11:52But at the same time, the funny thing about it is he's a bit of an idiot. The work that he's got that he's about to reveal is incredibly silly. But I also think it's a strangely profound show because it is sort of saying something about what we consider artistic, what we value in art, what we value in relationships. I think it also touches on mental health because he sort of goes through a sort of breakdown in the middle of the show because his props go wrong. The timing of the show intentionally goes wrong. Yeah, that's just an amazing show. I think that's a show that will be quite talked about.

12:24I don't like to predict who's going to win awards, but I think he could certainly in the running for the awards. So the last two nights have been pretty impressive. The standard has gone up. At lunchtime today, I saw a really good show by a comedian called Ian Smith, who, as he says himself, there's no point Googling his name, Ian Smith, because I think he calls it the blandest name in comedy. And if you Google it, you'll get all sorts of things before you get Ian Smith, the comedian. But his show is about going for a fertility test, deciding to have a baby and the process of him and his partner going through the process of conceiving.

12:59But again, it's a subject that you wouldn't think is natural for comedy, but it's a really funny show. You've noticed a lot more female comedians, haven't you? When I was writing up my roundup for this week, all the best shows and most interesting shows had been by female comedians. Which, again, you know, a few years ago, it was almost like a novelty when you saw a female comedian. Not my choice, it was just the fact that people who booked comedy shows and arranged them, there just weren't that many women on the circuit. So you go to a show with like four comedians on the bill and only one of them would be a woman sandwiched between three men.

13:32But this week, just quickly to run through them, I saw great shows by Lily Phillips, who does a show also actually about giving birth. It was a three day labor, but she sort of found the funny side of that. So that was a really funny show. Bella Hull, another name who's breaking through this year. her show's all about she's just had a breakup and she's tackling the emotional fallout of her breakup live on stage so that's interesting then you also got another newcomer jesse nixon who is a very interesting performer from bristol it's not straight stand-up it's almost it's a combination of how can i put it simply stand-up comedy combined with feminist poetry she stops every sort of 12 15 minutes to do some poetry poetry is very clever the comedy is very strong and i think jesse It could be her breakthrough year, so name to look out for.

14:22And then from America, Zainab Johnson is another new name to me, but she's building up a reputation in the States. And then the show is all about how she was advised to buy a gun because she lives on her own. And her friend said, look, this is America. It's not safe. You need a gun to protect yourself. And it's not a subject that we would necessarily relate to in this country, but she does it in a way. She's so charismatic and there were so many surprises in the show. You find you warm to her, even if you don't relate to the subject of gun possession, you warm to Zaynab Johnson. And I think she'll be putting that show to London.

14:59It might get an award nominated, but whatever happens, we're going to be hearing more from her. One last thing, what's been your standout show so far? The show that really stands out for me that I've seen so far is probably Catherine Cohen. I think she should be doing a West End run, so keep an eye out for Catherine Cohen.

15:18and that's the standard for all the latest news head to standard.co.uk if you'd like to get in touch please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk we'll be back here on monday at 5 p.m we'll see you then