What does the US-Ukraine deal really mean?

0:03Hi, I'm Julie Banks. Welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, don't forget to hit follow and leave a review. Coming up, London's new Cathedral of Cuisine. This certainly gives it a bit of an edge and I think it's sort of skewed towards a younger crowd, which is quite good because a lot of the city can be quite expensive. The London Standards restaurant critic David Ellis joins us to tell us all about the city's newest food hall.

0:39But first, the United States and Ukraine have announced an economic deal which will tie the two countries together in a joint reinvestment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction. But what are the finer points of the deal and how could it impact any peace plan with Russia? The London Standards' Rachel Burford is here with all the latest. Rachel, it was only two months ago we saw Zelensky and Trump in that heated clash at the White House. So how has this deal come about? what's changed since then? Yeah, so I think when we saw Zelensky go to the White House in February and the scenes that played out there, it felt like this deal may never come.

1:17There was obviously a sort of big falling out between the two leaders and, you know, Zelensky left early. But since then, obviously, a lot has happened in the world and Ukraine. You know, you've had Trump sort of anger pretty much every single country with his trade war and tariffs. And what's essentially happened is there's been a real softening from the Americans' point of view on Ukraine, and that has been paired with a sort of tougher stance on Russia. So the sort of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump and the White House has been a bit tougher towards Putin and the war he's sort of waging in Ukraine.

1:50And there has been, you know, some concessions from the Americans about this deal. And the Ukrainians essentially now have got a deal that they are happy to sign. And, they're willing to progress. Of course, we did see President Trump and President Zelensky together at Pope Francis's funeral recently. And that did seem to be more harmonious than the previous encounter. Presumably, things must have been ticking along in the background well before that meetup in order to be able to reach a deal like this. Yeah, definitely. And you've seen the language towards Putin being notably harsher in the last few weeks from the White House.

2:29For the first time under Trump, the US Treasury Department has referred to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and sort of said no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine. So there has been this, not quite U-turn necessarily, but definitely a much harsher tone towards Russia and their involvement in this Ukraine war. So what are the key aspects of this agreement? What does it all mean? The actual full wording of the deal has only just been published. But there are a few sort of takeaways, I think, from it.

3:01I think one of the main things that back in February, you saw Donald Trump really demanding was that Ukraine repay back the$350 billion of aid that has already been provided from the US under his predecessor, Joe Biden. But it appears that Washington has made a concession, which will mean the country don't have to pay back any supposed debt. And Trump is still styling this as a win for his side by saying his country will get more money back in theory than the billions provided under Joe Biden. But that is, I think, seen as quite a win for the Ukrainians that they're not going to have to pay back this money they've already received.

3:39There was a lot of talk around the deal relating to Ukraine's mineral wealth and providing resources to the US. That's in there. And oil and gas is also included. and it sort of says the US will get sort of joint access to some of those natural resources. But I think one of the really interesting parts of the deal is for the first decade of the Reconstruction Investment Fund, profits will be fully invested in Ukraine's economy. So that suggests that there's going to be no financial benefit for the US for 10 years, which is sort of quite a concession on the US's part, I think. Ukraine has said that it expects any money that comes into the fund will go towards rebuilding the country, you know, as it sort of rebuilds the war and new projects.

4:20You know, it does suggest that the US commitment to military aid is back on the table, which is good. But there is this idea that the US can walk away from this deal at any time. And Donald Trump is known to be changeable in his policies and feelings. So that, you know, is a slight worry, I think, you know, he's always been reluctant to give those same military commitments to Ukraine that Joe Biden did. And he's more sort of focused on this being an economic deal that will benefit the US rather than something that says Russia's invasion is totally wrong. And this is a moral stance that the US are taking.

5:04Yeah, it's interesting you say that because I was going to ask that question about his changeability and how much confidence, I suppose, Ukraine can have in this deal, given that President Trump is inclined to change his mind on a fairly frequent basis, it seems. Yeah, I still think, you know, the Ukrainians are quite pleased today with this. They feel like they have got the concessions that they were pushing for. And, you know, like I said, in February, this deal seemed like it may never come. And it, you know, it's very difficult for Ukraine to lose that US backing that it's got against Russia.

5:37So the Ukrainians are, I think, today, pleased with the deal that's on the table and that's been signed. And so we've mentioned Russia already, but what are the strategic implications now, do you think? How is this deal likely to affect any possible peace plan in the war with Russia? Well, as we're recording now, we haven't received a response from the Kremlin just yet. I can't imagine that Putin is going to be particularly pleased with this. I mean, this isn't a peace deal. I think it should be pointed out that this is not a peace deal, but it does strengthen those ties between Ukraine and the US, which have been fraying and that Putin was quite pleased about that.

6:15Is it going to put extra pressure, do you think, though? Again, we've heard the rhetoric of Trump change slightly towards Putin and Russia. And do you think that with the closer ties to Ukraine, there will be added pressure now coming from the White House to the Kremlin? I think it does mean that there will be, yes, some added pressure coming on Russia and coming on Putin to end this war. Although it's not a peace deal, you know, it does give Donald Trump and the US a personal political investment in the conflicts. And, you know, he's always, as president, regarded it as, you know, someone else's fault and, you know, very far away from the US and the US people's problems.

6:47So this has given the US more of a stake in this war. And it's not seen as the money pit it was before for the American people. They've got an economic agreement on the table now. And how has the UK government reacted to the deal? So the UK government has reacted positively to the deal. They welcomed it. We saw Foreign Secretary David Lammy this morning saying that he welcomed this deal and the steps being taken by the US and the Ukraine to sign this economic partnership. The UK's stance remains, as it always has been, in steadfast support with Ukraine. And we are deepening our economic and security ties as well with the country.

7:27I mean, obviously, there's still plenty to see what comes from this, Rachel. But does it position Donald Trump in a slightly different light, bearing in mind that a lot of what we've seen from him so far has been quite reactive or short term? Yeah, I think it does, especially in Europe. I mean, he's not so popular with the European Union at the moment with, you know, his tariffs and trade war. So I think this does sort of show me a light of, oh, well, you know, America is thinking, you know, years down the line, not just, you know, what's going to happen tomorrow, what's going to happen next week.

7:57This is a sort of, you know, essentially an investment in Ukraine. And, you know, it's something that the White House is saying, we are willing to do this now, we are willing to get to the profits later, down the road, much later down the road. However, there is always this caveat of the US can walk away so we'll have to see how it works out of the coming weeks and months. Let's go to a break. Coming up we'll find out about a major new food hall that's set to open in the shadows of one of London's most iconic buildings. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

8:38welcome back a major new food hall is set to open in the capital in just a few weeks time marketplacest paul's will be situated opposite the world famous cathedral in the city and the london standards restaurant critic and going out editor david ellis is here with all the lowdown So David, what can you tell us about this latest opening? So Marketplace, which is a big food hall group, is opening a new one. They're largest yet in St Paul. So they've already got successful businesses in Vauxhall, Harropack and Baker Street, even up in Manchester. But here they're going all out. They've got two floors.

9:13They've got everything from green to Thai to Indian, Argentinian food as well, South American. And they're trying to give a bit of life to an area that's actually quite quiet and not just feed you, but give you a good night out too. So they want people coming in on their lunch break probably, but then they also want to offer a bit of a party after work. So David, as you mentioned, there's obviously more than just restaurants on offer within this space. What else is going to be there? Yeah, so they've got two bars. They're putting quite a lot of effort into their cocktails. There'll be lots of pints.

9:40They're actually giving away ice cream, a scoop of ice cream when you arrive. They're launching with a comedy night and then they're going to have DJ No Match regularly as well. So it is your sort of standard food hall But just one that is trying to really offer a really good vibe Or a good fun night out So in your opinion, is this going to be a good addition to this part of town? Yeah, I think St Paul's is a bit dead And where it is on cheap sides The sort of most exciting thing that's there is a post office So this might add a little bit of life to it It gets better once you get into the city And there's Cock d 'Argent and there's the Ned But this is at the other end of the road, and I think it's probably quite good for a part of town that for most people is a thoroughfare or just very chain heavy.

10:26You know, you normally expect to see a cafe rouge there. So this certainly gives it a bit of an edge. And I think it's sort of skewed towards a younger crowd, which is quite good because a lot of the city can be quite expensive. Whereas I think this means that you can go out and have a good time without spending too much. Obviously, St. Paul's is a tourist hotspot. Do you think they'll be looking to appeal to that audience as well? Yeah, for sure. I think it's quite savvy on their part with regards to that. I mean, St. Paul's, the steps are never empty. Even if you go past in the middle of the night, there are people just about.

11:01People like to come and look at it, photograph it. And this is just behind it. So I imagine they'll get a lot of that. And I think that's probably partly why the array of food that's on offer is so diverse. because it will appeal to the maximum number of people. David, have you been to one of the other market hall venues? And as a food critic, what's your opinion on these sort of places? I'm afraid to say I have not. But I think for people who like them, this sort of setup looks like is actually quite good. I mean, they've got this one called Opa, which is, as you might guess, it's a Greek place.

11:36But the chef is an ex-head chef of Hyde. He's very, very accomplished. So they have bought in the right people by the looks of it. Well, that's good to know. Now, we all know the hospitality industry is facing increasing pressures of all kinds, with the changes in the spring budget impacting cost of employers, the effects of cost of living crisis for people looking to go out. How much of a concern will this be for the owners opening a new venue of this size, do you think? I think, to put it bluntly, they are in too deep already. Projects like this will have been in the works for 12, 18 months, maybe longer.

12:11it will have been a huge investment for them the budget will have been a pretty nasty shock but once you invest as much as they will have done you can't really pull out that so i imagine for them that they're hoping that what they're offering which is uh kind of egalitarian because it's cheap but you can spend if you want you could just have a pint but you could also have more expensive cocktails i think they're hoping that they will have a sufficient footfall to to meet their costs. And the kind of style of food that they're rolling out probably won't be hugely costly to do en masse. And if you can do volume, then that tends to see you through the woods and those sort of things.

12:56I think they'll probably be worried because everyone is, but it's the same as any other opening. Every restaurant opening is a gamble. You're betting that the idea that you're excited about is an idea that other people will get excited about. And if they do, they'll be fine. Any chance we might see you take your first steps into a food hall when this venue opens? I have been to food hall, maybe. Let's just say politely, let's just say I got option paralysis, so I find them overwhelming. But yeah, I mean, honestly, if I'm being really straightforward about it, I think I'm probably too old and uncool for them to want me there.

13:28I think they want, with these DJ nights and comedy evenings, they want a young crowd there to have a good laugh, not some slightly snobby food critic. So, yeah, I'll go and see what it's like because it's so close to the office. But to be honest, they're not going to miss me if I don't go. Get yourself one of those free ice creams, I say. David, thanks very much for your time.

13:52And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk and please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. This podcast will be back tomorrow at 4pm. We'll see you then. All right.