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Pushing Putin for a ceasefire: Dmytro Kuleba on Ukraine's future and Russia's goals
Listen: What will it take to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? President Trump is pushing hard for a ceasefire deal, but is Vladimir Putin actually interested in negotiation? On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer is joined by former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba for a sober assessment of the war with Russia—and what it will take to end it. Kuleba resigned last year amid a cabinet shuffle, but spent years at the heart of Ukraine’s diplomatic fight for survival. As long as Russia believes it can win the war, he says, Putin will never compromise on a meaningful ceasefire deal. That won’t change until the Kremlin faces serious pressure from the White House, which so far has seemed to only offer incentives to Moscow, while punishing Kyiv, according to Kuleba. So is Trump ready to get tough on Putin? And what is Ukraine prepared to offer Russia in return to bring the fighting to an end? Bremmer and Kuleba discuss Putin’s goals in the war, the Trump administration's negotiation strategy, and what it will take to finally bring peace to Ukraine.
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Will Trump pressure Putin for a Ukraine ceasefire?
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump said ending the war in Ukraine would be easy. Again and again, he promised to end the fighting within “24 hours” of taking office. But as president, and as Russia drags its feet in ceasefire negotiations, Trump has walked that confidence back. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer looks at President Trump’s push for a ceasefire deal in Ukraine and what it will take to bring both sides to the negotiating table. The Trump administration has been engaging diplomatically with Moscow and making it clear to Kyiv that ongoing US support isn’t a guarantee.
The problem is that so far, the Kremlin seems uninterested in meaningful compromise. Instead, it’s been slow-walking negotiations and increasing its demands for concessions, all while advancing on the battlefield and targeting Ukraine’s population centers with drone strikes. Turns out, diplomacy is a lot more complicated than a Manhattan real estate deal: complex, slow, and full of people who don’t care about self-imposed deadlines. But there are signs that the president’s patience with Moscow is wearing thin. As Russia keeps stalling, will Trump start piling the pressure on Putin to make a ceasefire happen?
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New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Israeli police dispersed a demonstration in West Jerusalem in which Israelis gathered to demand an end to the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, on April 9, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Deadly Israeli strike hits Gaza, UK nabs Universal theme park, US visa clampdown crosses threshold, North Korea gets combat lessons, Pleas for release of activist
23: An Israeli airstrike hit a residential area in northern Gaza on Wednesday, reportedly killing 23 people, according to local health officials. A Hamas-run health ministry said that eight women and eight children were among the dead. Israel said it had struck a senior Hamas militant. Meanwhile, in West Jerusalem, police dispersed demonstrators who gathered to protest the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza and the killing of Palestinian emergency workers.
8.5 million: As if US tariffs haven’t caused enough of a rollercoaster, Universal announced this week that it plans to build its first-ever European theme park in the United Kingdom and estimated that 8.5 million people will visit during its first year. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the plans, saying the news even piqued his children’s interests. The plan is for the park to open in 2031.
500: As part of its clampdown against higher education, the Trump administration has now revoked visas from more than 500 foreign students in the United States, according to NAFSA, an association dedicated to international education. Universities have started warning foreign students and faculty against traveling abroad, as it could allow authorities to take away their visas.
1.2 million: North Korea’s army, totaling 1.2 million soldiers, is reportedly gaining invaluable experience of modern combat from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Twelve thousand of these North Korean fighters helped the Russian ranks beat back the Ukrainians in the Kursk region in December, and South Korea has claimed that another 3,000 North Koreans are joining the Russian frontlines this year.
30: More than 30 human rights groups are pressing the United Kingdom and the European Union to reverse the extradition of Egyptian activist Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi from Lebanon to the United Arab Emirates, where he faces charges of undermining public security, according to UAE state media. An Egyptian activist who has been critical of several Arab states, Qaradawi has reportedly been held in solitary confinement for three months, and he also faces an extradition demand from his home country.
Ukrainian troops are fighting in Belgorod, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Chinese troops in Ukraine?
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese nationals on the battlefield who were fighting alongside Russian troops, and he claimed his country’s security service had “information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units.”
Importantly, Zelensky did not accuse the Chinese government of sending these troops to Ukraine, though his government has formally asked the Chinese government to comment. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly recruited and deployed foreign nationals as mercenaries. The North Korean government has so far provided an estimated 14,000 troops for Russia’s war effort.
China has provided rhetorical and some material support for Russia, but it has kept Vladimir Putin’s war at arm’s length. Beijing has never formally recognized any of Russia’s territorial claims in Ukraine, including land the Russians seized in 2014.
Zelensky also acknowledged this week for the first time that Ukrainian troops are operating in Russia’s Belgorod province, which neighbors the Kursk region where Ukraine had already claimed the occupation of Russian territory. Zelensky said these troops are there to protect Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions just across the border.
The presence of Ukrainian troops in Belgorod, which Russian military bloggers have acknowledged in recent weeks despite Kremlin denials, does not represent a major Ukrainian escalation. The number of troops and the land area in which they appear to be fighting are much smaller in Belgorod than in Kursk. But Zelensky’s comment does signal Kyiv’s determination to remain aggressive as Russia ups its own cross-border attacks.A drone view shows the site of a Russian missile strike amid Russia's attack on Kyiv on April 6, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Russia continues to strike Ukraine, Measles kills again in Texas, Buchenwald liberation remembered, Video of killing of Gazan emergency crew surfaces, Deadly storms wallop the US, Bolsonaro supporters rally
19: A Russian missile strike on Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killed 18 people on Friday in one of the deadliest attacks of the year. Russian attacks on Kyiv on Sunday also killed a man and injured three others. Ceasefire talks are ongoing between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States but have thus far failed to make a difference on the ground.
2: The measles outbreak in Texas has claimed another life. An eight-year-old girl died early Thursday in Lubbock, Texas, the second measles death in the country in 10 years. The Lonestar State has seen 480 cases and 56 hospitalizations since late January, and health authorities warn that if the virus continues to spread at this pace, the US could soon lose its measles elimination status.
80: On Sunday, Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Former German President Christian Wulff addressed fellow politicians, as well as survivors and families, as he paid tribute to the victims of Nazism and warned of the risks of “brutalization and radicalization” amid the rise of far-right forces around the world.
15: Fifteen emergency responders were killed last month by Israeli forces near Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel claimed the vehicles advanced on them “suspiciously” without headlights or emergency signals. But a very revealing video found on the phone of one of the victims showed well-marked ambulances moving along a road with headlights and emergency lights flashing in the moments before they were targeted. Israel now says part of its initial account of the incident was “mistaken.”
16: Storms have been hitting the South and Midwest in the US since last Wednesday, bringing torrential rains, tornadoes, and flooding to several states and killing at least 16 people, 10 of whom were in Tennessee. Tornado risks persist in three states — Alabama, Georgia, and Florida — and forecasters warn that flooding could still harm large parts of the Southeast in the coming days.
45,000: Roughly 45,000 people rallied on the streets of Sao Paulo in support of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday after the country’s Supreme Court ruled a couple of weeks ago that he must face trial over his alleged attempt to overturn the 2022 election. “What these guys really want isn’t to lock me up, they want to kill me, because I’m a thorn in their throat,” Bolsonaro, who was speaking of the judges, said at the rally.
France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference following a summit for the "coalition of the willing" at the Elysee Palace in Paris on March 27, 2025.
Europe divided over Macron’s “reassurance force” for Ukraine
The reassurance force has its share of supporters, notably British PM Keir Starmer. But Italian PM Giorgia Meloni offered “no national participation,” while Czech PM Petr Fiala dubbed the discussion “premature” until ceasefire conditions become known.
Moscow’s response?A hard nyet.Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, claimed that the UK and France are “hatching plans for military intervention in Ukraine” under the guise of peacekeeping. She added, “Russia categorically opposes such a scenario, which threatens a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.”
So far, there has been no formal response from the Trump administration, although special envoy Steve Witkoff referred to the plan as “simplistic” and “posturing” in an interview with Tucker Carlson on March 21. We’re watching to see if there will be further reaction – and whether this will impact ceasefire talks.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a press conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 25, 2025.
Russia derails ceasefire agreement, to Trump’s dismay
The United States announced on Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine had verbally agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the Black Sea and a moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes. Ukraine confirmed the agreement — which followed marathon talks in Riyadh — and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was grateful to the US for brokering it. But soon after, Moscow introduced fresh conditions for agreeing to a limited ceasefire, including the removal of sanctions on certain Russian banks and exports. Even Donald Trump, in response to Russia’s apparent bait and switch, remarked “it could be they’re dragging their feet,” but said he remained confident that Vladimir Putin wants to strike a deal.
Clouds of war: Russia, meanwhile, is seeking to gain as much ground as possible in Ukraine before there’s a more expansive pause in fighting, incentivizing it to drag out negotiations. On Monday, the Kremlin launched missiles on a residential area in the northeastern city of Sumy that injured 88 people, and a cyberattack hit Ukraine’s ticketing system, resulting in long waits at railway stations. In response, Ukrainian forces struck Russia’s civilian energy infrastructure, which is included in the outline of Tuesday’s ceasefire.
What Ukrainians want: An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians support a broad 30-day truce, according to a March Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll. But just 16% said they would agree to Russia’s publicly stated terms for a fuller ceasefire, with 79% calling it “completely unacceptable.”
What comes next? Trump maintains that he believes both sides want to see an end to the war, and he reiterated that “I just want to see it stop. I also don’t want to pay.” What’s crystal clear is that further talks will be necessary, highlighting how this is merely a bump on the long road to peace in war-torn Ukraine.
“The US can seek to convert these agreements into a broader ceasefire, provided that they hold,” says Alex Brideau, Russia director at Eurasia Group. “The back-and-forth talks the Americans have had with the Ukrainians and Russians demonstrate the challenges the Trump administration will face.”
President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, on March 19, 2025.
Ukraine talks continue in Saudi Arabia after Trump envoy praises Putin
While US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff predicted “real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries,” leading to a “full-on shooting ceasefire,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov contradicted him, telling Russian state TV on Sunday that “difficult negotiations” await and that “We are only at the beginning of this path.”
Witkoff was also criticized by Western experts for an interview with pro-Trump broadcaster Tucker Carlson that aired Friday, in which he dismissed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s proposed peacekeeping plan for Ukraine as “a posture and a pose” and repeated several Kremlin talking points, including that Ukraine is a “false country.” Witkoff also said that Russia’s control over five Ukrainian regions – of which he was only able to name two – should be internationally recognized and praised Vladimir Putin as “super smart,” adding, “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy.”