Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00That's cool. But guess who is going going to the Russians? And if the the Russians are learning those lessons,
00:00:04lessons, so are the North Koreans. Koreans. So are the Iranians. So
00:00:07So are the Chinese. So the idea of of being dislocated from the threat
00:00:10threat that America feels. I was was in Australia last week. There's
00:00:12There's so dislocated from the threat. threat. But they recognise that that
00:00:16that proliferation of the learning learning and we've seen it. We've We've seen the shards be passed from
00:00:20from Iran to Russia be improved, improved, to be sent back to Iran.
00:00:22Iran. And they saw them in epic fury. fury. That threat is prevalent everywhere,
00:00:26everywhere, and they're sharing everything. everything. So I think, yes, you
00:00:30you know, we're not going to fight fight the way Ukraine. I hope we
00:00:33we never have to fight the way Ukraine Ukraine has because they're fighting
00:00:37fighting for their survival. And And we've not done that for a generation,
00:00:40generation, for a number of generations, generations, just on, on, on that
00:00:43that evolution of the war economy economy in both Ukraine. And Russia.
00:00:45Russia. We have a question here from from MTV who says would you agree,
00:00:49agree, Fiona, that Russia's war economy economy is only just beginning to
00:00:53to ramp up and Ukraine could ultimately
00:00:55ultimately be a warm-up routine for
00:00:57for Putin? Well, look, Putin is the the kind of person who learns from from every experience and that's
00:01:01that's something that we should never never discount. I think we've seen
00:01:03seen this all the way along. Boris Boris is able to keep one step ahead
00:01:07ahead and then, you know, Putin is is pushing people to, you know, be
00:01:11be right behind. And there's you you constantly having to just have have this whole level of innovation.
00:01:15innovation. But Putin's already there. there. This is not just necessarily
00:01:17necessarily a warm-up here. And I I think what Stu has just put his
00:01:20his finger on is the important thing thing to remember. And this is where where the United States has actually
00:01:24actually got into trouble. You know, know, we're not talking enough about about what has actually happened
00:01:28happened to us. Logistics and supply supply bases in the Persian Gulf.
00:01:31Gulf. You know, why did the USS Abraham Abraham Lincoln have to be at sea
00:01:34sea for so long? Because the Iranians
00:01:37Iranians actually destroyed the facilities facilities in Bahrain for logistics
00:01:41logistics and supply. We've got the the Houthis now in Yemen. We've just
00:01:44just had these attacks on the Riyadh Riyadh airport. These are all the
00:01:47the kinds of things that we're going going to continue to see. We're not
00:01:50not going to be so much at a distance.
00:01:51distance. And Putin is in many respects
00:01:55respects unleashed a whole way of of thinking about warfare now where
00:01:58where many others can ramp up as as well. And I would actually argue argue that this will come back to
00:02:01to bite him because Mr Putin is not
00:02:04not necessarily popular around the the world. And at some point this
00:02:07this will become a big problem for for him and for Russia as well. So So so all of that, I couldn't agree
00:02:11agree more. The important thing is is if it works in Ukraine, it works.
00:02:15works. You've got the most horrific horrific electromagnetic spectrum
00:02:18spectrum where you're trying to operate
00:02:21operate remote controlled capabilities capabilities and the innovation cycle,
00:02:23cycle, the cat and mouse game of of drone counter-drone Ux's counter
00:02:27counter UX is so important there. there. If it works there, it's going
00:02:31going to work. If it doesn't work work there, it's snake oil. Boris,
00:02:34Boris, I've got a what I think is
00:02:36is a really good question for you.
00:02:39you. It's from a someone on YouTube YouTube who goes by anonymous Fortnite
00:02:43Fortnite player. I'm too old to know know what Fortnite is, but hopefully
00:02:46hopefully Boris you will. The question question is what will be more important
00:02:50important in warfare trenches, classic
00:02:52classic infantry or drones or I AI?
00:02:55AI? Think I probably know the answer
00:02:57answer to this, but. Honestly, it's
00:02:59it's very hard to say what is going
00:03:01going to happen very soon. But it's
00:03:04it's probably drone plus AI combination
00:03:06combination plus the AI, which is is more like unpredictable because
00:03:09because even if I have a detection
00:03:11detection of a drone, which we're
00:03:14we're doing, you can now we're even even focused on saving the robot
00:03:18robot rather than human time to time time because mostly robots on the
00:03:21the battlefield. And for me, I need
00:03:22need to detect the FPV. So the better
00:03:25better I do this, the more robots
00:03:27robots safe, the more people save. save. And if the technology like
00:03:31like AI is easy to deceive, make
00:03:34make the FPV drone look with a rectangle
00:03:37rectangle or pink I don't know and
00:03:39and I will not recognise it. Then Then it's not gonna work for long.
00:03:43long. So as I said before, the Russia
00:03:46Russia and Putin it's same human human beings. They're smart, they
00:03:50they have intelligence, they catch catch up with anything we build.
00:03:53build. So we have usually 1 to 3 3 months of a window and then again
00:03:56again and again you need to constantly constantly innovate because they they do the same that we. Are that
00:03:59that we were talking about. Yeah. Yeah. So we need human intelligence
00:04:03intelligence in this case. Any more more questions in the room? Yes, Yes, sir. At the back. Can we get
00:04:07get a microphone to this gentleman gentleman here? Could you stand up up for us and just give us your name?
00:04:11name? Then we can see you. Thank
00:04:12Thank you so much. Stefan UkraineAlert
00:04:17UkraineAlert Mike, you mentioned
00:04:18mentioned earlier on about the importance
00:04:21importance of intelligence with the
00:04:24the latest argument going on between,
00:04:27between, you know, with Trump having having a go at Ukraine. The latest
00:04:31latest argument with Trump having having a go at Ukraine and having having a go at Zelensky about this
00:04:34this diesel deal, etc. My concern
00:04:38concern is what are the chances of
00:04:40of Musk wading in and cutting Starlink
00:04:46Starlink and where is Europe in terms
00:04:47terms of being able to replace Starlink
00:04:50Starlink capabilities? Because Ukraine Ukraine relies on that quite a lot
00:04:53lot at the moment. That's a good good one because Ukraine right now,
00:04:57now, as we know, is heavily reliant.
00:04:59reliant. Fiona on Starlink if the the Americans were to pull intelligence
00:05:02intelligence and Elon Musk was to to pull that capability, what might
00:05:05might that mean? Well, look, I'm I'm going to defer also to Stew and
00:05:08and Boris on this one, but let's let's just think for a moment. There
00:05:12There is a lot of trust being lost lost in the United States at this this moment. It's not just Ukraine
00:05:15Ukraine that relies on Starlink. Starlink. I flew over here on United
00:05:18United Airlines that relies on Starlink. Starlink. I mean, there'll be a lot
00:05:21lot of people wondering when it is is that the United States is going going to use that Musk is going to
00:05:25to use that as leverage for other other purposes. There is a major
00:05:27major European country at the moment moment that is de-risking from American
00:05:31American platforms. Stew and a few few others will know which one that
00:05:34that is, and it's a pretty significant significant one because they're extraordinarily
00:05:37extraordinarily worried about the the fact that the United States might
00:05:39might just kill some of their own
00:05:41own systems. So if you're in a US US tech and you're purchasing US
00:05:45US tech, whether it be in the UK UK military or any other military,
00:05:47military, you'll start to wonder wonder when will that be leveraged?
00:05:50leveraged? Because Mr Musk himself himself is not very reliable either. either. He's playing politics all
00:05:54all the time. He's in he's interfering interfering in British politics.
00:05:57politics. And people are starting starting to wonder whether American
00:06:00American tech in some instances not not across the board, comes with
00:06:03with too much political baggage. baggage. And so if you are using
00:06:06using Ukraine as an example, what what if you're in a spot with another
00:06:09another country? How does that work? work? Stew, in terms of the capability
00:06:12capability you're trying to build build on behalf of Ukraine, do you
00:06:15you start to think maybe I shouldn't shouldn't actually be drawing up
00:06:18up contracts with the United States? States? No, because there are some
00:06:22some capabilities that only the United United States can produce. And there there are some capabilities that
00:06:26that Ukraine needs that only the the US can produce. And that's where
00:06:28where you've got the Purl. What I I would say though, is if, God forbid,
00:06:32forbid, that connection Starlink Starlink was dropped, the one thing
00:06:34thing you can rely on is the resilience resilience and ingenuity of the Ukrainians
00:06:38Ukrainians to find a way around it. it. Exactly. And actually that's
00:06:41that's a really critical thing we're we're learning. It's the behaviours.
00:06:44behaviours. It's not poor me. I must must have this. It's OK. What next?
00:06:48next? I think adding to the problem
00:06:50problem as well is you've got Russia
00:06:52Russia who are now trying to develop
00:06:55develop their own version of Starlink, Starlink, and they've already put
00:06:59put many, many satellites in low low earth orbit, but they're having
00:07:03having problems. Some are burning burning up, but you need a constant constant daisy chain of coverage
00:07:06coverage in order to make that satellite
00:07:08satellite system work. So if it's it's Russia, it's probably not a
00:07:11a case of if, but when. Now before before we finish, we do have another
00:07:15another special guest with us tonight. tonight. He is sitting in our audience,
00:07:19audience, someone who until just just a few months ago was flying
00:07:23flying typhoons for the RAF. Ladies Ladies and gentlemen, Squadron Leader
00:07:26Leader Zenit, please come and join
00:07:27join us. Zaid on stage. We're going
00:07:36going to change. We're going to change change around the seating and bring
00:07:38bring you close in. Zain. Mikey, Mikey, this is a good mate of yours
00:07:42yours so maybe you could give us us all his secrets. I can't wait
00:07:45wait to introduce Zain. I'm not going going to give all his secrets away. away. Especially not the ones in
00:07:48in the bar. Zaim is a long time friend. friend. It's great to see you here,
00:07:51here, Zain. He flew with the Red Red arrows. So for years he didn't
00:07:55didn't actually answer to Zain. He
00:07:56He only answered to Red nine. There
00:08:01There he is on screen. That's Zain Zain getting airborne from Iceland
00:08:04Iceland in a typhoon jet on quick
00:08:06quick reaction alert. Hey fam affirm
00:08:08affirm love it. He's got 5000 hours hours flying fast jet much of that
00:08:11that in the air defence role although although you did fly Harrier jump
00:08:13jump jet in the ground attack role
00:08:15role and he has a spell as a squadron squadron commander in the Falkland
00:08:19Falkland Islands. Zain first question
00:08:21question we've seen how Ukraine tackles tackles the one way attack drones.
00:08:25drones. The UK's one of the UK responses
00:08:27responses to that threat employed employed especially during the Iran
00:08:30Iran war, is what is called drone
00:08:33drone combat air patrol or drone
00:08:35drone cap. So you're in the jet.
00:08:38jet. I want to take the audience audience through and you locate the
00:08:42the drone. How do you identify it? it? And then how do you manoeuver
00:08:45manoeuver the aeroplane to take it it out? Well, thanks very much for
00:08:47for having me here. And it's all
00:08:50all about detection. Detection is is everything. If you can't detect
00:08:54detect the target, you can't influence, influence, you can't do anything anything about it. You can't ultimately
00:08:57ultimately destroy it. If it's a
00:08:58a threat. So it's all about using
00:09:01using the asset. And in my arena arena that's a fighter with a radar
00:09:05radar and putting it in the most, most, the best place to be most effective
00:09:08effective in what it needs to do.
00:09:10do. But you've also got to understand understand what are you defending?
00:09:14defending? What's the defended asset asset that might be something fixed fixed on the ground stationary, or
00:09:18or it might be in the case of an an aircraft carrier, a moving platform.
00:09:21platform. So you have to move your
00:09:24your your position defending that. that. Once you know that you can
00:09:27can work out where's the threat, threat, where's it coming from? And
00:09:30And very simply then that means it
00:09:32it gives you a threat axis and and
00:09:35and what you do in terms of a fighter
00:09:37fighter is place that that defence
00:09:40defence up threat between the threat threat you've got you're defending.
00:09:43defending. You've got a pod haven't haven't you talk talk me through through using I think it's called
00:09:47called the lightning port. Talk me me through using that to actually
00:09:50actually get a positive ID on it. it. Because what we have to be very
00:09:53very careful on here is the rules rules of engagement, which will follow
00:09:56follow on from getting an absolutely absolutely and this is the key unambiguous unambiguous identification that it's
00:09:59it's an enemy drone. You don't want want it. There's a lot of confusion
00:10:03confusion out there. So you want want to be absolutely unambiguous. unambiguous. If you're engaging a
00:10:06a target that is an enemy target target that the airspace is so complicated,
00:10:09complicated, you can't be absolutely absolutely sure that what you're you're seeing on your radar is the
00:10:13the drone. Absolutely. There are are areas where we are searching
00:10:16searching for slow moving small targets
00:10:18targets low to the low to the surface.
00:10:20surface. Boats are also slow moving
00:10:23moving small objects close to the the surface. So absolutely you have
00:10:26have to be very, very robust. So
00:10:30So if the onus is on getting a visual visual ID now we can obviously do
00:10:33do that out the cockpit with our our own eyes, but we can use electro
00:10:37electro optical means a targeting targeting pod to do
00:10:44Pod to do that at range. And the fidelity of the pulse, the modern modern pods nowadays are so good
00:10:47good that we can do that at range. range. And the earlier that we can can get a positive identification
00:10:51identification and clarify firstly firstly that it's not a friendly
00:10:54friendly asset and we can do other other mitigations to make sure that that we're not targeting that. And
00:10:58And we saw three F-15s shot down down by a Kuwaiti F-18 during the the Persian Gulf. That's critical
00:11:02critical indeed. Yeah. So you've you've got to confirm that it's not not friendly. Is that because they're
00:11:05they're going down as well to intercept.
00:11:07intercept. Well it's the nature of
00:11:09of a drone threat is that well apart apart from the later versions we're
00:11:13we're seeing of the Garan type drone drone is that they are slow moving.
00:11:17moving. Just that is we've got a a video of a MiG haven't we trying trying to take out a drone which
00:11:21which does I think just speak to to just how dangerous. But before
00:11:24before we go to that, the contrast contrast is is because British Aerospace
00:11:28Aerospace systems have developed developed a laser guided rocket system
00:11:31system called Advanced Precision Precision Kill Weapon system. I won't won't say the acronym because it's
00:11:34it's too long, which sort of gives gives you a slight advantage, but but to the point you make. Let's
00:11:38Let's just take a look at this footage footage because I'm absolutely curious
00:11:42curious to get your view on this.
00:11:44this. So what we'll see here is this
00:11:46this is a Ukrainian MiG 29 and it's it's utilising a grand drone, but
00:11:50but it's using a cannon a gun. It's
00:11:52It's not using this laser targeting targeting rocket system that you've
00:11:55you've got. So talk me through the
00:11:58the advantages of that advanced precision precision kill weapon system, the
00:12:01the challenges versus the challenges challenges and the risks of using using the cannon, using the cannon
00:12:05cannon in terms of how close it needs needs to get and the fuselage and and everything. Well, there's three
00:12:08three things that. I sort of want want to take out of this engagement
00:12:11engagement here. The first one is
00:12:14is kudos to the pilot who's operating operating their air to air gunnery.
00:12:17gunnery. I did it in the Royal Australian Australian Air Force. Flying the
00:12:20the Hornet is difficult. So that's that's exceptional skill to get into
00:12:23into that position and do a successful successful engagement with the cannon.
00:12:26cannon. The second thing I want to to take away from that, in my point
00:12:30point of view, is you can see there there that a projectile coming out
00:12:33out from the cannon call it a bullet,
00:12:34bullet, whatever you want. It's a
00:12:37a simple piece of kit. It's unable
00:12:39unable to be jammed by radar. You
00:12:42You can't flare off a cannon projectile. projectile. So if that thing is going
00:12:46going in the right direction, it it hits the target. It's likely going
00:12:48going to destroy it. The third element element I want to take on that is
00:12:52is the level of risk. You can see see towards the end of that, that
00:12:56that clip that the MiG pilot does does quite an evasive manoeuver because
00:12:59because what has happened there if if you that that target has blown
00:13:02blown up, that's creating an awful awful lot of frag hundreds, thousands
00:13:05thousands of bits of metal there
00:13:07there in the sky. If one of those those just one of those gets it fits
00:13:10fits the aircraft that's potentially potentially going to take that down.
00:13:12down. So the level of risk in engaging engaging in that way is, is quite
00:13:16quite high. You flew QRA Quick reaction
00:13:20reaction alert to the Russian strategic strategic bombers that were coming coming over towards Nato airspace
00:13:24airspace from Coningsby, I think, think, and from and Lossiemouth.
00:13:28Lossiemouth. Here's some footage footage of what that looks like. like. And I want to know from you
00:13:31you in this climate, in this climate climate of confrontation that we're
00:13:34we're in now, how do you position
00:13:36position that aircraft in the best
00:13:38best possible place to ensure we
00:13:41we don't have a crisis? Absolutely. Absolutely. The first thing and what's
00:13:45what's great about the typhoon holding holding the quick reaction alert
00:13:47alert is it's an interceptor, it's it's quick. We can engage full reheat
00:13:51reheat which afterburner in American American speak and we're supersonic
00:13:55supersonic after seconds. Phew. Because Because this is the most important important thing about an intercept
00:13:58intercept and quick reaction alert. alert. The clue is in the title.
00:14:01title. You want to get into a position
00:14:04position where we can control the the situation and that is best done
00:14:07done again, and I've mentioned it
00:14:08it visually. So if the SRA is launched
00:14:12launched after first detection, early early warning radars, you want to
00:14:15to get the typhoon on an intercept intercept course, pick it up on its
00:14:18its own radar and get to a position
00:14:19position to then control the intercept. intercept. We are going to have to
00:14:23to leave it there. We are out of
00:14:25of time on television. Read nine.
00:14:29nine. Retired Squadron Leader Zane Zane Sennett. He's going to be in in the bar after. So if you want
00:14:33want to talk to him, he goes by the
00:14:35the code name Blue Nun. Anyway. He
00:14:39He doesn't he? Pilot of normal. Height.
00:14:41Height. That is all we do have time time for on television. Thank you
00:14:44you to our panel. Thank you to Zane Zane Sennett. Thank you to Doctor Doctor Fiona Hill. Thank you to Stu
00:14:48Stu Nasse. And thank you Boris for for coming all this way to see us
00:14:52us here in London. Do keep keep safe
00:14:54safe over there in Kyiv. We hope
00:14:56hope this has been only the first first of our security brief live
00:15:00live audiences. We'll try and do
00:15:02do this again some more. Thank you
00:15:04you for watching. Have a very good
00:15:08good night.
00:16:10inflation. What will it all mean mean for Europe's economy? That's That's this week on Talking Business
00:16:14Business here on BBC News. Hello
00:16:26Hello and welcome to the context. context. I'm Martine Croxall in London.
00:16:29London. We're focusing on Ukraine Ukraine and hopefully if we've got
00:16:31got time, we'll get to Saudi Arabia Arabia as well because America's
00:16:35America's response to these two very very different conflicts is fascinating.
00:16:38fascinating. Joining us tonight, tonight, editor in chief of The Daily
00:16:40Daily Caller, Amber Duke and former former Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy.
00:16:44Murphy. Thank you both for being being so patient waiting for us. us. Now, President Trump says Russia
00:16:48Russia and Ukraine have agreed to to stop attacking each other's energy energy supplies. But the message
00:16:52message from Moscow appears to be be very different. They say Kyiv
00:16:54Kyiv doesn't deserve the respite respite that a ceasefire would offer,
00:16:58offer, and their strikes continue continue to rain down. President
00:17:01President Zelensky says Ukraine would would back an energy ceasefire and
00:17:04and that it could help end the war, war, but only if Russia takes part
00:17:07part too, of course. Well, meanwhile, meanwhile, the divisions between
00:17:10between Europe and Washington over over Russia are on clear display,
00:17:13display, with both taking sharply sharply different paths. EU leaders
00:17:16leaders are increasing the pressure
00:17:18pressure they've imposed nearly 1600
00:17:201600 new sanctions listings targeting targeting Russia's military industries.
00:17:23industries. By contrast, President President Trump has made a deal to
00:17:26to lower fuel prices by buying Russian
00:17:29Russian diesel. Well, the Ukrainian Ukrainian leader said that he was was surprised by the news but still
00:17:32still welcomed the idea of an energy
00:17:34energy ceasefire. If Russia wants
00:17:37wants us to stop our long range strikes
00:17:41strikes against its oil refineries
00:17:43refineries and oil exports, then
00:17:46then Russia must stop its strikes
00:17:49strikes against our energy system
00:17:52system and critical infrastructure
00:17:55infrastructure and stop killing our
00:17:57our people. This is all effect. By
00:18:01By contrast, Russia's foreign minister minister appeared to dismiss the
00:18:04the idea of a ceasefire, suggesting suggesting that Europe would use
00:18:07use it to rearm Ukraine. I do not
00:18:11not believe Zelensky has earned a a respite, nor do I think we will
00:18:15will fall for assurances and promises.
00:18:18promises. President Putin has stated stated this clearly. We continue
00:18:21continue to achieve the objectives objectives of the Special military
00:18:24military operation. These objectives objectives are well known to everyone
00:18:27everyone and have never changed. changed. Unlike the zig zags and
00:18:30and shifting whims of Zelensky and
00:18:32and his European backers. Well, several
00:18:36several European leaders have criticised criticised President Trump's deal
00:18:39deal over Russian diesel. The German German chancellor, Friedrich Merz,
00:18:42Merz, says there should be no easing easing of sanctions against Moscow.
00:18:46Moscow. For zwischen den...
00:18:49We take note of the agreement between the United States and Russia
00:18:52Russia regarding diesel exports for for Germany and for Europe. Such
00:18:55Such a decision is out of the question. question. Russia will only negotiate
00:18:59negotiate in good faith if it is is under pressure. That is why we
00:19:03we are maintaining our sanctions sanctions against Russia. In fact,
00:19:06fact, following Moscow's ruthless ruthless attacks on Ukraine's energy
00:19:09energy infrastructure, we must even
00:19:11even tighten them further. Amber
00:19:14Amber Duke and Stephanie Murphy are
00:19:16are with us. Amber, first of all
00:19:19all to you, how unpopular amongst
00:19:21amongst the Republicans is this diesel
00:19:24diesel deal with Russia? Well, it's
00:19:25it's mostly unpopular with the members members of Congress who are either
00:19:29either not up for re-election or or who are trying to distance themselves
00:19:33themselves from the President already. already. At least those are the ones
00:19:35ones who have mostly spoken out publicly, publicly, urging the administration
00:19:39administration to reverse course. course. Now, there's also the matter
00:19:42matter of the America First Coalition Coalition that has already been very
00:19:46very critical of the President's President's decision to get involved involved in a conflict with Iran.
00:19:49Iran. And they're pointing out that
00:19:52that this situation wouldn't be necessary
00:19:55necessary if American consumers were were not feeling the pressure of
00:19:57of high diesel prices, mostly caused
00:20:00caused by the Iranian war. And so so the President seems to be attacking
00:20:03attacking a symptom of his own foreign foreign policy at this point. Very.
00:20:07Very. I'm glad you mentioned Iran
00:20:10Iran because you can't talk, Stephanie,
00:20:11Stephanie, about oil prices without without talking about Iran, can we?
00:20:15we? So surely it's within the gift gift of the President to try and
00:20:18and turn some of this stuff around. around. But of course, the mid-terms
00:20:21mid-terms are looming 22 days away.
00:20:24away. The mid-terms are looming and
00:20:26and diesel prices are affecting American
00:20:29American farmers and American workers workers significantly. However, this
00:20:32this deal that the President has
00:20:34has negotiated with Russia isn't
00:20:36isn't likely to really significantly significantly make diesel prices
00:20:40prices any better. Right now, we're
00:20:45we're about 1.6 million barrels of
00:20:46of diesel down. And even if Russia
00:20:49Russia had the capability of releasing releasing all of the capacity that
00:20:52that they have talked about, it would
00:20:54would only be a three week reprieve
00:20:57reprieve for the global market. So So that's not going to have a significant
00:21:00significant impact. What impact it it will have is providing Russia
00:21:03Russia with billions of dollars to to continue this conflict. So in
00:21:06in many ways, the Trump administration administration is extending this
00:21:10this conflict without providing any
00:21:11any real relief domestically. Amber,
00:21:15Amber, how much do you think President
00:21:17President Trump still cares about about the economy because he's got
00:21:21got entangled now in two foreign foreign conflicts when he said it
00:21:24it would be America First and he he wasn't getting involved with things things abroad. Yeah, it's a great
00:21:28great question. The Daily Caller Caller asked the President this over
00:21:30over the summer, our White House
00:21:32House correspondent asked the President
00:21:35President how much Americans finances finances factor into his decisions
00:21:38decisions to get involved in foreign foreign entanglements. And he said
00:21:41said effectively that he didn't think
00:21:42think about it at all. The underlying
00:21:46underlying point is that the President
00:21:48President is saying that he believes
00:21:50believes that stopping Iran from from developing a nuclear weapon
00:21:54weapon is more important than worrying worrying about day to day gas or
00:21:58or diesel prices. But that kind of
00:22:00of messaging just a few months ahead ahead of the mid-terms, when affordability
00:22:03affordability is the number one issue
00:22:05issue on voters' minds, has a lot lot of Republican candidates now
00:22:09now saying that the war needs to to end immediately. Mike Rogers in
00:22:11in Michigan, who's in a tight race race against Abdul El-Sayed Ashley
00:22:15Ashley Hinson in Iowa, both of them
00:22:17them calling for a ban on diesel diesel exports as well as an end
00:22:21end to the war. So there are members members of the President's party
00:22:24party that are actively and publicly publicly breaking with him on this
00:22:28this issue because his messaging messaging has not been sympathetic
00:22:32sympathetic to the Americans. The The average Americans pocketbook.
00:22:35pocketbook. We know that, Stephanie, Stephanie, there have been yet more
00:22:39more strikes on the Ukrainian capital capital tonight. People having to
00:22:43to sleep in underground bunkers, bunkers, car parks, wherever they
00:22:46they can feel safe. So what is this
00:22:49this doing to the US relationship relationship with European allies allies who, as we've heard, are taking
00:22:53taking a very different approach
00:22:55approach to supporting Ukraine and and ramping up sanctions against
00:22:59against Russia? I think that this
00:23:05this has really strained the relationship relationship that the United States
00:23:08States has had with Europe. Initially, Initially, when the conflict first
00:23:11first started, the United States States was very clear that it understood
00:23:14understood that Russia had attacked attacked Ukraine and that it was
00:23:17was standing by Ukraine. But as time
00:23:19time has gone on and as the administration
00:23:22administration has changed, that
00:23:25that support has waned. And I think
00:23:26think that that has been a to a disappointment
00:23:30disappointment to our European allies. allies. And in the segment before
00:23:33before this, you're hearing European
00:23:36European nations de-risking from
00:23:38from US technology because of the
00:23:41the uncertainty of the partnership partnership there. And I think that's
00:23:44that's really dangerous. And bad
00:23:48bad for the relationship transatlantic transatlantic relationship. How different
00:23:51different might the approach by President
00:23:53President Trump be though, Amber, Amber, after the mid-terms when he's
00:23:57he's not thinking about how to appeal
00:23:59appeal to voters. And that's an open open question, honestly, because
00:24:03because the President already has has waffled quite a bit on what his
00:24:07his pre-midterm strategy is. He has has talked about increasing the pressure
00:24:11pressure on Iran, for example, while
00:24:14while then the next week he'll say, say, we're not going to do any strikes strikes before the mid-terms. We
00:24:18We also don't expect to reach a deal
00:24:20deal before the mid-terms. And so so oftentimes when the President
00:24:23President is speaking publicly about
00:24:25about a range of conflicts, you almost
00:24:27almost can't even really be sure sure if he means what he says or
00:24:31or if he is trying to telegraph something
00:24:34something to our allies and adversaries
00:24:37adversaries abroad because he does does like to negotiate foreign policy
00:24:41policy via social media or from statements statements from the Oval Office.
00:24:44Office. So the comments that he makes makes to American reporters or even
00:24:48even to voters on the mid-term trail
00:24:51trail might not even be the desired
00:24:54desired recipient of those messages. messages. He might be actually saying saying those things for the benefit
00:24:58benefit of people abroad. Stephanie, Stephanie, finally, to you and briefly
00:25:01briefly if you would, if the Democrats Democrats do well in the mid-terms,
00:25:05mid-terms, what how would they use use that leverage? Just briefly.
00:25:08briefly. I think that the Democrats
00:25:10Democrats will provide significant significant oversight on the administration,
00:25:14administration, and you will see
00:25:17see further investigations into the
00:25:20the administration's actions as well
00:25:24well as providing, hopefully, more more support for Ukraine, because
00:25:27because I think in the past that that there has been bipartisan support
00:25:31support when the Congress has been been led by Democrats. So you're
00:25:35you're going to see some changes changes and definitely more oversight
00:25:38oversight on this administration. administration. Stephanie Murphy Murphy and Amber Duke, thank you.
00:25:42you. A little shorter than usual, usual, but we appreciate you joining
00:25:45joining us to share your insights
00:25:47insights on what's happening between between the United States, Russia
00:25:50Russia and Ukraine. Thank you very very much for joining us on the context. context. Just a reminder, there's
00:25:54there's a lot more analysis that
00:25:55that you'll find on the BBC News
00:25:58News website. You'll hear all sorts sorts of reporting, especially from
00:26:02from our Kyiv correspondent Dan Johnson, Johnson, who's talking about what
00:26:07what an energy ceasefire might mean
00:29:57MUSIC
00:30:16Hello, I'm Martine Croxall.
00:30:17This is the context on BBC News. News. Ukraine's President Zelensky
00:30:21Zelensky says Russia hit a power power plant in Ukraine immediately
00:30:24immediately after Donald Trump claimed claimed both sides had agreed to
00:30:27to an energy ceasefire. Saudi Arabia Arabia threatens what it calls a
00:30:31a serious response to deadly Houthi Houthi attacks on Riyadh's international
00:30:34international airport. Flights remain remain suspended. The BBC reports
00:30:38reports from inside Yemen, where where the long running civil war
00:30:41war is escalating. We've been told told that there are Houthi fighters
00:30:44fighters in position up in the mountains.
00:30:46mountains. About 500 of them. And And since we've been here, the forces
00:30:50forces are keeping an eye on the the sky just to make sure that there
00:30:53there are no more drones coming. coming. The UK Prime Minister, Andy Andy Burnham, says he'll push for
00:30:57for new post-Brexit trade deals and and that the status quo isn't good