Why is Trump making deals with Belarus?
US diplomatic delegations and military representatives have visited Belarus.
Russia and Belarus have been staging joint military drills in an apparent message of strength to the West, but the relationship between US President Donald Trump and authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko seems to be warming.
Dozens of political prisoners have been freed from Belarusian prisons as part of a deal between the two countries, and some sanctions on Belarus have been eased. President Trump even sent Mr Lukashenko some cufflinks as a birthday gift.
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg joins us to describe witnessing the drills close up, and give his take on the apparent thawing of relations.
Plus, we speak to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who’s currently in exile in Lithuania.
Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko.
The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The social producer was Grace Braddock. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Featured
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
.
Podcast
-
![]()
Ukrainecast
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s podcast on the war in Ukraine.
Related Content
