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Episode details

Radio 4,15 May 2025,45 mins

Expected negotiations in Istanbul descend into acrimony

The World Tonight

Available for over a year

It's believed Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will meet face to face tomorrow for the first time in three years. That's after President Putin of Russia announced overnight he wouldn't attend the meetings held in Istanbul personally. Ukraine's President Zelensky did turn up and accused Moscow of failing to take the talks seriously. We hear from Ukrainian and Russian civilians on their expectations for the negotiations. The clock ticks down further to a planned EU-UK "reset" summit on Monday. But with reports negotiators are struggling to reach a draft communique amid disputes over fishing rights, we ask what the UK should be prepared to give up. And a previously unpublished ghost story written by Graham Greene has finally made it into print.

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