Will Russia accept US-Ukraine peace proposals?

Will Russia accept US-Ukraine peace proposals?

From Ukrainecast by BBC News

December 16, 2025 · 28 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Volodymyr Zelensky's peace proposals and the international response, including opposition from Italy and Belgium regarding EU plans for frozen Russian assets.

Volodymyr Zelensky has been in Berlin discussing peace proposals with the US, and he says they will be ready to present to Russia ‘within days’. Today, he addressed European leaders The Netherlands' House of Representatives in The Hague. We also discuss why Italy has joined Belgium in its opposition to the EU’s plan to send €210 billion of Russia's frozen state assets to Ukraine. Victoria and Vitaly are joined by BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen to discuss why there is good reason to remain wary of an imminent robust peace deal. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Jonny Hall. 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

People in this episode

Hosts: Victoria Derbyshire, Vitaly Shevchenko

Guest: Jeremy Bowen

Topics covered

  • peace proposals
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • EU opposition
  • international relations
  • Zelensky
  • frozen assets

Keywords

  • peace deal
  • Ukraine
  • Russia
  • Zelensky
  • EU
  • frozen assets
  • international relations
  • Italy
  • Belgium
  • Jeremy Bowen

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: US, Italy, Belgium, EU, BBC

Places: Berlin, The Hague

More episodes of Ukrainecast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Ukrainecast podcast page.