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Hamas To Release Last Remaining American Hostage; U.S., China To Roll Back Tariffs By 90 Days; India-Pakistan Ceasefire Appears To Be On Hold. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 12, 2025 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00]

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.

Just ahead, substantial progress. That's what the U.S. and China are saying about trade talks and what we're learning about the negotiations between the U.S. and China.

Ukraine's president says he's, quote, "ready for direct talks with Vladimir Putin." What could come from that meeting if it even happens?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm Becky Anderson in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. U.S. President Donald Trump chooses the Middle East for the first trip of his second term. It's happening as we await the release of Edan Alexander, the last known living Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza.

KINKADE: And we'll get back to Becky with the latest on President Trump's trip to the Middle East in just a few moments.

But first, we are waiting for the U.S. delegation involved in the trade talks with China to hold a news conference. So far, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jameson Greer have said little about the efforts in Geneva, Switzerland to end the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

This is a live look at the podium now as we await that press conference. The Treasury Secretary's description of substantial progress is proving enough to lift U.S. stock futures. Let's take a look at those.

All in the green right now, you can see the S&P 500 up almost 3 percent, the Nasdaq up over 3.2 percent and the Dow up 2.2 percent. And let's take a look at the markets in Asia, which are close to being closed for the day. Nikkei there up just under half a percent and the Hang Seng up over 2.4 percent.

Well CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following all the developments on these negotiations and filed this report.

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva ended on a positive note, with U.S. officials touting substantial progress in a possible deal with China. Meanwhile, Chinese officials say they reached a, quote, "important consensus."

Now, after the talks, China's Vice Premier, He Lifeng, spoke to the media. He said that the trade talks with the U.S. were candid, they were in-depth, they were constructive. And the U.S. and China also agreed to set up a new consultation mechanism for further talks.

HE LIFENG, CHINESE VICE PREMIER (through translator): The two sides agreed on establishing a consultation mechanism for trade and economic issues, identified the lead persons on each side, and will carry on further consultations relating to trade and economic issues of their respective concerns.

LU STOUT: China's Vice Premier also said a joint statement will be released in Geneva later on Monday. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and China since the latest trade war escalated in March.

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on many Chinese goods to 145 percent. China hit back with retaliatory tariffs of 125 percent.

It's also hit back by limiting U.S. film imports and curbing some rare earth exports. These, of course, are the critical ingredients for tech firms and defense companies.

The trade war has upended global financial markets and supply chains. It has also increased the risk of a recession. The stakes here are high.

And that's why observers believe there was a sense of urgency in the Geneva talks.

JOHN LIPSKY, CHAIRMAN OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AT THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: The global economy is not a light switch. You can't just turn off and off the U.S.-China economic relationship and then expect there's not going to be some short-circuiting. And I think that's what's happening right now.

So we need some stability, we need some certainty, and we need some clarity going forward. And we hope we get that within the next day.

LU STOUT: Investors have been welcoming news of progress, but the details of the touted deal remain to be seen.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: We'll have more on that developing story in just a moment.

First, I want to go back to CNN's Becky Anderson in Riyadh as the president of the U.S. prepares for his trip to the Middle East. Becky, good to see you.

ANDERSON: That's right. Thank you, Lynda.

The President set to depart in the coming hours for his visit to three of the world's most cash-rich nations. He'll arrive in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The Gulf countries are pledging to invest heavily in the American economy. This trip also emphasizing their growing role in security, defense and trade and in mediating on the global stage.

Now this comes as Hamas is announcing the imminent release of Edan Alexander, the last known living Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza.

[03:05:01]

His parents are travelling to Israel ahead of his planned release. U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler shared this photo, showing him with his wife, Edan's mother and his chief of staff. They, along with Edan's father, are expected to be in Israel today. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called this development monumental news.

My colleague Paula Hancocks is joining us live from Abu Dhabi. Paula, good to have you. What do we know about Edan Alexander's release at this point and how this all came together?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, what we're hearing from two sources familiar with this situation is that this release could come as early as Monday but could be more likely to happen on Tuesday. We understand from an Israeli official as well that all the plans are in place to secure this release. It will be different though to the hostage releases that we have seen in the past.

We are hearing that this is a goodwill gesture, Hamas saying that it is part of the steps to push towards a full ceasefire. But there will be, as far as we understand it, no Palestinian prisoners released in exchange, which is what we have seen in the past.

And we understand that Hamas wants this to be pushed towards a situation where the border crossings are open, where humanitarian aid is allowed in, as it hasn't been for more than two months now in Gaza. But that doesn't appear to be linked to this either. So it does appear to be a standalone hostage release of Edan Alexander, the last known living hostage that is American, dual citizen, American-Israeli in Gaza.

Now his family, when they heard this news on Sunday, Mother's Day, did say it is, quote, "the greatest gift imaginable." Becky?

ANDERSON: Paula, I'm going to stop you there. I need to get to Geneva, where I believe we're hearing from the U.S. trade delegation on these U.S.-China talks. Let's listen in.

(TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES) -- a negotiator on the U.S. side. This is the U.S. delegation discussing trade talks with China. We're just struggling slightly to get the volume out of this, we are working on that, of course.

News overnight that significant progress has been made between the U.S. and China. Of course, this is the big one as far as Donald Trump is concerned.

And this coming just as Donald Trump gets set to visit the Gulf, where I am here in Riyadh, to talk trade, defense, security, and various others. As I say, we will get you this news conference just as soon as we can get the sound delivered to us from Geneva. This is an enormous story for the U.S.

Let's listen in.

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SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TRADE SECRETARY: We have a shared interest, and we both have an interest in balanced trade. The U.S. will continue moving towards that.

I will let Ambassador Jameson talk about the President's initiatives that began on a historic announcement, trade announcement, on January 20th that no other President has ever done, following to April 2nd, when we implemented the reciprocal tariffs.

JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Secretary. I will echo your thanks to the Swiss government, the Swiss officials, for hosting us this weekend.

The atmosphere was very conducive to discussions, and thanks to them, we were able to have very constructive and positive conversations with our Chinese counterparts, who clearly came to deal this week.

The rapid nature of the agreement to conduct and conclude these discussions is a testament to mutual understanding and mutual respect between the Chinese and U.S. sides.

Now with respect to the U.S. trade position, our interactions with China and the agreement today, please keep in mind that the United States trade deficit had ballooned over the past several years, ending up at a $1.2 trillion deficit in goods at the beginning of last year. It was an approximately 42 percent increase over a few years prior to the $50 billion trade deficit during the Biden administration.

[03:10:01]

It's not a rapid and expansive increase in the trade deficit, and our view is that this is driven in large part by non-reciprocal trade, among other things, and the result has been offshoring of manufacturing and other negative impacts on the U.S. economy.

And so on January 20th, when the President was inaugurated, he released the America First trade policy, which was comprehensive, and flagged that he - well actually directed agencies, including U.S. trade representatives and others, to research this issue and to provide options, which he did, and the President elected to impose reciprocal tariffs on April 2 to address this national emergency of the trade deficit.

There was a global baseline tariff accompanied by higher reciprocal tariffs for each country, depending on the level and intensity of their trade surplus with the United States. In all of this, China was assigned a reciprocal tariff rate of 34 percent.

China was the only country that chose to implement retaliation against the United States for this reciprocal tariff. All other countries withheld and decided that they wanted to negotiate with the United States or simply not retaliate.

And so we've been in a detailed discussion with other countries for several weeks at this point. China, as you know, retaliated not only with tariffs, but disproportionate asymmetrical non-tariff measures.

In order to maintain the effectiveness of the reciprocal tariff measures, the President increased our tariff rates to offset China's retaliation. And as you know, this escalated to a point where both sides had added 125 percent tariffs and the Chinese side additional non-tariff measures, amounting to an embargo, in some sense, a non- trade embargo, which of course was not a sustainable practice for either side.

And so today, with this agreement, we come to an agreement that our reciprocal tariff rate will go down to 10 percent on the United States side, so it goes down to 115 percent. We enter into a 90-day pause period for negotiations, which both the Chinese and the United States are very committed to.

And the Chinese on their side also go down another 15 percent to 10 percent, and they remove the countermeasures that they have in place. To be very clear, other measures that the United States has put in place in the past, whether it's tariff measures from 2018 or since, tariffs under other statutory authorities, tariffs related to fentanyl, those remain unchanged for now to the side.

I'll just make one point, is that both China and the United States agreed to work constructively together on fentanyl, and there's a positive path forward there as well.

BESSENT: Okay, great. So let's start with some questions.

If I may make one final, a few final remarks to give you framing and context. I think throughout the trade process, we have had a plan, we have a process in place, and now with the Chinese after this weekend, we have a mechanism for continued talks. So process, plan, and mechanism.

I would say one of the big takeaways from this weekend, the United States will continue a strategic rebalancing in many areas that were exposed as supply chain weaknesses during COVID, whether it's medicine, whether it's semiconductors, steel, the other. We've identified five or six strategic industries and supply chain

vulnerabilities, and we will continue moving toward U.S. independence and for reliable supplies from allies on those. But the consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling, and what had occurred with these very high tariffs, as Ambassador Gersh said, was the equivalent of an embargo, and neither side wants that.

We do want trade, we want more balanced trade, and I think that both sides are committed to achieving that. We would like to see China open to more U.S. goods.

[03:14:55]

We expect that as the negotiations proceed, there will also be the possibility of purchase agreements to pull what is our largest bilateral trade deficit into balance, that is, out of balance. And much of this has happened through neglect over the past four years, as the previous administration did not engage on this issue. That was put forward to us by the Chinese, in fact, and we can see it in what happened to the phase one agreement.

We are only looking forward, and we look forward to very good discussions now that we have the mechanism created in Geneva this weekend for talks.

UNKNOWN: All right, and with that, let's kick off questions. I'll start at the front row. Jenny Lutter, Bloomberg.

REPORTER: Thank you so much. Government seems to have the President posted on Facebook that he will use an 80 percent tariff on China, seems right. It obviously went down substantially more. How did you end up going with 30 percent? Was that the President pushing you, or the Chinese not budging before you went down?

And then secondly, you have a 90-day pause now, as you have with other countries. What specifically do you want to see in those 90 days? What kind of progress do you want to see in those 90 days, and have agreed to budget to not ratchet up the tariffs? Because it is just a pause, right?

But the tariffs then stand back, basically, if you don't have something agreed for.

BESSENT: So the Chinese April 2nd number was 34, continues to be 34 percent. I'll let Ambassador Greer answer the first question.

And just like with all our other trading partners, as long as there is good faith effort, engagement, and constructive dialogue, then we will keep moving forward.

GREER: I would just say, you know, Jenny, with respect to the President's message and ultimate rights, I mean, everything is a negotiation, right? And the President, he gives the Secretary of the Treasury and I, and other members of the Cabinet, direction, advice on how to proceed. And we ended up, as a result, that was very good for the United

States, very good for China as well. We retained our 10 percent global baseline tariff, which we have out of other countries. We have, in addition to that, previous measures that we've retained, which have been, frankly, effective in reducing the U.S. bilateral trade deficit with China over the past few years.

So that leaves us in a very good position all in with respect to measures on Chinese imports, but more importantly, it leaves us in a constructive path forward to have a positive conversation with the Chinese on how to rebalance.

REPORTER: Hi, I'm Jamie from Associated Press. We just heard our colleague talk about 30 percent tariffs. I'm just trying to understand these numbers here because they're all over the place.

We were at 145 before, apparently, and 125, I believe, from the Chinese side. So can you say clearly now that, I think the question was, right now for the 90-day period, the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will be down to 30 percent? Is that correct for the 30? Could you be specific on that?

GREER: So again, this agreement is really about the reciprocal tariff that was imposed by the United States on April 2nd and the escalatory steps which followed. Those on each side, the Chinese side, the U.S. side, ended up at 125 percent on each other. The Chinese had additional non-tariff countermeasures. That has all come down by 115 percent to 10 percent each.

The United States, earlier this year, imposed 20 percent related to fentanyl. That's still in effect. So if you're looking at Trump turn to tariffs on China, right now, effective, it's 30 percent.

There are prior measures which change by product, by sector, by level, et cetera. You can't really give a specific number on that right now. What matters for the agreement today is that we each agree to come down from the reciprocal tariff and related retaliation to 10 percent.

So a reduction of 115 percent down to 10 percent fentanyl is on its own track. But on a very positive track, we're having a very constructive conversation with our Chinese counterparts.

BESSENT: And I would add a couple of things. This does not include any sector-specific tariffs that have been put across all of our trading partners.

[03:20:00]

And as the ambassador said, I think he would agree with me that the upside surprise for me from this weekend was the level of Chinese engagement on the fentanyl crisis in the United States. They brought the deputy minister for security, for public safety, who was not traditionally part of the trade team or the negotiating team. And he had a very robust and highly detailed discussion with someone from U.S. national security. REPORTER: Mr. Secretary, will there be any immediate impact that U.S.

consumers will see from this? And what is the toughest part of the talks? The Chinese are notorious for being very difficult negotiators.

Was there any moment that you felt toxic to bring down? As far as the (inaudible) fentanyl crisis, did they make any promises or any agreements to combat fentanyl?

BESSENT: There's a lot to unpack there. So let me recap that. So you're asking U.S. consumers, the last one was fentanyl, and what was the second?

Well, I'll start there first. Both sides represented their national interests as well, but we also concluded that we had shared interests and that neither side was interested in a decoupling.

And again, a lot of back and forth on various differences and views on fair trade. We warned them. I had a discussion that trade deficits are a result of three things.

One, terms of trade. Two, currency. And then three, the United States fiscal position.

We informed them that the Trump administration is working very hard on containing this out-of-control fiscal deficit that we inherited from the previous administration. Two, there was no discussion on currency. And one, it was on terms of trade.

And on fentanyl, again, for the first time --

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

ANDERSON: Well, that was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announcing the United States and China have agreed to drastically roll back tariffs on each other's goods for an initial 90-day period, this after what were described as substantive talks over the weekend.

Kristie Lu Stout joining us now from Hong Kong, what more did we learn in this press conference with Scott Besson and his key trade negotiator?

LU STOUT: Becky, this was the deal that the White House was referring to as a result of these two-day long high-stakes meetings in Geneva. This is what we know, both the United States and China have agreed to significantly roll back tariffs for an initial 90-day period.

This is what we heard from the U.S. Trade Representative who's speaking right now in Geneva, next to him the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. This was also revealed in a rare joint statement that was just issued minutes ago by both the U.S. and China, and according to this joint statement there were some details saying that the U.S. will modify imports, will modify tariffs on Chinese goods, China will modify tariffs on U.S. goods under the following terms, 24 percent will be suspended for 90 days, while the remaining 10 percent will be retained.

Let's continue to watch the press conference underway in Geneva.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED)

GREER: -- very pragmatic with each other, and to be sure, there were tough things to deal with on the level of removal, the timing for implementation, managing each side's domestic politics, et cetera.

I won't go into too much detail, but I would say the toughest part was simply getting to a position where we could, in good faith, both sides work with each other, and once we did, we were able to do this in a couple of days. This is not the first time I've done trade negotiations with the Chinese, and sometimes it can take a very long time to overcome misunderstandings. We were able to do that effectively over the past few weeks, which enabled us to be very pragmatic and effective this weekend.

[03:25:01]

BESSENT: And I think we leave with a very good mechanism to avoid the unfortunate escalations as we saw after April 2nd from happening again. What had been very unusual about the relationship was that President Trump, Party Chairman Xi, they have a good relationship, but the nature of what has happened since April 2nd could have been avoided if we had had this kind of mechanism in place, and I believe it is in place now.

I think we leave today with a process that will move forward, and again, great mutual respect for our Chinese counterparts. I believe they showed us the same.

REPORTER: And the impact on U.S. consumers? Will U.S. consumers see any result in?

GREER: I mean, you're the Treasury Secretary, so you're better suited, but I would say on the front end, there's been a lot of talk about impact on consumers that just never really translate to the numbers, consumption remained high, et cetera. And so I think what we're going to see is that we're going to have our economy continue taking off as we put structure around these negotiations and get global trade into a better place.

BESSENT: And as I reiterated last week, the Trump economic plan is three pieces, trade, tax, and deregulation. Trade has been implemented first, and that process is occurring. We believe that the tax portion is going very well.

Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune, who I am in constant contact with, believe that mid-summer we will pass, as the President likes to call it, his one big beautiful bill, and we believe that that will provide substantial relief for American households.

And then deregulation, a hidden and pernicious tax on American households is regulation. We believe that the last administration added several thousand dollars a year to American families' cost and that we will be not only cutting those substantially, rolling that back, but cutting those substantially. UNKNOWN: I think we have time for about maybe two or three more

questions at the most. Ma'am, name and outlet, please.

REPORTER: Yes, it's in two parts, BBC. It's very heartening what you're telling us. I'm wondering whether you think it might have been a better idea to start with --

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

ANDERSON: All right. So we're hearing from the U.S. delegation, very specifically from the key trade negotiator for Donald Trump and his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, of course, and what are these, quote, "substantial discussions and talks" that have been held in Geneva over the weekend between the U.S. and China, with progress towards a deal at the end of all of this.

Kristie Lu Stout listening in. Kristie, there are some very key sort of headlines in this and then some further sort of substance on what might happen next. Explain.

LU STOUT: We have just announced in Geneva a symmetrical rollback in tariffs by both the U.S. and China. These two economic heavyweights in the midst of this ongoing trade war have now agreed as a result of these high stakes trade talks in Geneva over the weekend. They have agreed to dramatically roll back tariffs for 90 days.

We have been monitoring and watching this press conference underway in Geneva, listening in to the U.S. trade representative speaking. Earlier, we heard from the U.S. Treasury Secretary as well.

At the same time, a rare joint statement was issued by both the U.S. and China. I say rare because the last time both these countries issued a joint statement on trade was back in 2018. And in that joint statement, it revealed the details of this trade deal, which is what the White House has been calling it.

Now we know why. These are the terms that were agreed upon.

The U.S. will modify tariffs on Chinese goods. China will modify tariffs on U.S. goods, 24 percent will be suspended for 90 days, while the remaining 10 percent will be retained.

Earlier, U.S. officials said that they had reached a deal in Geneva. We're hearing the details of what was agreed.

[03:30:03]

It's interesting to note that the Chinese side, the officials there, including the Chinese Vice Premier, never used the language of a deal. Instead, they said that they had reached a, quote, "important consensus."

On your screen right now, we're listening to the U.S. side, the U.S. officials speaking about the details of what was agreed. But we've also been parsing and looking at the joint statement that was issued by both the U.S. and China. These two countries have been locked in this latest trade war since

March, when U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tariffs on China to an eye-watering level of 145 percent. China responding with retaliatory tariffs of 125 percent and additional retaliatory measures, including limiting U.S. film imports, limiting exports of rare earths material, etc. After two days of high stakes, high pressure talks in Geneva, we have now reached the following conclusion.

A joint statement issued, press conference underway, revealing that both U.S. and China are set to dramatically roll back tariffs for a period, initial period of 90 days. Back to you, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Kristie.

And let's take a look at the stock futures. It is, what, just after half past 3 a.m. in New York. These markets will open for business, of course, at 9:30. And if these market futures are anything to go by, you will see a significant rise were it to happen now, of course, in the Dow, the S&P and in the NASDAQ.

Look, we've got six or so hours to go before those markets actually open in New York. So, be aware, these numbers, of course, can change. But there has been a significant reaction by investors in stock futures in the U.S. to this news that we've just heard and more on this, of course, as we get it.

This trade breakthrough with China is a significant moment in Donald Trump's America first agenda. And as I'm here in Riyadh, where the U.S. President will arrive tomorrow for his three stop golf tour, the same theme will be on display here. It's important, in fact, to see the U.S. president's trip here to the Arabian Gulf through two lenses.

Firstly, his America first policy to position the U.S. as the most important economy in the world. And that means bringing on allies like these Gulf nations to support Washington in its ambition to outdo China, particularly when it comes to A.I. and advanced tech. That's the geotech pillar that we are increasingly seeing as strategically important in international affairs.

We used to talk about geopolitics, geoeconomics, but add in that geotech pillar because it is really, really important and sits squarely at the heart of much that is being discussed when we consider this U.S. trade deal. And a gulf lens is the second lens you need to see this trip through where countries have huge economic ambitions themselves, the countries of Saudi Arabia, of Qatar, and very specifically, the United Arab Emirates. These are ambitions that will only succeed if this region moves beyond conflict and escalation to a future focus more on peace and economic integration.

And you'll get more from us, of course, the team, the CNN team here, as we move through this Trump trip. He arrives early on Tuesday morning, it is mid-morning here now on Monday in the Gulf.

And you can read a lot more about the regional dynamics at play in our digital piece entitled "Trump is Visiting Three of the World's Richest nations." Here's what's on their wish list at CNN, digital and on your app.

For the time being, let's get you back to Atlanta, where Lynda Kinkade is in the "CNN Newsroom," Lynda.

KINKADE: Nice work, Becky. Thanks to you and the team there in Saudi Arabia.

Well, still to come in the program, Ukraine's president and other European leaders have a message for Russia. No peace talks without a ceasefire, but all that changed after Donald Trump's social media post. We'll have the details on that next.

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[03:35:00]

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Ukraine's president says he's ready for direct peace talks with Vladimir Putin. It would be the first time the two leaders have talked since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Volodymyr Zelenskyy originally wanted the Russian president to agree to an immediate 30 day ceasefire before starting talks. And he had the backing of European allies.

But a social media post by U.S. President Donald Trump may have derailed that demand. Still, Zelenskyy says he's putting in a good faith effort towards peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We've repeatedly heard from our partners that they are ready to strengthen sanctions against Russia if Putin refuses a ceasefire. We will see.

And in Ukraine, we have no problem negotiating. We are ready for any format.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN producer Sebastian Shukla joins us now from London. Good to see you, Seb. So just provide some context as to how we got here with Putin suggesting direct talks between the two nations and Zelenskyy effectively saying, I'll see you Thursday.

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: We can do diplomatic horse trading, posturing and statements that have led us to this moment where effectively President Zelenskyy has thrown down the gauntlet to the Russian president and said, OK, I'm ready to meet you face to face.

And that came on the back of a statement made by European leaders in Kyiv backed by the U.S. President Donald Trump, which said there must be an unconditional 30 day ceasefire, which needs to begin today. That obviously has not been agreed to by the Russian president. [03:40:02]

And late on Saturday night in a very rare late night address to journalists, the Russian president raised the stakes even further. He tried to call the bluff on Western partners and said, why don't we meet face to face instead? To which point then President Trump came out with a tweet or a post on social media where he said Ukraine should agree to this immediately and at least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible.

And that breaks from the cover that the European allies around Zelenskyy have been trying to build up over this weekend of diplomatic negotiations to say no talks without a ceasefire first. That statement made by President Putin and now President Zelenskyy trying to call the bluff of President Putin and now the U.S. president saying you guys need to sit down and talk is incredibly important.

Take a listen to what President Zelenskyy said about holding those talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): I will be in Turkey this Thursday on May 15th and I expect Putin in Turkey personally, and I hope that this time Putin will not look for reasons why he cannot do something. We are ready to talk to end the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUKLA: Ready to talk to end the war is what President Zelenskyy described this meeting he would like to have with President Putin as. But what is difficult to understand here, Linda, is that both sides have a different view on what these talks should be. President Zelenskyy says end the war.

What President Putin is likely to want is to talk about Ukraine's sovereignty. That's far from an agreement on ending this almost now four year conflict.

They will want to talk about Ukraine's ambition on joining NATO, military supplies and support coming from the West, and the totality sovereignty of Ukraine that takes in the current line of occupation in those occupied lands in Ukraine, and the situation with regards to the annexation, that illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, Lynda.

KINKADE: That of course happened in 2014. Seb Shukla, I appreciate your time. Thanks so much for joining us from London. We are going to stand this story.

I want to get some perspective from Kyiv. Ukrainian Member of Parliament Inna Sovsun joins me now. Thanks so much for joining us.

INNA SOVSUN, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says he's ready to meet directly with Vladimir Putin. The Russian President suggested direct talks between the two nations could happen this Thursday in Turkey. What's the perspective from Ukraine? Do people there actually think that Putin will turn up for these talks?

SOVSUN: Well, frankly speaking, no. I would say that people are speculating about different suggestions he will make about why he didn't show up. We'll see. If he does show up, then the next question will be what will be his conditions under which he would be willing to stop the war.

But frankly speaking, as of right now, it's pretty unlikely that he will actually show up in Turkey. However, the recent postings by Donald Trump might suggest that he's not happy with Putin's behaviour and maybe this will push Putin to actually show up in Turkey.

But that's yet to be decided. And I wouldn't say that we are very much optimistic about that.

KINKADE: Yes. Do you believe that Vladimir Putin is offering direct talks as a way to shift the focus away from the demands for an unconditional ceasefire and the possibility of more sanctions?

SOVSUN: Well, I do think that he wants direct talks because then there is nobody to witness those talks. And then he will claim that it's Ukraine who wants to continue the war and then that he offered some conditions that Ukraine just chose not to accept.

So he's always been ready for direct talks. They have been saying those a couple of times, even over the last couple of months, including their foreign minister, Mr. Lavrov said that they are willing to have direct talks.

But the big problem with that is in direct communications, there can be very little that can be done. There can be very little compromise that can be reached because what Ukraine wants and what Russia wants are completely different things.

And if Russia doesn't feel the presence of other Ukraine's partners, the Europeans, but also the Americans, then it will just continue to push forward their own agenda and not being ready to compromise on any of their demands.

KINKADE: In terms of further sanctions, Russia is already heavily sanctioned. What additional sanctions could be piled on Russia that would potentially make a difference, that would potentially put more pressure on Russia to compromise?

SOVSUN: Well, there is still a significant portion of sanctions that can be used, but I think it's critically important to actually implement the sanctions that are already in place, because not all of those sanctions actually work.

[03:45:03]

And so I think that that is the number one issue, is making sure that the sanctions are actually implemented to a full extent. But in addition to that, there are multiple other sanctions that they are very much concerned about. There are basically no sanctions against Russian nuclear energy sector.

They continue to build new nuclear power blocks all over the world without no sanctions against them. They still, most of the Russian elite can travel freely in the civilized world, and that is again something that they are very much concerned about. And what is critically important, their assets are still in the Western countries, and they're still safe, and they're still not being used to help Ukraine.

And I think that is something that the Russians are very much concerned about. They want to make sure their assets are safe, and that's the pressure point for the West.

KINKADE: Well, we will speak again soon. We'll see how this plays out this week.

Inna Sovsun, appreciate your time today. Thanks so much for joining us from Kyiv.

SOVSUN: Thank you.

KINKADE: We are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. You're watching CNN, stay with us.

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KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade, and you are in the "CNN Newsroom." Let's check today's top stories.

The U.S. and China have reached a surprise breakthrough in an attempt to de-escalate the trade war. They have agreed to drastically roll back tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days, that's according to a joint statement from both countries, the announcement coming two days after negotiations in Geneva.

In the coming hours, President Trump will fly to the Middle East, the first state visit of his second term. He's scheduled to stop in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Hamas has announced the imminent release of American hostage Edan Alexander. Donald Trump called the gesture monumental news and a step taken in good faith towards ending the war.

[03:50:05]

A ceasefire agreed between India and Pakistan appears to be holding, raising hopes that the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors has ended. An Indian army spokesperson says Indian-administered Kashmir saw its first calm night in recent days, with no incidents reported.

Supporters of Pakistan's military held rallies to celebrate the end of the fighting. They chanted in support of their country's armed forces and carried banners denouncing India. India's defense minister said the country's military action sent a

bold message to terrorists. The conflict began after 26 people were killed in a terror attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Iran is calling nuclear talks with the U.S. over this weekend difficult, but both sides have agreed that will continue. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held the fourth round of talks in Muscat through Omani mediators.

Araghchi repeated Iran's refusal to give up the right to enrich uranium, a position Whitkoff has set as a red line for the U.S. The Trump administration called the discussions encouraging and said they look forward to the next meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he plans to sign an executive order today that would drastically lower drug prices. The controversial policy has been blocked by federal courts during his first term. It bases payments for certain medicines on their price in other countries.

The President shared a post on Truth Social writing, quote, "Prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 30 to 80 percent," but it's unclear what payments or drugs the new directive would apply to.

Well, still to come, Pope Leo prepares to meet with journalists for the first time since his election.

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[03:55:00]

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KINKADE: What does this singer on the left of your screen look familiar? You might not recognize him, but that is Pope Leo XIV. The video was taken back in 2014 at a Christmas party in Peru, where the future pope joined in singing "Feliz Navidad."

Well in the coming hours, Pope Leo XIV is set to host his first audience with journalists since being elected pope. And it comes after another first for the new pontiff, his Sunday blessing at the Vatican, where he notably evoked the words of his predecessor Francis by calling for an end to the war.

The pontiff specifically addressing the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Massive crowds were heard shouting long live the pope after he finished his address, and even larger crowds are expected for his installation mass next Sunday.

That does it for us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Stay with us, "Early Start" with Polo Sandoval begins after a very short break.

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