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Trump to Speak at Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum; Trump in Saudi Arabia on First Major Overseas Trip of Term; Trump Defends Plan to Accept Luxury Jet from Qatar; CEOs Including Elon Musk with Trump in Saudi Arabia; CNN Asks Zelenskyy About Hopes for Direct Talks. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired May 13, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, U.S. President Donald Trump is in Riyadh this morning, welcomed by the Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed Bin Salman and his court just hours ago, kicking off what is this Middle East trip? It is 04:00 p.m. here in Riyadh. Hello. I'm Becky
Anderson. This is a special edition of "Connect the World".
Also coming up, President Trump greeted by a parade of Saudi officials and U.S. CEOs, particularly from virtually every major tech company -- due to
address those leaders in a keynote address later. Well, meanwhile, in Paris, Kim Kardashian testifies against the men accused of robbing her
saying she absolutely thought she was going to die that day nine years ago.
And in the U.S., a key inflation indicator shows a slight slowdown. Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, and that
inflation data likely welcome news for investors. Futures, at least on the S&P and NASDAQ, turning positive after what has been a mixed out of our
session back there at 09:30 New York, time for the opening.
We start today, this Tuesday, with a right royal welcome for the U.S. President and his top cabinet officials here in Riyadh. Donald Trump,
welcomed by the Royal -- to the Royal Court by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. He later -- he'll later head to Qatar and then on to my home
base, the UAE, later this week.
Well, here CEOs from virtually every major U.S. company, including Elon Musk, are present as the White House eyes foreign investment and other
business opportunities. This hour, they are attending an investment forum where the two leaders are expected to speak and to sign agreements.
Well, outside of these meetings today, elsewhere in this region, the war in Gaza drags on with more death and more suffering. Israel's blockade of
humanitarian aid now, in its third month, we've got a lot to unpack here. Let's start by our Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein, it's good to
have you here in region. Thank you.
The Saudi perspective on this trip laid out by the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. is the following. I quote her from an op ed earlier today in "The
Washington Times" quote, in the kingdom, we believe that a sustainable partnership begins with reciprocity. She talks about the importance of
mutual -- this relationship being mutually beneficial.
I know from the U.S. perspective; this is primarily about getting deals done. Saudis want slightly more than that. It has to be said?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's absolutely right. I mean, for President Trump, this is about establishing himself as a deal
maker and somebody who can get a win on the global stage, particularly after all that damage that we've seen from his so-called Liberation Day,
imposing significant tariffs across the board on China and every other country.
We saw all of that pomp and circumstance and pageantry. The president, of course, a reality TV star. He is acutely aware of what the imagery looks
like. He got that 21-gun salute Arabian horses. He walked a royal purple carpet with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. His hosts have really
provided the president this very warm hospitality, a warm welcome and imagery that is sure to please the president.
But you know Mohammed Bin Salman the Crown Prince, he's worked very hard to cultivate these ties with the Trump Administration. His country was
essentially isolated after the 2018 killing of the Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and he's worked very hard to sort of rebuild and repair his
standing on the world stage. Trump is an important part of that.
ANDERSON: Now I'll give you some observations here, as far as atmosphere is concerned, because I was at the lunch just earlier the official welcoming
lunch. The entire Saudi cabinet was there. I mean, those who power the engine of this economy and society there, alongside the Crown Prince.
And many of the U.S. cabinet were there a plethora of CEOs, both from the U.S. and indeed, significant business partners here as well. And I have to
say that the atmosphere between Mohammed Bin Salman and the U.S. President was extremely cordial, as it was between many of the Saudi princes and
cabinet members and the other members of the Trump Administration who were here.
[09:05:00]
Howard Lutnick, Pete Hegseth, Rubio, Scott Bessent. So atmospherically, as we move into what is going to be a very -- you know busy 24 hours, it looks
like there is some warmth, some certain warmth amongst these two administrations. Question is, what will success look like for the U.S. at
the back end of this trip? And conversely, to a degree, what will success look like for the Saudis?
KLEIN: Well, I think to your point, I mean, the president really wants to show that he is able to get some major Saudi investments in the United
States, as well as from Qatar and the UAE, when he goes there later this week. And I think for him, it's really all about showing that he can make
deals, showing that he has these relationships.
These are not traditional U.S. allies. And the president has really re- imagined the role of the U.S. in the world. Really has, I think, the point of his trip being to Saudi Arabia as his first stop, the first major
international trip shows that he is putting outsized importance on these countries as alliances and in a way that is so different from so many of
his predecessors.
This is also a trip that echoed that trip he took in 2017 the first trip of his first administration to Saudi Arabia. Of course, notably, Israel is not
on the list of stops this trip, and that really underscores how much the geopolitical situation has changed.
ANDERSON: The Kingdom is very keen and astutely aware that this administration will see a very different Saudi from that which they saw
back in 2017. This is a place, frankly, transformed both so far as society and the economy is concerned. You're right to point out that Trump's
America first policies.
He sees huge advantage from what is the sovereign cash from these countries of the cold -- of the coal. But I can tell you, just talking to sources
here, this is not a blank check, certainly not from Saudi Arabia on this occasion, nor from Qatar, nor the UAE. So, it's going to be interesting to
see what comes out of this.
I'm told that something like 100 deals will be caught at this investment forum. There may be a lot of window dressing in that. Let's be quite clear
about that. Some of those deals will be MOUs. They won't all necessarily be hard agreements. Some of them will be agreements to agree.
KLEIN: Yeah.
ANDERSON: But certainly, it's good to have you here, and we will continue to monitor what is a very pivotal moment, I think, in U.S., Gulf relations,
in what is a new era for this region. Thank you.
KLEIN: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: Well, several Trump Administration officials say the U.S. President's top priority is obtaining economic agreements. He set to speak
at the Saudi U.S. Investment Forum here in Riyadh in about an hour's time. Let's stay on this with Mohammed Soliman, he's a Senior Fellow at the
Middle East Institute. With both leaders under pressure to deliver at home just how crucial is this trip? And are these deals, as it were, that are
expected to be signed?
MOHAMMED SOLIMAN, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Great to be back with you Becky. The Gulf countries, and specifically Saudi Arabia, are in a
very unique position when it comes to the global economic situation. The region is the newer the new Europe in the mindset of President Trump,
meaning this is a region of growth, a region that has the financial clout to be able to invest massively in major priority areas.
And clearly, he sees this region as a big priority area for his own economic agenda when it comes to securing deals for his own -- for American
companies that want to make sure that they have access to overseas markets that's high growth, very relevant, that could act as a force multiplier for
American companies in third market opportunities.
ANDERSON: Trump wants to showcase massive Saudi investment into the U.S., while MBS seeking American backing for what is this ambitious vision. We
were just discussing my observations of what was very cordial relations. I mean -- you know the lunch ahead of this investment forum this afternoon
that I attended just earlier on, with about 250 people, extremely pleasant atmosphere, I have to say.
Particularly for those who just got off one which is a long trip here, the president stood for an hour greeting people in a line, which I have to say,
I thought was quite impressive, But now they're here. What risks if either side fails to really nail this relationship, to ensure that this
relationship delivers on a sort of national security basis for both sides.
SOLIMAN: I'll be quite frank here. I think the U.S. side relationship are anchored in two leaders that have respect for each other.
[09:10:00]
I think the personal relationship is the main anchor here. And I think anything they're able to secure on this trip is going to be upside when it
comes to MOUs. The biggest challenge in any trip, let's be frank, here, is, how can you make those MOUs reality? How can you transform those MOUs on
actual brick and mortar investment that you have a factory; you have a holding company that's able to act on the MOU?
That's always a challenge that we see. But it's very clear to me from the names that we have been seeing in the U.S. Saudi Investment Forum that
there's a level of seriousness in terms of who is speaking, what they're speaking about. Clearly, there's almost like a road map for how U.S. Saudi
relationship will go for here.
ANDERSON: We've spoken before, and you and I have discussed the importance of Geotech in what are -- what is a new world of International Affairs, the
sort of paradigm shifting. We still talk geo-politics; we still talk geo- economics. We should talk about that in the context of this trip for Donald Trump.
But Geotech really sits at the heart of Donald Trump's foreign policy, it seems, and at the heart of these burgeoning emerging economies. Just
explain, if you will, briefly.
SOLIMAN: Let me start with this. When President Trump came to office, first time in 2017 he made -- he broke with the traditional consensus around
China policy and the traditional consensus around technologies, meaning, when he came to power in 2017, we started seeing a major rethinking around
how we should think about Chinese equipment in 5G networks in cloud regions.
And we have seen U.S. pressure through what we call the Clean Network Initiative to push allies and partners away from Chinese hardware. So, his
team was the first to be able to pressure allies and partners make the question of Chinese tech a major pillar of dialogs and bilateral
agreements.
And Biden team built on that. And he's now back to power, and his team is very much focused on the question of how the United States can win the AI
race? How the United States can be able to make sure that China does not have a power projection when it comes to technologies?
And this is why, like I said before, the govern extremely important. This is a major swing region in AI competition. We want to make sure to bring
them to our own ecosystem.
ANDERSON: Yeah, Soliman, it's good to have you. That lens, the sort of U.S., China AI sort of fight as it were, very, very useful as we consider
what is going on here. We talked earlier about how many of the companies in this region and governments in this region have backed Team America, AI, as
opposed to China, although they're certainly not pivoting away from their relationships with China on a broader basis. Good to have you.
This is Donald Trump, live now in Saudi Arabia. He will shortly get into the Investment Forum, the Saudi U.S. Investment Forum, where he will make a
keynote speech. We're also expecting to hear from Mohammed Bin Salman as well. It's been a long day for the U.S. President. He left the -- he left
Washington yesterday, arrived this morning, local time. Let's listen in to what he has to say.
[09:15:00]
You just witnessed Donald Trump and Mohammed Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, signing documents on agreements between their two
countries. Not clear exactly what is the detail of those agreements? Let's listen in.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, with your permission, we shall now begin the ceremony of exchange and announcements of number of bilateral
agreements and memorandums between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Starting with a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Energy and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
Department of Energy for cooperation in the fields of energy. From the Saudi side, His Royal Highness, Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman. Bin Abdul
Aziz, Minister of Energy, from the U.S. side, His Excellency, Mr. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next, a letter of intent between the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Department of Defense regarding the
modernization and development of the capabilities of the Saudi armed forces through future defense capabilities. From the Saudi side, His Royal
Highness, Prince Khalid Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Defense from the U.S. side His Excellency, Mr. Pete Hegseth Secretary of Defense.
(APPLAUSE)
ANDERSON: Right. So, these are signing ceremonies between different sectors U.S., MOUs, and agreements with Saudi organizations, and in turn, Saudi
investment and MOUs in the U.S., and this will continue for some time. As I understand it, there are some 100 agreements being signed off on today.
There's a lot more ahead here in Riyadh. A reminder, we are expected to hear from the U.S. President in a little over 40 minutes, and we will bring
you that speech at the Saudi U.S. Investment Forum when it happens. Plus, after this break, my colleague Erica Hill will be back with your other
headlines that CNN is following this hour, Erica?
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Yeah, Becky, among those headlines a number of high- profile legal cases from Paris to New York and France. Kim Kardashian testifying in the trial of those accused of robbing her at gunpoint. Here
in the U.S., Sean "Diddy" Combs his former girlfriend said to take the stand in his racketeering and sex trafficking trial. Details on both those
cases and much more after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
HILL: Right now, Billionaire Reality TV Star Kim Kardashian is in a Paris courtroom facing the people accused of tying her up duct tape and plastic
ties and robbing her at gunpoint nearly nine years ago. She is there to testify against the so-called grandpa gang of robbers. They're accused of
stealing millions of dollars in jewelry from her while she was in Paris for Fashion Week.
She told the court a short time ago she initially thought the men who entered her hotel room were there to carry out a terror attack, and she
feared they would kill her. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne is following the story for us. She joins us from outside the courthouse in Paris. What more are we
hearing in that testimony, Saskya?
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: yes. Erica. Well, we're hearing that she really did fear for her life. She thought that she was going to be
raped, that she was going to be killed. She believed that Courtney, her sister, who was out clubbing at the time, would come home to find her dead
on the bed.
Now, at one point, she broke down in tears inside that courtroom, and I'm just going to read you what she said. She said they put the gun to my back,
and that's the first moment when I thought, should I run for it down the stairs? But it wasn't a good option, so I stayed, and I realized I should
probably do whatever they say. And Erica, it was a violent heist. Kardashian explaining how she was duct taped, how she was gagged, how she
was placed in the bath, Erica.
HILL: Saskya appreciate it. We'll continue to follow that with you. Also, out of France today, French Actor Gerard Depardieu has been convicted of
sexual assault. A court in Paris finding him guilty. This is in relation to allegations made by two women. Depardieu was headed an 18-month suspended
prison sentence.
The women say he sexually assaulted them in 2021 in what's been called one of the highest profiles; "Metoo" legal cases in France. Depardieu was not
present for the verdict. He does maintain his innocence and plans to appeal.
Well, Wall Street set to open just a few minutes from now. Take a quick look at futures for you. This is an, of course, reaction to the latest
snapshot of U.S. inflation data just one day after that stunning tariff shift between the world's two largest economies. We've just gotten the
Consumer Price Index for April.
CNN's Matt Egan is standing by with more on this latest bit of data. So, what did it tell us, Matt? We do not have Matt Egan, but we're going to try
to get him back. As you can see, though, we are looking at futures there up a little bit a little bit of green always welcome of course, we'll continue
to follow that movement from here in the U.S.
But of course, a lot of action happening in the Middle East. Becky is in Riyadh, where she, of course, is covering President Trump's visit to the
region, much of that visit in some ways, though being overshadowed in the last 24 hours by the president's decision to accept a gift from Qatar's
Royal Family.
The president saying he plans to use the newer, some $400 million Boeing 747 plane to replace an aging Air Force One. The idea of that gift, though,
is raising not only ethical and legal questions, it's also inspiring backlash from U.S. lawmakers, including some of those most loyal to the
president, some in his own party. CNN's Tom Forman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The possibility of a $400 million gift jet from Qatar to serve as President Trump's new Air Force One
is drawing lightning strikes of criticism.
[09:25:00]
Trump's latest grift. It's not just bribery. It's premium foreign influence with extra leg room. And from the Vice Chair of the Senate Ethics
Committee.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-CT): This is almost exactly the sort of gift that our founders had in mind that Americans shouldn't accept. And I'll remind you
other federal employees can't accept even $50.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The plane would appear to fly in the face of the U.S. Constitution Emoluments Clause, which says no person holding any office
shall without the consent of Congress, except of any present of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state ask about that, Trump hit
back.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's not a gift to me. It's a gift to the Department of Defense.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Analysts say the gift plane would likely have to be entirely stripped down and rebuilt to make sure it does not hold technology
detrimental to presidential security. After all, Qatar has long ties to Hamas, a terrorist group in the eyes of the U.S. government.
TRUMP: The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.
RICHARD PAINTER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ETHICS LAWYER: Why is the United States of America accepting a gift of this magnitude from a foreign government
that supported terrorist organizations.
FOREMAN (voice-over): In his first term, Trump hit upon the idea of revamping Air Force One, upgrading it, changing the color.
TRUMP: You know what colors we're using, take a guess?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Red, white and blue.
TRUMP: Red, White and Blue.
FOREMAN (voice-over): He became frustrated by the long, expensive process of doing all that, but now Qatar has offered him a quick fix, and he's on
board.
TRUMP: I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person say, no, we don't want a free, very expensive
airplane.
FOREMAN: The president saying this is a gift to the Pentagon, not to him, doesn't necessarily hold water either, because the Emoluments Clause
basically says you can't give a gift like this to an elected official or anybody who works for him, which would include the folks at the Pentagon.
So even though the president may want to treat this like it's no big deal, it is a big deal, and likely to stay that way until it's settled. Tom
Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And we'll continue to watch that development plays out. As I mentioned, we did just get this April CPI number just about an hour ago,
perhaps a little bit better than expected. CNN's Matt Egan is with us now to tell us more about it. So, some better news, I guess. Inflation is
flowing slowing, easy for me to say, Matt, I'll hand it over to you.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Erica, you're right. This is good news. I mean, this is encouraging about really one of the biggest issues in this
economy, of course, the cost of living. But it comes with an asterisk, a pretty big one, because it does not fully capture the impact of the trade
war and all of these tariff driven price hikes that we are anticipating.
But look, we're going to take the good inflation news while it lasts. Today's report showed that consumer prices were up by 2.3 percent year-
over-year. That is better than expected. You can see on the trend on that chart, we're miles away from that inflation crisis of four years ago, when
this metric was above 9 percent right?
We are now at a fresh four year low, and that is better than expected. Month-over-month, consumer prices were up by 0.2 percent that also beat
expectations, although I would note that this was an acceleration from March.
Now, when we dig into the numbers here, one of the interesting drivers here is the fact that it's gotten cheaper to go to the grocery store. And we
know that is a major pain point for Americans and really for consumers around the world.
So, we did see a decline in prices month-over-month for food at home, and that was driven by eggs. Now eggs are definitely still much higher than
they were a year ago, but we actually saw a 13 percent month-over-month drop in egg prices, that is the biggest decline of my lifetime.
I'm going to go back to 1984 for a bigger drop. So, look Erica this is good news. I think the question though, is, how long does it last? And I've got
to tell you that some economists are telling me, this could be the low for inflation for the year.
HILL: Yeah, there's a lot of concern about what comes in next month's bash of reports. Matt, really appreciate it. Thank you.
EGAN: Thanks Erica.
HILL: I want to bring you back to Riyadh now to Becky Anderson, who is, of course, covering the U.S. President's first major overseas trip of his
second term. Becky, back over to you.
ANDERSON: Thank you very much indeed. And those CEOs who are here will, I'm sure, be keeping one eye on their phones as trading in New York is about to
begin. We are, what? Less than a minute away, looking at the opening bell moment on Wall Street here, investors in these markets will be looking at
that inflation data.
[09:30:00]
They are also, of course, digesting the new U.S. China trade truce. That -- on Wall Street we will take a very short break and give you a sense of how
these markets have opened after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Riyadh. You're watching "Connect the World". And U.S. President Donald Trump gets a chance today to
prove himself as a deal maker on the global stage. He's here as he kicks off a four-day blitz of the Gulf region, the Arabian Peninsula here.
His first stop, Riyadh, where he is set to speak shortly by a forum of business leaders. These are images of him arriving earlier today, being met
on the tarmac by Mohammed Bin Salman, the de facto ruler here, the Crown Prince. He then went on to a lunch between the U.S. and Saudi Delegations.
I was in the room, and I have to say, I mean, the immense power in that room was really quiet sort of overwhelming when you consider that every
single person who powers the U.S. -- the Saudi economy, was present, all cabinet members present, plus those who are running significant entities
here, and then many of Donald Trump's cabinet as well.
These are images of Donald Trump signing some memorandums of understanding, some MOUs and some agreements between the U.S. and Saudi. The Saudis very
keen that this isn't a sort of blank check trip as far as the U.S. is concerned, just as they will be looking to invest in the U.S. and help
power Donald Trump's America First policy.
So, they expect to see some investment here from U.S. business as well. Many U.S. business leaders here, including Elon Musk and Sam Altman from
OpenAI. This trip, of course, will also include visits to Qatar and to the United Arab Emirates.
[09:35:00]
Well, he just assigned a strategic partnership for the energy industry, for the mining industry, and indeed, for defense, things that we were expecting
to see. And let me just give you a sense of the mining opportunity here. It's worth, according to the Saudis, some $2.5 trillion. Perhaps
understandable. Why it is that the U.S. is keen to get a slice of that action.
Joining me now is Karen E. Young. She's Head of the Economics and Energy Initiative at the Middle East Institute. She's also written about the
economies of the Gulf Arab states, a real expert in this region. It's fantastic Karen to have you.
Donald Trump is expected to speak at this investment forum in about a half hour, just about 20 minutes or so away from where I am now. He was given a
very warm welcome at lunch today, and will expect the same from a whole slew of influential American CEOs and Saudi officials.
We just saw the signing of some agreements and MOUs across defense, energy and minerals. And I think those two latter files, let's start with those
energy and minerals. What are the opportunities here for the U.S. that Saudi is keen to now, just as of course, U.S. keen to get some of this
sovereign cash invested in America?
KAREN E. YOUNG, HEAD OF THE ECONOMICS AND ENERGY INITIATIVE, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, thank you, Becky, it's great to be with you. Yes. I mean,
these are two leaders who both want the same things. They both want investment in their respective economies. So where is the synergy?
And in these fields that you mentioned are exactly that. So, in energy, we certainly are seeing interest from the Kingdom to develop a civilian
nuclear program, and that is where U.S. technology, U.S. companies, would be very, very welcome to help set up in the Kingdom.
And then the flip side, the advantage for U.S. businesses, is that then they can -- you know receive considerable investment in order to be able to
make the things that they need. This could be things like small modular reactors or the technology that goes to help run them. And some of that is
even in hydrogen technology. Some of it is in the sort of computer systems that work, including AI systems that work in these really energy intensive
systems.
The other sector you mentioned is mining. So Saudi Arabia really would like to see its domestic mining industry come off the ground. And there is huge
potential there. But of course, most mines, copper mines, gold mines, these kinds of things. A copper mine generally takes 20 years to develop.
So, these are very much long-term big infrastructure investments that Saudi Arabia would like to see global powerhouses. Those firms that know how to
do this business engage in the Kingdom, but then potentially to do that work in third countries as well.
So, the U.S. interest is having access to critical minerals in other places with co-investors. So, I think that's some of the potential co-investment
that you might see, including in sub-Saharan Central Africa, or even in places like Ukraine. So, where you've got Saudi money, Saudi kind of
interest in growing a sector and in growing domestic firms and U.S. interest in securing supply chains of critical minerals.
ANDERSON: Karen, I'm going to stop you there. Apologies. We've got some breaking news. Excuse me, and I'm losing my voice. We've got some breaking
news that I need to go to. I've got to take a very short break. It's good to have you back. You probably forgot more about this region than most of
us will ever know. Important to have your analysts -- analysis and perspective. Do stay with us, folks, we'll have a lot more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he would welcome the U.S. President's presence at potential peace talks with Russia this week.
But a senior Trump administration official says Donald Trump's attendance will largely be dictated by whether the Russian President attends.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said he was thinking about flying to Turkey, where Vladimir Putin had proposed direct talks with Ukraine. Since that offer,
though, the Kremlin has not confirmed whether Vladimir Putin or any other official will actually show up. Well, a short time ago, CNN's Nick Paton
Walsh asked Ukraine's President, what's next if talks do not result in that 30-day truce. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If this meeting does go ahead and does not result in an immediate 30-day ceasefire, will
you consider that to have been a failure?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: No, of course. It's been that Russia is not ready for diplomacy. It's been only one side. It's only about
Russia, but that means if they will not -- if Putin will not come, or if ceasefire will not be supported by Russians, by Putin, exactly by him.
So, it's been only one thing that Russia is not ready for any kind of negotiation, no time for playing games on the technical level. And it's
meant -- it means that they are not -- I mean this supportive all of these things. And it's been only one thing that we need to be stronger, unite and
tough on them.
And today I see only one thing, sanctions, of course, of course, if I will have connection with the President Trump, of course, not only sanctions,
and I will tell him so you see that we need that sanctions have to be powerful, and we need a little bit time for this when sanctions be will
have influence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in answer to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, that is it for the first hour of this show "Connect the World" with me Becky
Anderson. "World Sport" next. We are back with more from Riyadh in about 15 minutes time, do stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
END
