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One World with Zain Asher
CNN International: Kremlin Aide: Temporary Ceasefire Would Benefit Ukraine; Putin Visits Kursk Region Amid Russian Battlefield Gains; Trump To Host NATO Chief Mark Rutte At The White House. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 13, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "ONE WORLD": The Kremlin has broken its silence on the U.S.-backed plan for a 30-day ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. They
don't like it. One World starts right now. All this as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to present President Trump's take. The ball
is now in Russia's court. Plus, President Trump threatens to further escalate his trade war with a new 200 percent tax on France's wine and
champagne. We are live for you at the White House and in London with the very latest. And reduction in force, that's what the Trump administration
is calling it. The large-scale layoffs of U.S. government staff are being set in motion today, the final day for federal agencies to submit their
plans of whose stays and who goes?
All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. My colleague, Bianna Golodryga, is off today. You are watching One World.
Moscow is casting doubt on a U.S.-proposed ceasefire for Ukraine. A Kremlin aide says a temporary pause would only benefit Kyiv, giving its forces time
to regroup. But, its spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, says that comment should not be seen as a Russian rejection. Those remarks coming before U.S.
President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow earlier to discuss the proposal.
Meantime, Russia says its forces have recaptured Sudzha, the largest town in the western Kursk region, which Ukraine captured last August. Russian
President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the area on Wednesday, telling frontline troops, the goal is to completely liberate Kursk.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us live now from Moscow. So, Fred, just in terms of Vladimir Putin considering this deal, I mean, all signs are
pointing to the fact that it is likely, likely that the Russians are going to reject it. That being said, Steve Witkoff is in Moscow right now. He is
going to meet with Vladimir Putin. Just walk us through if there are any chances in terms of any kind of persuasion here.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there certainly are chances in terms of persuasion. One of the things that
the Kremlin has said, this also comes in the form of Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, he said, look, the Russians haven't even been
fully informed by the United States as well what the terms of such a ceasefire could be, and what sort of wiggle room there might be for
additional things that the Russians would want in there as well. So, certainly, the Russians are saying, right now, they're still gathering
information.
That Kremlin aide that was talking before, Yuriy Ushakov, he actually had a conversation with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz of the United States
last night, and there he did say what he was hearing sounded to him as though a ceasefire would mainly benefit the Ukrainians, because they are
the ones, of course, right now who, not just in the Kursk region, but in other areas as well, along the frontline inside Ukraine, are currently on
the back foot and need to regroup. I want to listen into a little bit of what that Kremlin aide had to say. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YURIY USHAKOV, ADVISOR TO VLADIMIR PUTIN (Interpreted): This is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, and nothing more.
We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement. That is what we are striving for, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the
legitimate interests of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, when he speaks of the legitimate interests of Russia, there are several things that the Russians have been talking about. Obviously,
one of them is the territories that they've already taken from the Ukrainians, which the Russians certainly want to keep, but a lot of it also
involves possible NATO forces on the ground inside Ukraine, which is something that the Russians outright reject. So, the Russians are saying,
they want negotiations for a wider peace deal to take place before there is a ceasefire, whereas, of course, the Trump administration and now the
Ukrainians as well say that they want a ceasefire immediately.
So, it's going to be very interesting to see what Steve Witkoff can achieve here on the ground as he briefs Russia's leadership, and whether or not
he'll actually meet with Vladimir Putin. But, certainly, right now, even though, Zain, the Russians are saying that they're not outright rejecting
the ceasefire proposal, they are also saying that they're certainly not a big fan of what they've heard so far, Zain.
ASHER: Yeah. We'll see what happens with Steve Witkoff's visit.
Fred Pleitgen live for us there. Thank you so much.
Let's bring in CNN Military Analyst and retired Air Force Colonel, Cedric Leighton. He joins us live now from Washington. Colonel, thank you so much
for being with us. So, as Fred Pleitgen was just saying there, this is not necessarily an outright rejection of the ceasefire proposal, but
essentially, what the Russians are saying is that they don't really see how this benefits them. The way they see it, this only serves to benefit the
Ukrainians. It gives them a reprieve and time to regroup. That is their perspective.
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In terms of Vladimir Putin's options here, obviously he can, if he chooses to, reject this proposal outright, but what might be much more likely is
the possibility that he says, perhaps I will accept this with certain caveats. What are some of the changes he is going to want to see here?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yah, Zain. It depends on the actual text of the proposal. But, what we know so far, we can assume
that he is going to look at this, and if he does accept it provisionally, some of those provisions could include no NATO troops in Ukraine, and if
it's a much broader proposal, much more long-term proposal, it would also be one that where the condition would be no NATO membership for Ukraine. On
a more tactical level, what he might ask for is perhaps some kind of exchange of prisoners, which the Ukrainians would also want. They're more
likely to ask for that.
But then the other thing that he would ask for is to keep the territories that the Russians have gained. He is obviously working very hard in Kursk,
and if the Russian forces are to recapture that from the Ukrainians, would eliminating a potential bargaining chip that the Ukrainians had hoped to
hold on to. So, that's what we're seeing here. And it does look like the Russians think that they have the advantage at this particular point in
time. There are some elements on the frontline -- some movements on the frontline that are -- where the results are a bit more mixed, but the basic
movement in the war is, at the moment, slightly in Russia's favor, and of course, if they take Kursk completely, then that would mean that they have
a bit more momentum than they had previously.
ASHER: And if they believe that they're winning this war or that they have the advantage right now, there really isn't that much incentive for
Vladimir Putin to agree to this 30-day ceasefire. Just because you mentioned Kursk, I mean, obviously we saw Vladimir Putin, the images of him
in Kursk, greeting Russian soldiers, essentially saying they have to drive out the Ukrainians. The fact that -- I mean, you have to look at the timing
here, the fact that he traveled to Kursk right as he is supposed to be considering this ceasefire deal, what should we be reading into that? What
should we glean from that, do you think?
LEIGHTON: Well, there are several things, Zain. One of them is he appeared in military uniform, I believe the second time during this phase of war
from February 2022 to now. It is only the second time that he has appeared in military uniform. It kind of reminds you of what you saw in World War
II, with Stalin as the head of the Soviet Union at the time. And in this particular case, he is showing himself to be the victorious head of the
Russian military. That's as the Commander in Chief, as the President of the Russian Federation is, that would allow him then to, in essence, claim
victory and claim, in essence, competence.
And he is not only showing that, but he is also, of course, urging on the Russian forces that are moving forward in Kursk at considerable cost, I
might add, but they are still doing it. And as far as the Russians are concerned, that's enough of a victory to write home about.
ASHER: Just in terms of Trump's ability to apply pressure to Vladimir Putin, to the Russians to get them to agree to this deal, I mean, a lot of
people have talked about the fact that, can tariffs and sanctions really cut it, especially because the U.S. has really exhausted that avenue
already? It's not going to have that much of an impact. But, some analysts will tell you that the only real sort of leverage the Americans have at
this point is their ability to supply Ukraine with that much more military aid. Is that something that's going to work in terms of persuading Vladimir
Putin? Is that something that the Trump administration is really going to want to do?
LEIGHTON: Yeah. Those are some interesting questions. So, Trump has threatened to increase support to Ukraine if the Russians reject the
ceasefire proposal. At least he has done so in the past. Now, whether or not that still holds, that remains to be seen. So, that's one aspect of it.
On the sanctions front, I think it's generally true that there are a lot of sanctions that are already in place against Russia. Enforcement of them has
been relatively strict in most areas, although there are some gaps that could be filled. The other thing that they could do in conjunction with the
other Western nations, especially in Europe, would be to actually limit the use of the Russian assets and actually use the Russian assets to support
Ukraine and take those outright. Now, that might be something that would be maybe a bridge too far even for Trump, but it's possible that he would do
that.
But, in terms of direct military and intelligence aid to the Ukrainians, the fact that he -- that Trump had basically cut off those supplies, both
in the intelligence sense and in a logistical sense, for several days, and that had a really bad impact on the Ukrainians.
[11:10:00]
That shows how important that particular part is, and that could be used as a bit of a bargaining chip if the Americans choose to do that.
ASHER: All right. One of the things that's -- that appears to be very important to both leaders, both Trump and Putin, is obviously optics and
appearing to be in control. Power and control, very important to both of these two men. I mean, you talked about the fact that Vladimir Putin
appeared in Kursk. He was wearing military attire. We haven't seen that very often. Obviously, he wants to show himself as a powerful leader of an
army that is winning on the battlefield. I mean, that's questionable, but Russia does believe that it does have the advantage at this point in time.
If Vladimir Putin does end up somehow agreeing to this 30-day pause in fighting, if Trump manages to sweeten the deal for him, how does he go
about selling this to the Russian people?
LEIGHTON: Well, you can sell it in several ways. It was interesting that the Russian National Security Advisor talked about the Ukrainians having a
respite from the fighting, but that would also hold true for the Russians, so they couldn't sell it as we are victorious. We are doing this because
we've achieved an advantage on the battlefield, and if the Ukrainians, to use their terminology, misbehave, then we can resume fighting as we need
to. So, that would be one way the Russians could sell it, and I think they would probably gain popular support for that. There are elements in Russian
society that oppose this war, although they're very quiet, comparatively speaking.
But, the fact of the matter is, that could work even for those who are ardent supporters of the war. They would see it as, OK, we have an
advantage, and we can probably prosecute that advantage at a time of our choosing, and that's basically how Putin could sell it to his people.
ASHER: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. In just over an hour from now, U.S. President Donald Trump is going to be hosting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
The meeting comes at really a key moment for Europe, as its American ally appears to pivot towards Russia, and as Trump continues to take shots at
NATO, demanding that members increase their defense spending and even threatening to pull out of the alliance altogether.
Betsy Klein joins us live now. So, Betsy, just in terms of what we expect to come out of this meeting, a key issue for Mark Rutte is to really
explain to Donald Trump why it is hugely important and mutually beneficial for the U.S. to remain a key member of the alliance. Obviously, they don't
see eye-to-eye, because obviously Donald Trump has brought up the fact that he does not believe that NATO members are paying their share several times.
What do we actually expect to come out from this meeting today?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: You're exactly right on all of those points. President Trump is going to be meeting with the NATO
Secretary General in the Oval Office just moments from now, as we have seen the President in his first weeks in office, really dramatically reimagine
the role of the U.S. in the world, and those key U.S. alliances. And these high-stakes talks come as officials from the Trump administration are
meeting now with their Russian counterparts in Moscow to discuss that U.S.- proposed 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, even as Russia has cast significant doubt on their willingness to accept that proposal.
Now, during the campaign and during his first term, the President threatened to pull out of NATO. He has railed against members of NATO for
not contributing more to the alliance's military spending. So, these talks today, as you laid out, between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the
President will be so closely watched, as Rutte seeks some assurances, even as the President has been echoing Kremlin talking points, publicly
criticizing Ukraine's President Zelenskyy before and after that diplomatic breakdown we saw in the Oval Office, and also seeking to shore up this deal
between Russia and Ukraine, Zain.
ASHER: And before we continue, I am going to ask you about tariffs, but I want to show our audience some live pictures. Vladimir Putin is in Belarus
right now with his friend and ally, Alexander Lukashenko. Obviously, this coming at a really pivotal time in terms of Russia, relations with Ukraine
and the United States. The Ukrainians and the Americans have now put forward a proposal, a peace proposal to Russia that Vladimir Putin is
considering. It appears as though Vladimir Putin and the Russians are unlikely to agree to this deal. They've said that it benefits purely the
Ukrainians, and Vladimir Putin and the Russians believe that they do have an advantage at this point in time on the battlefield.
But, once again, Vladimir Putin is meeting. I believe these are actually pictures from Moscow, excuse me, Vladimir Putin is meeting with Lukashenko,
the leader of Belarus. These are live pictures for you.
[11:15:00]
Betsy, let me bring you back in, because one of the other questions I wanted to talk to you about is Donald Trump actually threatening 200
percent tariffs on alcohol coming from the EU. I mean, obviously this trade war, a lot of people are saying it is getting out of control, the tit for
tat back and forth after the EU threatened retaliatory tariffs on American whiskey. So, the back and forth continues. Just walk us through what we
know so far.
KLEIN: Yeah. It marks another escalation in this Trump-driven trade war that really threatens to rock markets across the globe. The President
threatening to impose a 200 percent tariff on alcoholic beverages from the European Union unless it rescinds that 50 percent tariff the European
government has imposed on U.S. spirits. The President writing in a post to social media, quote, "If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S.
will shortly place a 200 percent tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER REPRESENTED COUNTRIES.
This will be great", he says, "for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S." Of course, I think he means sparkling wine.
But, this has prompted major concerns from the industry, especially in the U.S. where American spirits producers warn that their businesses could be
targeted next in this tit for tat. And all of this comes as the President imposed those 25 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel, but it also comes
before the President's promised reciprocal tariffs. Those are set to go into effect on April 2nd. And here is what the President had to say about
his trade policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's called flexibility. It's not called inconsistency. It's called flexibility. But, there will be
very little flexibility once we start. April 2nd is going to be a very big day for the United States of America. The United States of America is going
to take back a lot of what was stolen from it by other countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Now, all of this is prompting major concerns in the business community, instability in the markets, and now rising concerns about the
possibility of a recession.
ASHER: All right. Betsy Klein live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. Let's bring in Anna Stewart with the EU perspective. I mean, this is the last thing that the Europeans would want, when you think about
not just the fact that Donald Trump is threatening tariffs specifically against wine, alcohol, spirits coming from the EU, but the amount. We're
talking about 200 percent, is what is being threatened here. Talk to us a bit more about how this will impact the EU economically.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, everyone was expecting some sort of response from the President. He said he would respond yesterday, but
this has been very quick. And as you say, 200 percent in retaliation to a 50 percent tariff on Bourbon whiskey does seem extremely high. We are
already getting reaction. The EU trade commissioner, actually, we're told, actually called his American counterparts yesterday, and calls are being
prepared. The trade commissioner did meet with officials in the U.S. and D.C. a few weeks ago, and not much happened as a result of that. So, it
really remains to be seen.
Some member states in the EU will, of course, be hit much harder than others. One that, of course, brings to mind is France with champagne. It
exported 27 million bottles of the stuff in 2023, and the U.S. is its biggest export market. Now, in a tweet from the French Trade Minister,
Laurent Saint-Martin, he says, "Donald Trump is escalating the trade war he chose to unleash. France remains determined to respond with the EU
Commission and our partners. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our sectors." Strong words. So, you wonder, what will happen next?
Will we see more retaliation?
In terms of some of the share price moves we're seeing today from the big alcohol makers in Europe, Pernod Ricard down around four percent. That one
owns Mumm Perrier-Jouet, as well as some spirits. It's down 11 percent on the year. Also, LVMH is down, and Anheuser-Busch, the big beer makers there
in Heineken. So, not a great response from Europe.
But also, Zain, let's not forget, probably not very happy thoughts from those in the U.S. You might like a glass of champagne, because while
President Trump says that this will be great for the wine and champagne businesses in the U.S., you can't make champagne if you're not in
Champagne. It's a province in France.
ASHER: OK. Anna Stewart live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. On a much more serious note, I want to take you to Moscow where the Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a news conference with
Alexander Lukashenko, the head of Belarus. Let's listen in.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): And something like a six percent increase is foreseen, which amounts to something like 51 billion
rubles, which is a record. Something like 60 percent of our bilateral trade is in national currency, and we are more or less protected from third
countries and from negative trends internationally.
[11:20:00]
Something like 2,000 Russian companies work in Belarus. We have intent on importers' substitution. This is about the -- also about the strategic
partnership, particularly in terms of the machine tool industry and the auto sector. So, quite good prospects for the future. The priority spheres
for our bilateral activity is oil and gas, and that in very favorable conditions.
A common energy market is also something we continue to work on, and something like 40 percent of the needs of electricity is provided for by
Russia. And we are working also very closely together on artificial intelligence, and we are intent on building a fully-fledged ecosystem. We
are also intent, of course, on making sure that all our incentives are mutually beneficial to both sides.
And next September, we are planning to have yet another meeting, and we have decided to revive this old tradition, which dates back to the 70s and
the 80s. Between our two countries, there are very fruitful scientific and educational exchanges. And in the next academic year, something like 2,000,
3,000 Belarusian students will attend Russian institutes of higher education.
In accordance with the protocol, on the agreement signed in 1997 with regard to nationals living in both countries, we have given the possibility
of voting in both countries. And the 80th commemoration of the Great Patriotic War, of course, is also very much in our sights. We have talked
about that. We cherish the memory of our grandfathers and great- grandfathers who fought for us and future generations. And we hope very much that President Lukashenko will attend the ninth of May celebrations in
Moscow and will take place in the -- take part in the celebrations on Red Square.
Given the tense situation in the world, in the European region and on the foreign frontiers of our countries, we spoke very much about the creation
of a defense space. We talked about a regional grouping of troops which is equipped with art of -- state-of-the-art weaponry, particularly with regard
to defending the western borders of the country. We had a very literate professional discussion about the bilateral agreement about mutual defense,
which was signed in 1994. I'd just like to remind you that this document defines the mutual reciprocal arrangements with regard to the defense of
the security of both of our countries, and that would one which employs all our means of defense.
We talked about our future coordination in terms of international matters. We also talked about regional problems, the participation in CSTO, for
example, and in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Belarus is now a fully-fledged member of that since last year.
[11:25:00]
And BRICS -- and Belarus has also become a fully-fledged member of BRICS.
I should like, in conclusion, just to thank the President for the very constructive discussions and talks we've had today, and we look forward to
very fruitful bilateral relations in -- across the board.
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): Distinguished (inaudible), members of the media, first of all, I'd just like to thank you
for -- and all those present here for the organization of this --
ASHER: All right. You've just been listening to a live press conference with Vladimir Putin, who was just speaking, before he passed the mic on to
Alexander Lukashenko, the head of Belarus, both then essentially talking about a strong, diplomatic and economic and defense ties between these two
countries. Belarus has been a crucial partner to Russia through its invasion of Ukraine. You may remember, a few years ago, Belarus was
actually the staging ground for Russian troops before Vladimir Putin launched his attack into Ukraine. Belarus faced a lot of sanctions as a
result of its assistance to Vladimir Putin in this war. And Vladimir Putin essentially talking about the strong economic ties and partnerships between
both countries.
Obviously, a lot of eyes on Vladimir Putin right now, as he weighs how to respond to this ceasefire proposal that was essentially given to him by the
United States.
Let's bring back CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who is in Moscow. So, Fred, you and I were speaking about 10, 20 minutes ago. Obviously, here is where Vladimir
Putin is now. Do we know whether he will be meeting with Steve Witkoff at some point today, in terms of being able to make a final decision on what
the Americans have proposed here?
PLEITGEN: Yeah, Zain. Essentially, we know from the Russians now that apparently a meeting is supposed to take place between Vladimir Putin and
Steve Witkoff most probably sometime in the later hours of tonight. We have since also heard from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has told me that
there will definitely not be a phone call today between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, that meeting with Steve Witkoff obviously still very much on the agenda, as the Russians are still saying they're waiting for a full
briefing from the United States as that ceasefire that, of course, was agreed by the U.S. and also agreed by the Ukrainians, but about which the
Russians apparently have very large reservations still with Yuriy Ushakov, a senior Kremlin aide saying that they believe that it's something that
benefits the Ukrainians much more than the Russians and the Ukrainians would use it to regroup and to rearm.
Vladimir Putin was going to speak, possibly, about the ceasefire today in this press conference. When asked by journalists, he obviously didn't do so
in the opening statement. However, one thing that the Kremlin spokesman said is, he said, wait for the journalists' questions and see whether or
not Putin is going to answer. Then certainly we do expect him to mention it here in this press conference that's going on right now, Zain.
ASHER: So, we can trust that you're going to be monitoring it for us very closely. And of course, if he does say anything, obviously the entire world
is watching what Putin has to say on this very closely. If he does mention that, we'll bring you back on to talk about what he said.
Fred Pleitgen live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. Still to come, America's top diplomat meets with G7 allies in Quebec amid an escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada.
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ASHER: All right. One of the most powerful players in global finance is sounding the alarm on the U.S. economy. Larry Fink is Chief Executive of
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, and he says the Trump administration's barrage of policy changes is paralyzing American consumers
and businesses, and it's hurting the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY FINK, CEO, BLACKROCK: People are pausing. They're pulling back. Talking to talking to CEOs throughout the economy, I hear the economy is
weakening as we speak. So, your whole question, and I think that's a natural response, because we're uncertain. We're uncertain what will the
tariffs have the impact on our company.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And it could get even worse. Earlier, the U.S. President threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on European alcohol in response to the EU's
retaliation against his steel and aluminum tariffs. Meantime, Ontario's Premier and the Canadian Finance Minister will meet the U.S. Commerce
Secretary today for trade talks. It comes after Canada announced more than $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Wednesday. Right
now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Quebec at the G7 meeting of foreign ministers amid strained U.S.-Canadian relations.
Alexander Marquardt is covering the G7 summit from Quebec. We spoke to him a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Zain, at best, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is going to get a mixed welcome
from partners here at this G7 foreign ministers meeting, but more likely than that is going to be a frosty reception, given everything that the
Trump administration has done and threatened against key partners, including G7 allies, in the past few days and weeks.
Yes, there is this U.S.-led ceasefire proposal for Ukraine that is on the table that has gotten widespread backing from the Canadians, from the
Europeans, but at the same time, we have now seen the U.S. levy tariffs and threatened more tariffs against both Canada and the European Union. And
then on top of that, there is also the Trump administration talking about Canada becoming the 51st state.
Now, Rubio's first meeting this morning was with Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, who has spoken out angrily against the Trump administration,
saying that everything they are doing is a fundamental threat to Canada. Here is what she told CNN a few days ago.
MELANIE JOLY, CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We want to make sure that we defend who we are as a country, and we've shown -- we've been shown too
much disrespect by the Trump administration at this point, calling us a 51st state, calling our Prime Minister "Governor". This is not only a
personal issue between Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump. It's way more than that. It is much more than just the political rhetoric. It is a
fundamental threat.
MARQUARDT: There is no doubt, Zain, that Rubio would rather be focusing on issues like Ukraine that all these countries agree on. On his way here,
Rubio told reporters that the focus of this summit is not about the U.S. taking over Canada, which is just a remarkable comment for any U.S.
Secretary of State to make. The first group meeting taking place today is about the G7 allies strengthening the alliance. But, no doubt, Zain, there
are going to be a lot of people in that room who will say that the U.S. is weakening the G7, increasing global instability and insecurity. So, this
could be a tough summit for the U.S. Secretary of State. Zain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Out thanks to Alexander Marquardt for that report.
All right. Still ahead on One World, the U.S. and Canadian officials hold trade talks today, as tensions between the two countries escalate. We'll
hear from Canada's Chamber of Commerce on what impacts that's having on businesses. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Welcome back to One World. I'm Zain Asher in New York. Let's take a look at some of the international headlines we are watching today.
Close to 350 hostages have been rescued after a deadly train hijacking in Pakistan. It ended after a standoff between Pakistan's military and the
Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which is a militant separatist group. A source tells CNN, the train was hijacked in southwestern Pakistan, with the
BLA killing 27 hostages and one soldier. At least 35 militants were killed during the rescue operation.
Russia says it's captured -- or recaptured, rather, a key town in its Kursk region. President Vladimir Putin visited the region, telling troops, the
goal is to completely liberate Kursk. Meantime, a Kremlin aide says a temporary U.S. ceasefire proposal for Ukraine would only benefit Kyiv,
giving its forces time to regroup. Ukraine has already agreed to the deal.
In the next hour, U.S. President Donald Trump is going to be meeting NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House. He is also going to be
meeting senior administration officials and members of U.S. Congress. The visit comes at a tense time for U.S.-NATO relations, as President Trump
pushes the NATO countries to spend much more on defense.
Ontario's Premier Doug Ford and the Canadian Finance Minister will meet with U.S. President Trump's Commerce Secretary in Washington today for
trade talks. It comes after Canadian officials on Wednesday announced over $20 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.
Candace Laing is the President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. She joins us live now. Candace, thank you so much for being with us. Just
in terms of what's happening in the EU, just with the alcohol tariffs that Trump has threatened, 200 percent worth of retaliatory tariffs on EU
alcohol, really just shows you how quickly a trade war can escalate. When it comes to the fallout from this trade war between the U.S. and Canada,
Donald Trump has been asked many times about the possibility of a recession in this country, and he has downplayed it many times, saying that the U.S.
economy is simply going to be in a period of transition. Walk us through what you anticipate will be the fallout for American consumers and American
businesses if this trade war continues to escalate between both countries.
[11:40:00]
CANDACE LAING, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Well, thank you, Zain, and absolutely. In Canadian Chamber of Commerce, we utilize our
business data lab, and months ago, we were modeling the impact of this scenario, and unfortunately, now we're here. Our modeling on a 25 percent
reciprocal tariff war between Canada and the U.S. indicated that it would have massive impacts on the economies in both countries. In the U.S., that
means a hit to GDP of $467 billion. For Canada, of course, it's devastating as well. I think it forces us into a recession, we estimated, by even mid-
year in 2025.
But, really, the sad thing is, for consumers and producers on both sides of the border, this has a huge impact on their real household income in terms
of thousands of dollars, and of course, putting many jobs at risk, which we saw the first time around in President Trump's first term, when we did live
through that period of steel and aluminum tariffs. There was a net job loss of tens of thousands of jobs in U.S. steel manufacturing.
ASHER: Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier, has made headlines here in the U.S. because he has just had a lot of guts in terms of how much he stood up to
President Trump so far, just in terms of being the first Canadian Premier to pull American alcohol off the shelves in his region, and then on top of
that, threatening to really hike the price of imported electricity to Americans as well. We know that he is going to be meeting with Howard
Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, here in the U.S. today. Just walk us through what you expect, or rather, what you hope to come from this
meeting.
LAING: Yeah. Well, I certainly hope that today's discussion opens the door to pausing the trade war and tariff war we now find ourselves in, and
steers us into real trade talks, as opposed to tweets about our trade relationship, and of course, our existing trade agreement. And we've said,
from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the business community's perspective, we have a trade agreement. Let's steer our discussions into
that. We were expecting to enter talks to review that agreement, probably by the end of this year. So, the best, I think, hope we have is that
today's discussion leads us into accelerating the review of our existing trade agreement.
ASHER: Yeah, because the next deadline is, of course, April 2nd, which is just a couple of weeks away. So, we'll see what happens in terms of
negotiations before that deadline.
Candace Laing live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. Today is the day that has a lot of federal workers on edge. Their bosses are telling the government, who stays and who goes. The
fallout from the reduction in force, coming up.
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[11:45:00]
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ASHER: All right. I want to take you back to Moscow now, where Russian President Vladimir Putin was actually just asked a question about the
ceasefire at that press conference with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Let's listen to what he had to say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Interpreted): My first question is to President Putin. How do you assess the situation or the attitude of Ukraine to the
ceasefire? And to President Lukashenko, are your oppositions coordinated on this issue?
PUTIN (Interpreted): Well, as far as the preparedness of Ukraine to a ceasefire is concerned, I will obviously tell you how I feel about it, but,
first of all, I should just like to convey my gratitude to President Trump for trying to settle the situation in Ukraine. He has devoted a lot of
attention to it, and especially since we all have our own business to attend to. But, the President -- and the Prime Minister of China and of
India and South Africa are also concerned with this question, and have devoted a lot of time to it, and we are very grateful to them for that
especially in as much as it's directed to a noble end. That's the first thing.
Secondly, we agree with the proposal to cease hostilities. But, we have to bear in mind that this ceasefire must be aimed at a long-lasting peace, and
it must look at the root causes of the crisis.
As for the preparedness of Ukraine for a ceasefire, the meeting in Saudi Arabia of U.S. and Ukrainian side could look as a kind of decision-making
exercise under American pressure. But, I am absolutely convinced that the Ukrainians should actually be based on the situation on the ground. I think
lots of people have seen that, yesterday, I was in Kursk Oblast and heard the reports of the Chief of General Staff and the commander of the Northern
units about the situation on the frontier of the Kursk Oblast, or rather the wedge area, what's happening there. The situation is fully under our
control, and the grouping which was in our territory has been isolated. The Ukrainian grouping fully isolated and under our control.
The command of Ukrainian of the Ukrainian forces within that area of invasion has been lost, whereas a couple of weeks ago, they tried to get
out of that situation, whereas now they can't. They tried to get out. Two or three of them tried to escape. But, I assure you that it is fully under
our control. It is absolutely impossible for them to get out. I can guarantee you that. But, if you're talking about -- so, if we're talking
about the physical kind of blockade, then absolutely impossible.
[11:50:00]
The only solution they have is to become prisoners of war. And in these conditions, the Ukrainian side should certainly get a ceasefire for 30
days, and we are for that. But, I have reservations. They are the following. First of all, what are we going to do with this area in Kursk
Oblast? If we ceasefire for 30 days, what does it mean, that everybody there will just go free without fighting, even though they've committed
mass crimes against the civilians there, or the Ukrainians will give a command to lay down their arms? How will that work? Nobody knows it.
And how will other questions will be resolved on the line of contact?
And as you know, the Russian forces are active in almost all the units, and we're all concentrated on making sure that we are blocking quite large
units on the Ukrainian side, and then for Ukraine to continue coercive mobilization, given their weapons, for example, and what newly mobilized
units are going to continue to be trained. We don't know about that. So, how will verification and control be exerted? How can we -- how can it be
guaranteed that there really will be verification?
On the basis of common sense, I think everybody would understand that there are whole issues to address here, who will give orders? Who will give
orders for the ceasefire, and what is the price of those orders? Over those 1,500 kilometers, who will determine who has breached the frontier? We've
got 2,000 kilometers of that border. Who will bear the accusations? Who -- how will that be decided? So, obviously, that has to be agreed by both
sides. And obviously, I fully support the proposal but there are a lot of things which we still have to discuss, and I think that we can start
talking with our opposite, the European side. Maybe I will call President Trump, and certainly, perhaps we can come to an agreement on a peaceful
end.
LUKASHENKO (Interpreted): I'd just like to draw your attention to the fact that we have spoken --
ASHER: All right. You've just been listening to a small snippet of a press conference with Vladimir Putin, where he was actually asked by a reporter
about his response to the 30-day ceasefire proposal from the United States and the Ukrainians. He started off by expressing gratitude to President
Trump for trying to settle the issue of the Ukrainian war, but essentially said, if I could just sum up that, there are a lot of issues with this
ceasefire agreement that have to be addressed first, including how the ceasefire will be monitored, how to make sure the ceasefire would be abided
by, and what happens to Ukrainian troops in Kursk, talking about accountability for what, in his mind, they have, the transgressions that
they have made.
I want to bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who is in Moscow for us. So, essentially, not necessarily saying an outright no to the ceasefire deal in
its current form, but indicating that there are a lot of reservations from the Russians here.
PLEITGEN: Yeah. A lot of reservations, and it's something that we've sort of been hearing throughout the course of the day from the Russians, where
they're saying, look, an immediate ceasefire, ceasing military operations right now, they say that simply to them, they don't believe that that's
something that would favor the Russian Federation.
[11:55:00]
I think we did kind of hear that from Vladimir Putin as well, where, as you mentioned, he thanked President Trump. He does say that he is in favor of
some sort of ceasefire, but he also said he believes that the root causes of the conflict need to be addressed, and that's, of course, something that
the Russians have been saying for an extended period of time. He then went on to further details, speaking about the Kursk region, where, of course,
the Ukrainians invaded Russian territory, and the Russians are now trying to push the Ukrainians out. He said that transgressions happened there.
But, he also mentioned, this is something that the Kremlin mentioned earlier today, that the Russians are concerned about Ukraine continuing to
arm itself and possibly using a pause in fire to then rearm their forces and reposition their forces as well. So, it's something that we've been
hearing throughout the course of the day, where the Russians have been saying, and Vladimir Putin now said that, yes, they think a ceasefire is
something that needs to be worked towards. But, certainly, they don't appear to be big fans of the immediate-type ceasefire that was agreed upon
by the United States and the Ukrainians at that meeting in Saudi Arabia.
So, for the Russians, apparently, still a lot of open questions. What we do know is that Vladimir Putin is going to be meeting with President Trump's
envoy, Steve Witkoff, obviously, to get a fuller briefing of all of that, and then certainly also it seems as though the Russians then will convey
the reservations that they have. Vladimir Putin, of course, also saying in this press conference that he believes a phone call between himself and
President Trump could be in order about all this. We've heard from the Kremlin that that's not going to happen tonight.
But, it certainly seems as though, while the Russians are saying they have these reservations, there still is some sort of momentum there to try and
move all this, move this more than three year-long conflict, towards possibly coming towards some sort of peaceful resolution in the not too
distant future, Zain.
ASHER: Yeah. It's interesting, because we were all sort of talking about the fact that the ball was in Vladimir Putin's court, and now, after the
meeting with Steve Witkoff, we expect to happen tonight, and then possibly the phone call with President Trump, the ball is going to be back into
President Trump's court. So, the question is, what are the options in terms of how the Americans are going to persuade the Russians to actually adhere
to this 30-day ceasefire agreement? What options do the Americans have at their disposal here?
PLEITGEN: Yeah. I think one of the things, Zain, that the Russians have shown is that while the U.S. might believe that the ball is in Russia's
court, the Russians are saying, look, that means that the Russians are going to play that ball the way that they see fit. And I think the
messaging that we've been seeing from the Russians over the past 24 hours or so, with Vladimir Putin going down there to the frontline, he mentioned
that in his -- or near the frontline, he mentioned that in his answer as well that he took a look at the situation there, and how the Russian forces
were advancing on the Ukrainian forces. So, that goes to show that the Russians certainly firmly believe that they are in the driver's seat here,
and that the U.S. is going to have to pay credence to that as well, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Fred Pleitgen live for us there. Thank you so much.
Stay with us. Amanpour is up next, and I'll have more of One World in about an hour from now.
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