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One World with Zain Asher
"Coalition Of The Willing" Meets In London On Ukraine; New York Attorney General Pleads Not Guilty In Mortgage Fraud Case; Kremlin Envoy Krill Dmitriev Visits U.S. For Talks; Chocolate Lovers Might Have Fewer Options This Halloween; Later Today: Trump Leaves On High-Stakes Three- Country Tour Of Asia; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired October 24, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:56]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. You're watching the second hour of "One World."
We must push Russia to the negotiating table. Those words from the British prime minister as key European leaders turn up the pressure on the Kremlin
and help Kyiv with financial and military support.
The U.K. is convening a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing today. And any moment now, leaders are set to hold a news conference in London. We'll
bring that to you when it happens.
Earlier, Ukraine's president got a rousing welcome after he met with the British prime minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Keir Starmer said this week had seen major steps forward in support for Ukraine, but that more could be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I do think that this week we can really bear down on Russia oil and gas. Huge steps forward this week
already. I think this further we can do on capability, particularly long- term and long range capability, and, of course, the vital work of the coalition, will it?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We're thankful to you that we are not alone in this situation from the very beginning of the war, but
especially in our experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Separately, sources say a top Russian envoy is in the U.S. for official talks today, days after President Trump made a pivotal move to
impose tough new sanctions on Russia.
International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us now from London. So a bit of a split screen there. You see a round of support there from a
number of European countries, a Coalition of the Willing pledging their continued alliance with Ukraine in supply of military weapons and financial
aid. At the same time, a visit from a top envoy from Moscow here to Washington, D.C.
What's the response been in Europe so far?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. There hasn't been a response yet to this meeting, this Russian -- senior Russian official
who's -- who's gone to the United States for these meetings.
The sentiment from here is, and this is what Keir Starmer is saying, but I think it's broadly echoed from the Coalition of the Willing, is that this
is a time to put pressure on President Putin to get into the negotiating table.
This, of course, aligns neatly with what President Trump has said that is wanting to do, which is bring an end to the war, get to the negotiating
table. So you really sort of have, again, this week, the Europeans and the U.S. putting economic sanctions on Russia.
And the Europeans echoing President Trump's message that -- that it's time to get to the table, to get to negotiations and talks. And in a way, this
is -- this is rather deftly, if you like, sort of putting the pressure on Putin, making it very obvious to everyone. And this will be another one of
the messages from the British prime minister today, that it is only President Putin who wants to stay at war. He is the one who's refusing to
come to -- come to an end of the war.
And that will, in some ways, help support the narrative of continued financing, continued military assistance to Ukraine, which is costly for
all these 26-plus nations in the Coalition of the Willing. Cost is something that's important for -- for President Trump, for the United
States, taxpayers as well.
So the framing that we seem to be entering into here is really one that shapes the onus entirely on President Putin, who, about a week ago,
appeared to be on track for that one-on-one meeting with -- with President Trump in Budapest, that seemed to fall apart, particularly over the
potential negotiations about what the follow-on from a ceasefire would look like.
So the -- the message from here will be the continued isolation of Russia economically, the continued economic and military support of Ukraine. And
likely we'll probably hear a push. Some have heard it already from the British prime minister today saying that longer-range weapons should be
given to Ukraine so that they can strike deeper into Russia and target -- target Russia's war fighting and economic ability to continue fighting the
war as well.
[12:05:17]
GOLODRYGA: Two factors potentially benefiting Russia still, despite the president issuing those sanctions for the first time and that is that he
saved off the delivery or the allowance of Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine from the United States.
And also, at least for now, there is still debate in Europe about what to do over the hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets. There
are a number of countries that have been pushing now for years for those assets to be used to help fund the war in Ukraine.
And today, we had Belgium essentially site legal concerns about once again stalling on a decision here. Where does that leave things?
ROBERTSON: Yes. I -- I think behind the scenes, diplomatically, at least from the diplomats we've been talking to, Belgium's position of not wanting
to be isolated, not wanting to be left with the responsibility of -- of giving the E.U. what amounts to perhaps $140 billion worth of frozen
Russian assets. They don't want to be accountable if that's gone from the bank accounts and Russia comes after Belgium and bel -- the Belgium banking
sector after the war is over.
And the mechanism the E.U. wants to use is to leverage those frozen assets as -- as a mechanism to -- to be able to give Ukraine alone, alone Ukraine
would only pay back once Russia paid it war reparations at the end of the war.
So it's a -- it's a very complicated use of some pretty obscure or creative financial tools to make it happen. And this has been the discussion behind
the scenes in Europe.
And -- and the way it's being approached is to sort of pro-rate the underwriting for Belgium of that huge amount of money per different E.U.
nation. And it still seems that -- that there is some distance to go on that.
And interestingly on the Tomahawks, I picked up on the language used by President Zelenskyy yesterday, the E.U. when he was asked about it. He said
no, we haven't got the Tomahawks yet. And I think the yet was interesting because, of course, the U.K. and the Dutch prime ministers both here today.
They have Tomahawks, other similar missiles are available as well. Zelenskyy not given up on that point yet.
GOLODRYGA: No, he has not.
All right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much.
Well, New York Attorney General Letitia James pleading not guilty, just moments ago, in a Virginia courtroom to fill any bank fraud charges
launched against her by the U.S. Justice Department.
She's accused of bank fraud and of making false statements in order to receive favorable mortgage terms for a home in Norfolk, Virginia. James is
a long-time political enemy of President Donald Trump. And she calls the charges against her baseless.
Short time ago, just moments ago, actually, she spoke to supporters outside the courthouse about the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is not about me. This is about all of us. And about a justice system which has been weaponized. A
justice system which has been a -- been used as a tool of revenge.
I will not be too deterred. And I will not -- I will not be deterred. I will not be distracted. I will do my job each and every day. And that's why
I'm headed back to New York because there's work to be done, standing up for the rule of law. God bless you. And thank you all. And I appreciate
you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Kara Scannell was in the hearing and joins us now from outside of the courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia.
Obviously, Kara, cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom. We saw a feisty attorney general there, emboldened by the crowd. They're supporting
her, saying that she will not live in fear and will go back to work as attorney general in New York. Tell us what happened in that courtroom
though behind you.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, the crowd outside the courtroom was about 3D, and you could hear them cheering, we stand with
Tish, when she was speaking to them.
But also inside the courtroom, she had family members and friends sprinkled throughout the courtroom. According to one friend of hers that I spoke to,
they were lining the back rows. So her family and friends also turning out inside to support her.
And when James first entered that courtroom, she had a smile on her face. She looked toward them. She grinned she was acknowledging those who were in
the crowd for her. Then it was otherwise a more of a traditional arraignment. The judge had James come up to the podium. He read her, her
rights and she had a right to an attorney, a right to remain silent. She both times replied, yes, judge.
[12:10:07]
The only other time she spoke was when she entered her plea of not guilty.
GOLODRYGA: To go to London to hear from Prime Minister Keir Starmer standing there with other members of the Coalition of the Willing and
President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STARMER: For this cherished by the British people and by all Europeans every single day.
Just a few moments ago here in the United Kingdom, we saw the sentencing of six men for Russian-sponsored arson attack on a warehouse in East London.
This is a warehouse storing humanitarian aid and satellite equipment destined for Ukraine. We will not tolerate this hostile activity. And it
just underlines the point, your security is our security.
What happens on the front line of Donetsk today is shaping our collective future for years to come. And that's why Emmanuel and I brought the
Coalition of Willing together again today.
We stand with you, stronger than ever, united behind Ukraine and united with President Trump in calling for the fighting to stop now and for the
negotiations to begin from the current line of contact.
President Trump is right to have imposed sanctions on Russia's oil majors, as the U.K. has also done, alongside the latest package from the E.U. And
we must now maintain this pressure.
Volodymyr, you have said for months that you're ready for a ceasefire and you're ready to meet Putin. Yet, he continues to stall and play for time.
Putin is the only person who does not want to stop this war. His strikes on civilians this week made that crystal clear once again, targeting energy
infrastructure ahead of winter, hitting young children in their nursery, claiming the lives in Kyiv of a 12-year-old girl and a six-month-old baby.
This is who Putin is. Time after time, he rejects the chance to end the war.
In just the last few days, he's rejected the opportunity for talks once again, instead, making ludicrous demands for Ukrainian land, which he could
not and has not taken by force. Of course, that is a complete non-starter. And it shows yet again that he's not serious about peace.
So we've been clear today that we must respond, working with the U.S. This coalition is determined to go further than ever to ratchet up the pressure
on Putin, from the battlefield to his war economy, because that is the only way to change his mind and push him back to the table.
And in our meeting this afternoon, we came together around a clear plan for the rest of this year. First, we will act to take Russian oil and gas off
the global market.
Last week, the U.K. became the first country to sanction all of Russia's oil majors. On Wednesday, the U.S. acted decisively to join us, together
with further sanctions from the E.U. And we're choking off funding for Russia's war machine.
And I'm -- I'm urging others to take these steps too, to go further to reduce their dependencies, and incentivize third countries to stop buying
these tainted resources.
Second, we're determined to push on with the progress on Russia's sovereign assets and unlock billions to help finance Ukraine's defense. The bill for
Russia's destruction in Ukraine should be paid by Russia. So we want to move ahead at speed with the work needed to deliver reparation loans and
get the funds flowing to Ukraine.
Third, we are strengthening Ukraine's air defense to protect its civilians and its energy infrastructure. I announced today that we're accelerating
our U.K. program to provide Ukraine with more than 5,000 lightweight multi- role missiles.
This program has created hundreds of brilliant jobs in Belfast and they're working now to deliver an additional 140 missiles ahead of schedule to
bolster Ukraine's defenses through the depths of winter.
Fourth, we will keep up the military pressure on Putin through the continued provision of long-range capabilities.
[12:15:00]
And finally, while now is the time to prioritize pressure, we're also continuing our work on security guarantees, including the multinational
force Ukraine, to uphold a just and lasting peace when that day finally comes.
Because, and I say it again, Ukraine's future is our future. What happens in the weeks and months ahead is pivotal for the security of the United
Kingdom and all our allies across NATO and beyond.
So we are determined to act now, to dial up the pressure on Putin and finally bring him to the negotiating table in good faith. Thank you.
Now, let me hand over to my friend, Volodymyr.
ZELENSKYY: Thank you so much, Keir.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, Keir, Mette, Dick, Mark, and everyone here, thanks you for today's meeting, today's coalition. These are two
important days for us, very important today, the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in London and the day before there was an E.U. leaders
meeting in Brussels. I thank you guys for all the support and your readiness to keep helping.
And today, all the partners conform that next year, they will continue to support Ukraine, our country, our resilience, especially the financial
support which is crucial.
And today, the new Prime Minister of Japan joins the coalition for the first time and all the signals are clear. Thank you.
We all see the challenges in these days. And the Russians are carrying out a campaign of terror against our energy system and they really want to make
the winter cold a tool of torment and pressure on Ukraine, our people, and on our defense.
And Russia's goal hasn't changed. They want to break us, want to break Ukraine. And they are doing everything to achieve it. So that's why our
defense means everything that truly stops Russia from killing, destroying, and terrorizing.
First, air defense. And today we spoke in detail with our partners about the systems. It's important that our partners focus on what's most
practical and effective. And we gave all the details.
Second, of course, it's important that everyone agrees the front needs substantial attention and the focus must be on it. And thank you for all
the steps of help.
And third, we are promoting a more meaningful approach to diplomacy. Diplomacy matters only when it can lead to real -- real decisions. And when
it comes to Russia, that dish has many ingredients. The essential ones are real forms of pressure -- of pressure on Russia, sanctions, our long-range
capabilities, political pressure, accountability for war crimes, and real - - real actions regarding Russian assets.
Today, we all agreed, sanctions that hit Russian oil, Russian oil infrastructure, Russian oil companies are a big step.
And I thank President Trump and all our partners who are implementing this. And we have to apply pressure, not only to Rosneft and Lukoil but to all
Russian oil companies like Surgutneftegas and others and to the shadow fleet and its infrastructure and to Russia's oil terminals.
And we have to implement all we have discussed today about the Russia's shadow fleet. Besides, we are carrying out our own campaign of pressure
with drones and missiles, specifically targeting the Russian oil sector.
So the long-range capability directly strengthens diplomacy the more losses Putin suffers on his own territory.
The fewer -- the fewer assaults he can carry -- carry out on the front line and the faster he will agree to meaningful diplomacy. That is why we are
working to secure Tomahawk cruise missiles, additional storm shadow missiles, other capabilities.
Thank you very much, Keir, for today's decision. Thank you for your support that you said and about long range. And there must be no option left for
Russian except to end the war and return peace to our -- to our country.
[12:20:02]
And of course, I also want to thank our partners for working with us to produce weapons, for investing in our country, for joint projects and for
the agreements we are now implementing.
And one more point is for the program I thank for each contribution. Mark, thank you for coordinating this program for each contribution and today we
agreed to step up in the coming months.
This is born from the pressure on the aggressor and that is what we must continue to do. Thank you.
STARMER: Thank you very much, Volodymyr. Mark, can I turn to you?
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Yes, thank you. And good afternoon.
And as Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have said, we just concluded a very productive meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. And are welcome
the initiative allies are showing to strengthen our support to Ukraine even further.
Just two days ago, I was in Washington where I had a very good meeting with President Trump. The sanctions that the U.S. has placed against Russia's
largest oil companies will starve them of revenue and significantly increase the pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table.
And they show once again that President Trump is absolutely committed to end this war and bring a lasting peace to Ukraine.
I'm glad that I was able here today to join allies and partners to discuss how we support these peace efforts and how we can increase the pressure on
Russia together.
In Ukraine, Putin is gaining little ground on the battlefield and there are marginal gains. They are coming at a huge price. Hundreds of thousands of
Russians are dying for Putin's deluded aggression. Ukraine continues defending itself bravely and our support to them is working.
The truth is that Putin is running out of money, troops, and ideas. President Trump said that very well, they should stop where they are now.
And now is the right time to increase the pressure on Russia, so we can finally get a fair and a just peace for Ukraine.
I therefore welcome the recent announcements by European allies and Canada of additional military aid to Ukraine. The developments on the battlefield
show that our support to Ukraine is working and we need to keep it up.
We need to pair the support with sanctions and economic pressure and the E.U.'s 19th sanctions package against Russia is not a good step in this
direction.
On both sides of the Atlantic, we want this war to end. And the good discussions this week in Washington yesterday in European Council and now
in London indicate we are moving in the right direction.
Thank you so much.
STARMER: Thank you so much.
Mette, can I come to you?
METTE FREDERIKSEN, PRIME MINISTER OF DENMARK: First of all, thank you, Keir, for hosting us today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. We've just been listening to leaders from the Coalition of the Willing led by Keir Starmer there, the prime minister of
the U.K., who is hosting this summit there alongside President Zelenskyy.
Some really strong words as we want to bring in international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson from London who's been following all of this and was
listening along as well.
And we know that Keir Starmer has been a long time backer of Ukraine and supporting, providing more weapons, more military assistance and financial
assistance.
But it was notable hearing him say these words that the Coalition of the Willing is, quote, ready to go further than ever before. Ukraine's future
is our future and pointing the finger to one man and that is Vladimir Putin. He said he is not serious about peace and he is stalling and playing
for time. He is the only one, he said, who does not want to end this war.
So, what stood out to you, Nic?
ROBERTSON: Yes, that stood out to me as well. And the fact that he said the way to -- to change this situation is to combine and double down on the
pressure economically by making it impossible essentially for Russia to offer its oil and gas products globally to double down.
But with this pressure, the intent of getting President Putin to the negotiating table, but saying very clearly that, you know, the actions of
President Putin this past week, you know, we've seen the deaths of people in Kyiv, a -- a 12-year-old girl he mentioned being killed, hitting over
kindergarten in Kharkiv as well.
Prime Minister Starmer pointing to those is just showing that Vladimir Putin doesn't want to get into meeting for negotiations.
Interesting as well that the issue of longer-range missiles came up. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is saying that these longer-range missiles are useful
for diplomacy because that will be what helps put pressure on Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table.
[12:25:07]
He specifically name-checked the Tomahawk cruise missile and the Storm Shadow. The Storm Shadow is a British-made missile that -- that the U.K. is
already supplying to Ukraine. It's been used to effect in Russia -- Russia -- and to hit Russian energy facilities over this past week, I believe.
So that being a point that Zelenskyy feels is important, but really the convergence of thinking here is all the ways to pressure Russia
economically, militarily, to get it to the table at the same time, Starmer said, of supporting the Ukrainian people so that they are -- are -- are not
put in this desperate humanitarian situation of -- of -- of not having energy supplies through this coming called a fourth winter of war.
GOLODRYGA: And, Nic, as we have said, sort of a split screen as we are seeing one of the Kremlin's top economic envoys making, I don't know if
this was expected. It seems rather surprising last-minute trip to Washington, D.C., to -- to try to at least resolve some of the latest
issues and tensions between the White House and the Kremlin.
Remember, it was just a few days ago when we were getting set for an upcoming summit between President Putin and President Trump in Budapest.
Now, in the last 48 hours, we've seen that summit put on hold, and we've seen, for the first time, sanctions leveled against Russia's two largest
oil companies. Can't be a coincidence that this envoy is in Washington, D.C., after that now.
ROBERTSON: It -- it doesn't seem like a coincidence. And I think perhaps there are a couple of different ways to read it.
I mean, one way to read it would be President Putin is concerned about the economic implications of the war needs time again, as we've seen him do
time and time again, which is seen to engage in some sort of diplomatic discussion, which the assessment of most experts has been to buy time for
him on the battlefield in Ukraine.
And -- and there's perhaps another way to interpret this as well. Kirill Dmitriev is a very effective, you know, front man is probably the wrong
word to use here, but a very effective interlocutor between the Russian leadership and whoever is in the White House in the United States, because,
you know, he was part educated in the U.S., he's very eloquent. He -- he moves in those sort of same G20 circles, if you will. He -- he comes to
those meetings --
GOLODRYGA: All right, Nic. I'm going to --
ROBERTSON: -- and meet with these leaders. Yes.
GOLODRYGA: I'm going to cut you off.
ROBERTSON: I'm just finished -- I would just -- yes.
GOLODRYGA: Sorry. No, no. I would just want to let you know. I'm not being rude. They're taking questions inside. So I want to make sure that you can
listen to this as well, and we can come back and -- and finish this conversation.
I would never be rude to you, my friend, Nic. Let's just listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump won't, at the moment, provide long- range Tomahawk missiles. And is the president right when he says you'll hopefully be able to get the war over without him -- without them, can you?
And -- and P.M. Starmer, if I may, this domestic question, overnight you suffered a disastrous election loss in Caerphilly, a seat that's been a
Labour held seat for over a century. Was it a gut punch for you?
And if you can't turn this around in the Senate elections next May, will you have to go? Thank you very much.
STARMER: Thank you, Beth. Let me start with the question of Ukraine, because it is really important that we address the support that we're all
able to put in, particularly as we go into the winter.
And here, we have the Coalition of the Willing, today you had the E.U. yesterday, but we're all working with President Trump, and therefore, we
are all working as one wider coalition here in relation to the support we need to put in for Ukraine.
On missiles, we've put in more missiles from the U.K. in recent days and weeks, and pushing the case for long-range. It is really important that we
do have long-range and those discussions are ongoing.
And, of course, the protection of energy, because Putin is attacking the energy in Ukraine, and that needs protection. We've had discussion today
about how we can stop those attacks and how we can better protect those energy supplies.
On the question of the U.S., what's happened this week is really significant. I think on the sanctions package and the bearing down on oil
and gas.
This week has been a very significant week, because we went early with the measures that we the U.K. took. President Trump came in with really
important measures that have had a real impact. And then, of course, the E.U. followed in with a further package of sanctions this week as well.
[12:30:04]
And I think if I was to pick out one thing this week that was of most significant, it would be the combined impact of those packages. Not only
because of the impact they have on the Russian economy and the pressure that they put on, but also because they demonstrate the point that whether
it's the Coalition of the Willing, the E.U. or the U.S. We are all coordinating, clearly, in our efforts to support Ukraine and effectively
doing so.
The other thing I would point to is the progress made on Russian assets. Yesterday, the E.U. took a very important step forward. And there was
absolute clarity this -- in this afternoon's meeting that we need to see that progress come to fruition within a short timetable because that would
be a really material further support that we can put in for Ukraine.
So when we said that the ambition really this week, if you like, is to take Russian oil and gas off the global market, we've taken a significant step
forward.
I would also add that the measures or the movement in position by India and China, in relation to Russian energy and oil, in particular, are also
significant.
I think what you'll detect behind that is the sort of coordination and discussions that are going on, have been going on today, are going on
between us pretty well all of the time and having a very significant impact on Russia, because we must put Ukraine in the strongest position.
This is going to be a hard winter, of course, particularly when it comes to protecting energy. And it is very important that whilst, of course, we want
to get to a ceasefire and a lasting peace, we will, in my view, only get there if we put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. We must never
lose sight of that aspect of it.
And I'm really pleased to see the Coalition of the Willing so determined and united on this. Of course, to some extent, the coalition was set up to
answer the question of about security guarantees, but to see this wider coalition now working in a coordinated way, I think, it really reinforces
why the Coalition of the Willing is so important.
In relation to the by-election, look, I'm deeply disappointed by the results. I'm not going to suggest otherwise. I spoke to the First Minister
this morning, and clearly, we need to reflect and regroup and double down on the delivery in Wales. And we clearly need to do much more.
Volodymyr, can I pass over to you on --
ZELENSKYY: Yes, yes.
STARMER: -- on the first issue?
ZELENSKYY: Thank you very much for the question. So, first of all, we -- we're not -- we're not finding and we are not searching the way how to stop
Putin and how to finish this war without the United States.
So our plan is to make strong steps together. That is the plan, by the way, of Putin. He wants to divide us to make us weaker. And that's why I think
that we have to do everything together. First, of course, pressure on Putin, but really practical, for sanctions and you see in this package and
oil pressure from the United States. And I think this is very strong step.
The second point is long range pressure between us. From the very beginning, it was about our drones, our long range. Then, God bless, we had
such partners like U.K. and France, and the partners gave us Storm Shadows and SCALPS.
But then, only after that, United States joined us, and we began to use ATACMS. Not a big number. But in any way, it's about together. Yes. And now
we count on some more strong instruments, but we will see. Yes.
Then about air defense. Again, it's about together decisions. We really don't have something which can destroy ballistic. That's why Americans
helped us, but also Europeans. Because firstly, Europe -- Europe delivered Patriot systems, but United States. They did it together because United
States gave licenses for this. Yes.
But I hope that we will -- we will be -- we will, in any way, we will find a way how to produce our own systems. We have to do it.
And I think this is -- this is the most important thing that politically it's very important to go together. That's what about Coalition of the
Willing and the result at the end will be security guarantees.
[12:35:03]
And again, with the security guarantees, we need to have United States. This is very important. Thank you.
STARMER: Thank you very much. (INAUDIBLE), I'm going to pass it over to you to call your question, please.
ZELENSKYY: Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Let's bring Nic Robertson back in. Nic, I know you're able to listen to that as well. And some more details being hammered out as
to how this Coalition of the Willing can move forward and can continue to provide military and financial assistance to Ukraine as these winter months
are quickly coming upon us.
As we heard from the Prime Minister, Russia has once again, as it's done the last three years, really set its sights on Ukraine's energy
infrastructure, not to mention civilians.
ROBERTSON: Yes. And I thought it was very interesting the way that we were hearing from President Zelenskyy sort of saying echoing, if you will, what
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.
But Zelenskyy, very clearly saying, we want to work with the United States. We're not considering not working with them. We're effective when we work
together, when all the sanctions come together, when the weapons systems come together.
He talked again about the importance of these sort of longer range missiles. But he talked about how that, you know, Ukraine had got the --
the -- the Storm Shadow missiles from the U.K. for, I believe, the SCALP missiles from France and the ATACMS from the U.S.
And again, having that coordination, it seemed to -- he seemed give the impression that he seemed confident that by the coalition working together,
the Coalition of the Willing and the United States, all working together, that there could be movement to get these longer range systems like the
Tomahawk that he so clearly wants.
But the -- the alignment of them all working together, he said, was a paramount importance because he says what President Putin wants to do is
divide the United States from Europe. And that is a message he said that -- that -- that we've seen before, something that -- that -- that Putin tries
to work towards always sort of speaking to President Trump alone and not bringing in the European -- not bringing in the European partners into
those conversations. That happens afterwards.
So this is a very clear point from Zelenskyy. And -- and from his perspective, he said, ultimately, that's going to deliver the security
guarantees, the ground force, the air defenses in a ceasefire peace situation that Ukraine is going to rely on to keep Russia and President
Putin at bay.
And those security guarantees can only happen with the United States. You get a very clear sense of how he wants things to evolve in the future and -
- and the value of having the United States on board all the way.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much. And thanks for sticking around and going back and forth as we've been cutting in and out
of this press conference.
Please know, I would never interrupt you intentionally, my friend. Appreciate it.
All right. Let's bring in former U.S. ambassador to China, also NATO, Nicholas Burns. Ambassador Burns, you are the perfect person to discuss
this with right now.
I know that you had viewed these sanctions, the first from President Trump as a pivotal moment here in his second term, the first sanctions that he's
leveled against Russia and going after its first and second largest oil companies.
Now he, or at least his envoy, appears to be welcoming Putin's top economic envoy as well. Putin clearly trying to mend relationships quickly.
What do you make of all of this? Let's dissect what's happening in Washington before we get to what we heard in Europe.
NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: Well, it's certainly very consequential that President Trump has now placed sanctions on Lukoil and
Rosneft. It's the first time he's done this. And the White House is saying we're doing it to pressure Putin into a ceasefire to inflict some pain on
the Russian economy. It's a very important step forward.
Obviously, the most important aspect of this is, will this be a consistent policy by the U.S. government and by President Trump? And I certainly hope
it will.
Because we've seen now the invasion of 2014, the Russian invasion of -- of Crimea. And now the invasion of 2022, three and a half years later. It's
very important that the United States stand with the European allies and stand with Ukraine in a consistent policy to deliver the appropriate
weaponry, but also the diplomatic support.
And I thought, you know, what happened today in -- in the U.K., you've just been reporting on it. Prime Minister Starmer, I think, has been very
effective with President Macron in bringing this independent group of European countries together. Because if there is going to be a ceasefire,
then it has to be policed by a security force on the ground. Britain and France would take the lead with the Europeans.
But the U.S. would have to provide as well air cover, air support, excuse me, and intelligence and be involved, maybe not with -- not with troops on
the ground, but stand with the European allies and defense of Ukraine. So important to see this European leadership today.
[12:40:16]
GOLODRYGA: And yet, this has been a week where, and it's been actually about nine months of this vacillating back and forth with President Trump
seemingly embracing Putin's talking points and narratives really wanting to bring this war to an end as much as he can on Putin's terms. But even those
terms seem to be unacceptable for a lasting peace for Vladimir Putin and of course just non-negotiable for Ukraine and President Zelenskyy.
I'm wondering what you think now about the president still not offering those Tomahawks to Ukraine. I mean, he's trying to -- to use what happened
in Gaza and that ceasefire as a model for bringing a ceasefire to Ukraine.
But something else that -- that he's not willing to do that he did in Gaza is really lead this initiative. He's putting it all on the Europeans.
Is this something the Europeans can do without President Trump leading it?
BURNS: I think you just heard from Prime Minister Starmer and from President Zelenskyy, the United States has to be involved to make this
effective.
And -- and you're right that the major problem since February has been the vacillating policy of the United States. Sometimes supporting President
Zelenskyy and the Europeans and sometimes very much intrigued by the next meeting with Vladimir Putin.
And so I do think that a consistent forceful approach by the United States is necessary. This is an existential issue obviously for the Europeans and
the United Kingdom. It is for Canada and the United States as well.
The fact that Putin is dividing Europe again, the largest and bloodiest war since the Second World War. This is obviously in the vital interest of the
United States to try to counteract. And we're best placed to do that when we work with our NATO allies, obviously, and -- and to support President
Zelenskyy.
So -- but you do have to give President Trump credit, at least this week, for these sanctions against the two major Russian oil companies. I would
hope as well that the Europeans would take one more step forward in the European Union block. And that is to agree to take those Russian asset,
frozen assets and turn them in to our major multi-billion dollar loan to the government of Ukraine to be able to finance this war going forward.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It seems like the key here is taking the legal liability away from Belgium alone. And -- and that seems to be the -- the issue. As
of now, we'll see where that moves going forward.
Let me ask you quickly that we have you about Trump's trip to Asia. This evening, he's got two summits there going first to Malaysia and then he'll
be meeting with President Xi. According to the White House at least President Xi has not confirmed this as soon as Thursday. This is being
described as his most perilous foreign trip yet.
And I'd like to read something from "The Wall Street Journal," which I thought was really fascinating in terms of the shift in narrative strategy
and approach from President Xi towards Donald Trump this second time around.
And this is according to his confidants that he appears to be confident. And emboldened Xi has thrown out China's traditional diplomatic playbook
and tailored a new one specifically for Trump taking a page from Trump's own maximum pressure playbook.
And they say that he's trying to mirror Trump's master dealmaker strategy offering concessions on high visibility issues he personally cares about
like TikTok and really digging in on other issues.
Given that, first, do you agree with that assessment? And what does that mean about any sort of negotiations between these two next week?
BURNS: Well, it's been extraordinary to watch this. It's what amounts to in a test of wills between the two leaders since April and May, since
Liberation Day when the U.S. announced these stratospherically high tariffs on China.
And we'll know a lot more when our Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets with Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia tomorrow. They're trying to work
out even the semblance of a very rough trade deal between the two countries that the two leaders could then announce when they meet next week in Asia.
But it's very tough because the two largest economies completely divergent theories of the case on trade. And I have to say, I'm very sympathetic to
the Trump position here, President Trump's position, that China needs to correct, obviously, as policies of being a serial violator of its
international trade commitments on intellectual property theft, on forced technology transfer.
On this recent move by the Chinese over the last week, on rare earth to basically seek to dominate the supply of rare earth globally in such a way
that it's going to freeze trade between the U.S. and China. So that's an issue that has to be overcome. And I think President Trump has been right
to be very strong-minded in his response to President Xi Jinping.
[12:45:21]
And I would just note that in the Biden administration, I was President Biden's ambassador to China. We implemented all the Trump tariffs from
President Trump's first term. President Biden raised tariffs, for instance, 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. And this is because of
the major problem China has been in not adhering to its trade commitments.
So I -- I obviously hope that the U.S. will find success here. But I don't think it's -- I don't think it's pre-ordained. This is going to be a very
tough negotiation right down for the last minute.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And then we'll see if there's any negotiations, ceasefire, that he can bring between Cambodia and Thailand as well. So again, a very
consequential trip that the President will be making in the days to come.
Nicholas Burns, thank you so much for joining "One World."
We'll be right back.
BURNS: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Let's check on how the U.S. markets are doing. This is your "Business Breakout."
There we see the Dow up just a little over one percent. The S&P 500, following suit as well. As well as the NASDAQ. So green arrows across the
board. This ahead of the Fed meeting, an important Fed meeting coming up next week.
Meantime, Donald Trump says that he is terminating trade talks with Canada after an advertisement was released by Ontario's government featuring a
speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
In the 1987 speech, Reagan criticized tariffs is hurting American workers and consumers and triggering fierce trade wars.
President Trump has pardoned the co-founder of Crypto Exchange Binance.
Changpeng Zhao, he did not pleaded guilty to money laundering charge in 2023 and was sentenced to four months in prison. Zhao stepped down as the
CEO of Binance. And the company agreed to pay over $4 billion in fines.
The retailer, Target, is laying off 1,000 corporate employees. The company also says that it's closing 800 open positions. The cutbacks will impact
about eight percent of its global corporate workforce.
Target's incoming CEO told staff that the changes set the course for the retailer to be better positioned for the future.
It's only one week until Halloween and the scariest thing you're likely to see this year is the spike of candy in prices. Chocolate has become truly
frightening, thanks to the skyrocketing price of cocoa beans.
[12:50:12]
For more on this, let's bring in CNN's Anna Cooban.
So, should we just be giving out apples this year? How am I going to break those to kids when we say that candy is just too expensive to buy in bulk
now?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, I mean, you're right. It's a frightening piece of news for chocolate lovers everywhere.
And really, prices have been skyrocketing off cocoa since 2022. You've got a rise of 154 percent since late 2022. Yes, they came down in 2024.
But, you know, people are still paying that chocolate on the shelves is made with the pricey cocoa from a couple of years ago. So, this is why
consumers are feeling the pinch now.
And then you've got also in the mix, tariff. So Donald Trump has put a 50 percent tariff on aluminum imports into the U.S. A lot of chocolate bars
are made -- are wrapped in aluminum foil.
And then you've got bad weather in major cocoa-producing regions like Ghana, the Ivory Coast. So this really, Bianna, is a perfect storm for
chocolate lovers everywhere.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, it is. And I have to say that is something that I probably would be willing to dole out an extra dollar or two for. That is just how
much I love chocolate. Chocolate and coffee willing to pay a little extra for.
COOBAN: Me too.
GOLODRYGA: Anna Cooban, thank you so much.
All right. Coming up, she may be unlucky in love, but Bridget Jones has millions of fans across the world, myself included. And now the iconic
character is getting what she might call a very big honor. Details, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: The painting by Pablo Picasso, hidden from public view for eight decades, is heading to a Paris auction block in the coming hours.
Bust of a woman in a flowery hat was painted in 1943 and shows the painter's then lover and muse photographer, Dora Maar. The -- the portrait
has been in a private collection since 1944 and remains in its original state, having never been let go, restored or framed.
The only previous proof of its existence was in black and white photos. It's expected to sell for around a cool $10 million.
And before we go, a tribute is in store for a character that we all know and love.
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[12:55:13]
GOLODRYGA: It's a memorable opening scene there. Of course, that's Bridget Jones, played by Oscar winner Renee Zellweger and immortalized in four
celebrated films and a quarter of novels.
And now the rom-com heroine created by Helen Fielding is getting her very own well-deserved statue, I would say, in London's Leicester Square.
Entertainment news served as deadline, says Bridget will, in bronze, will be unveiled next month.
The studio behind Bridget Jones' movie says the idea of having Bridge standing in the center of London is really exciting. I agree with that
sentiment. Well-deserved, Bridget Jones.
Well that does it for "One World" this Friday. I'm Bianna Golodryga. "Amanpour" is up next. Thanks so much for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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