Trump, Putin and the peace puzzle facing Zelenskyy and the West
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Hello, I’m Emma Murphy, ITV News’ International Editor. For three years, Ukraine’s president has tried to navigate his country through war. Navigating his country towards peace may yet prove even more difficult, pitching a bullish Donald Trump against a belligerent President Putin with Ukraine in the middle.
In Kyiv today, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told me that settling the war without security guarantees would simply lead to Putin returning to take what is left of Ukraine, bringing defeat not just for that country but for the United States and the West.
And he said, there could be no decision about the country’s future without agreement from Ukraine itself.
“While in contact with President Trump, I told him: ‘You’ll see, if there are no safety guarantees for us, then it is going to be a frozen conflict’. That happened already. We’ve been there,” President Zelenskyy said. “A frozen conflict will lead to Putin coming back again with his aggression. Who will then be receiving prizes? Who will then make history as a winner? No one. And that will be a loss to absolutely everyone.”
However, the path to peace has the potential to create another conflict and a dangerous one for Ukraine, setting it at odds with the United States, provider of military support and de facto protection.
President Zelenskyy told me he didn’t want to even contemplate an unresolvable difference between the two countries’ positions.
If there is confrontation between Ukraine and the US, there is only one winner, he said: Russia. “Putin’s victory is a loss for the Western World, both Europe and the United States. And he will never stop. He will never stop,“ he said.
She also discusses what the mood in Ukraine is like almost three years on from the Russian invasion in a special episode of our What You Need To Know podcast.
And, in an exclusive interview, Europe Editor James Mates explores the prospects of peace with Russia’s UK Ambassador Andrey Kelin.
Multiple claims of sexually inappropriate behaviour by Gino D'Acampo
An ITV News investigation has uncovered numerous allegations of inappropriate and intimidating behaviour by celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo.
Dozens of people have detailed experiences described variously as "unacceptable," "distressing" and "horrendous" while working with him over a period spanning more than 12 years.
Responding to the claims, D'Acampo told ITV News he "firmly denied" the allegations, adding they were "deeply upsetting".
Watch our special investigation on ITVX.
Trump’s diplomatic hand grenade: Is he serious about Gaza ‘take over’?
US President Donald Trump this week did it again: he stopped the diplomatic world in its tracks by suggesting the US could take over Gaza and Palestinians should be resettled permanently elsewhere.
But, asks ITV News’ Senior International Correspondent John Irvine, is Trump serious or using Gaza as a bargaining tool?
Meanwhile, Rageh Omaar, our International Affairs Analyst, describes the move as a “diplomatic hand grenade” but that there could be a plan behind it.
Don’t forget to give our Talking Politics USA podcast a watch on ITVX.
Exclusive: The reading crisis in our schools
“He's got dyslexia. He's never going to read. Your expectations are too high.”
This is what Dr Gillian Evans says she was told about her son, Thomas, when he was struggling to read, writes Rhys Williams, ITV News' Wales reporter.
Thomas was taught to read by guessing words from pictures or the context of a sentence. This is commonly known as “cueing” and there is no evidence it is effective.
Watch Rhys’ exclusive report on ITVX.
Special investigation: Our nightmare renovations have left us broken
Two families in Swansea say they’ve been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after renovation work on their homes has been condemned by experts as “structurally unsafe”.
One young mum told ITV News Wales the experience has left her “financially, mentally and physically ruined”.
The building firm has strongly refuted any claims of poor quality or dangerous workmanship. Watch Consumer Affairs Reporter Kate Lewis’ investigation on ITVX.
Staff member at the NHS trust that failed to stop killer speaks out
A member of staff who worked at the NHS mental health trust that treated Valdo Calocane has told ITV News there will be “another disaster” in the organisation.
The NHS worker says she was silenced when she tried to blow the whistle over safety concerns at the trust - the stress even led her to contemplate suicide.
Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham in June 2023.
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Woman with 'paralysed' stomach stuck on feeding tube 20 hours a day
Jessie Sharp, 29, was diagnosed with gastroparesis two-and-a-half years ago. The condition means her stomach is essentially paralysed.
It can't cope with food, or even water, as it can’t process them properly. Because of this, she has to rely on a feeding tube and gastric pacemaker to survive.
Jessie spoke to ITV News Meridian’s James Dunham as she seeks to raise awareness of the condition. You can see more on her story on our Instagram page.
Are supermarkets paying women less than men?
This week, Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana broke the news that tens of thousands of Asda's checkout workers, customer service staff and shop floor assistants, most of whom are women, could be in line for historic payouts after the biggest ever private sector equal pay claim.
A court ruling has made clear that many of the roles on Asda's shop floors, carried out mainly by women, are of "equal value" to the better-paid ones in the supermarket giant's warehouses, which are predominantly filled by men.
Anushka discusses the situation on a special edition of our What You Need To Know podcast.
‘I’ve left the house once in two years because of long Covid’
Fran Haddock says her life has been “decimated” owing the effects of long Covid.
The 34-year-old from Sheffield was an amateur triathlete before she contracted the virus in November 2022.
Since then she has been left unable to work and almost bed-bound, with debilitating weakness and chronic vertigo as well as fatigue. ITV News Calendar’s Ben Bason reports…
What’s coming up…
Saturday February 8: Opening ceremony of the Duke of Sussex’s 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada
Monday February 10: First day of Church of England General Synod. It follows a number of abuse scandals to hit the Church
Tuesday February 11: MPs on the assisted dying Bill committee begin line-by-line scrutiny of the proposed legislation
Thursday February 13: Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels with Ukraine, the US and finances on the agenda
And finally… Who let the hogs out?
All is not well in Garveston, a once rural Norfolk idyll that’s come under siege from unruly vandals… in the shape of renegade pigs.
Lawns have been ruined, gnomes upended. Resident Colin Williams says: “They’ve turned everything over, it looks like a small copy of the Himalayas, my front lawn.”
ITV News Anglia’s Rob Setchell was dispatched to investigate…