Transcript of News X interview, 4 April

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7HGxiJBnAI
NewsX: 0:01
Moving on now, the French and the British army chiefs are in Kiev to discuss the developing plans for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Amid these talks, Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes in an overnight attack on Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 35 people [interruption] In the fourth such strike on the city so far this week, Russian drones hit residential quarters, damaging several multi-storey apartment blocks and causing multiple fires. The French foreign minister and the British foreign secretary chief have both condemned these attacks. Here is what they said.

Barrot: 0:41
Over the past three weeks, Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes. [Putin] owes an answer to the United States that have worked very hard to come up with a mediation effort and a ceasefire proposal.

Lammy:
–is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet. He could accept [interruption] He continues to bombard Ukraine, its civilian population, its energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know–

NewsX: 1:22
The drone attacks that recorded the death of [xxxx] of the victims was retrieved by the rescuers from the site of the attacks in Kharkiv. The victim is identified as an 11-year-old girl. According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, Ukrainian forces attacked Russian energy facilities four times in the past 24 hours. [The Ukrainian] military denied the accusations, saying its troops were adhering to the ceasefire, but claimed Russia had violated xxxx numerous times.

1:55
We are joined by Gilbert Doctorow to discuss this further, Russian affairs expert located in Brussels. Gilbert, what can you tell me about the accusations from both sides of constant barrage on energy infrastructure that has been agreed by both parties that has been mediated by the US.

Doctorow:
There is a difference between these claims. The Russians have been showing on television daily the consequences of Ukrainian attacks on their energy infrastructure. Of course, the most serious attack occurred just immediately after the agreement was reached on the 18th of March. This was the destruction of a metering station in Sudzha, which is in the Oblast, the region, of Kursk.

That is critical to the pipeline infrastructure in Ukraine to get Russian gas to Western Europe [if and when that] passage of gas is once again renewed. There have [been xxxxx], particularly that the Ukrainians have destroyed [xxxxxxxx] a coal-oil pumping station, xxxxxxxx some oil exports across Russia to its western markets. These are documented. What you have just quoted from the British and the French are absolutely empty charges. They are pure propaganda.

NewsX:
Gilbert, critics would say that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s relationship has the possibility of souring. Is Putin playing his cards right on the battlefield in order to keep these negotiations going [xxx] long-term peace in Ukraine?

Doctorow: 3:47
[xxxx] –on a battlefield is a battle. And there is nothing to prevent it. There is no agreement on cessation of hostilities, either in Donbass or in the Kursk region. So that is all fair game. Is Mr. Putin playing his cards right with Donald Trump? Well, we’ll see shortly. But I would say that he is. There are things going on that are not publicized. But if you look closely, you see that things are going on. For example, a few days ago, the Finnish president, Mr. Stubbe, visited Washington, played golf, and spoke with Donald Trump for seven hours in Mar-a-Lago. And I assumed, as I think many people did, that Donald Trump was leaning towards the European view of maintaining the war essentially, and was cited as saying that he was pissed off with Vladimir Putin.

However, the reality is that two days later, Mr. Stubb was saying publicly in Finland that relations with— we should prepare for restoration of relations with Russia. Then yesterday he was addressing the British and the French, the British prime minister and the French president, saying that they should take the initiative to renew discussions directly with Moscow. That doesn’t sound like the Stubb that we heard before he met with Donald Trump. So somehow Trump was influencing Stubb, and Stubb was not influencing Trump.

There are also these very important discussions between Mr. Dmitriev, the head of the Foreign Direct Investment Institution in Russia, and Steve Witkoff in Washington. This all heralds a start of not reset. Reset was a very flimsy thing in the Obama period. No, it heralds a return to the principle of detente that Mr. Nixon introduced in the 1970s.

NewsX:
Gilbert Doctorow, Thank you very much for joining us. We have run out of time, but we move on to the Middle East. An Israeli airstrike in Saidan, Lebanon has killed Hamas commander Hassan Farhat, along with his adult son and daughter in a targeted strike. This comes amid rising tensions with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemning the attack as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.

In Gaza, at least 27 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering civilians, including 14 children reportedly. The strike, which also left dozens injured, has drawn widespread condemnation from Hamas, calling it a heinous massacre. This is what Gaza’s civil defence spokesperson had to say.

[from English-language subtitles]
Dar Al-Arqam School in al-Tuffah neighborhood was targeted by a belt of fire and more than one missle at the same time. It was targeted by the Israeli occupation forces. We are talking so far about dozens of martyrs and dozens of wounded who arrived at Al-Ahli Arabi Hospital and the [emergency] crews are still there carrying out rescue operations. More than one building was completely destroyed in the area and the reality there is very different and tragic.

Earlier this week, a mass grave containing 15 humanitarian workers’ bodies was uncovered, escalating international concerns over atrocity crimes. The ongoing conflict has led to severe food shortages in Gaza, compounding the humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations has warned that Israel’s actions in the region risk further atrocity crimes. Meanwhile, the Israeli military claims to have hit over 600 Hamas targets since resuming strikes on March the 18th, further intensifying the violence. Let’s listen in.

[from English-language subtitles]
Since the return to fighting in the Gaza Strip, we have attacked more than 600 terror targets throughout Gaza and eliminated more than 250 terrorists, including 12 senior figures in the Hamas terrorist organisation and its governing wing.

NewsX:
We move over to the African continent now, where a violent incident in Nigeria’s Plateau State claimed the lives of over 40 people.

Local officials have reported that more than 30 victims were buried in a mass grave, with 48 bodies recovered from several attacks that occurred across multiple villages. The violence primarily affected women and children, as confirmed by a Red Cross official. The attacks were described as in-communal, though the specific groups involved have not been detailed. The scale of the violence highlights ongoing security challenges in the region, where tensions between different communities have escalated in recent years. Local authorities are continuing their investigations and recovery efforts.

We move to South Asia now, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed …