How Worried Are Ukrainians?

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate

News, Daily News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Aware of Donald Trump’s reputation as a dealmaker, Ukrainians had some hope as he took office—maybe Trump could break the stalemate with Russia and find peace. Then that Oval Office meeting happened… Guest: Romeo Kokriatski is the managing editor of New Voice of Ukraine, and co-host of the podcast Ukraine Without Hype. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	So Romeo, how are you feeling about your American passport these days?
0:11.6	Well, with any luck, I won't have to use it for a while.
0:20.7	Romeo Kocryatsky is a journalist and a podcaster.
0:24.6	He grew up in New York, but he lives in Kiev now.
0:28.3	He's Ukrainian.
0:29.9	I mean, I'm not going to throw it out.
0:32.2	Well, not yet, at least.
0:34.6	I still have a little bit of hope.
0:36.9	Over the last week, as I watched the U.S.-Ukraine relationship fall apart in front of an audience of millions,
0:44.9	I really wanted to get Romeo on the line.
0:48.9	The last time we talked, you were going back and forth from bomb shelters.
0:54.5	I don't know if that's still the case.
0:55.9	Well, no, no.
0:57.2	Everyone's gotten used to the bombs.
0:59.9	A few weeks ago, there was a drone strike not far from my apartment that I got to watch burn.
1:08.0	So that was fun.
1:11.9	Like everyone else, Romeo was tuned in on Friday as President Volodemir Zelensky
1:17.2	traveled to the White House to finalize a mineral rights deal with Donald Trump.
1:22.8	This was a deal that was supposed to ensure American support for Ukraine.
1:27.2	Zelensky had proposed the deal himself.
1:30.0	The funny thing is, Romeo was never really convinced it was going to get signed.
1:35.4	The latest kind of draft that we have access to shows nothing in there for the U.S.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.