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Watch Europe Today, your front-row seat to the action as EU heads of state and government converge in Brussels for the European Council summit.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/19/eu-reacts-to-trump-putin-call-on-euronews-live-show
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00:00It is Wednesday the 19th of March and you're live with us here on Euronews.
00:19You're watching our special show, it is called Europe Today and we're focusing on the ingredients
00:24that EU heads of state and government will be chewing over at an EU summit taking place
00:28right here in Brussels tomorrow Thursday.
00:31From Ukraine to defence, to migration, to the economy, there are plenty of topics that
00:37they'll have to discuss and the mood in the room could be grim.
00:40The stories that we're across today here on Euronews first, that phone call that took
00:44place yesterday between Putin and Trump, it lasted just over one and a half hours.
00:49We saw Vladimir Putin agree to a partial ceasefire under Russia's agreement.
00:55We'll get the reaction from EU capitals.
00:57And Kaya Callas, that's EU foreign affairs chief, she'll be live with us here in our
01:02studio telling us her plan to support Ukraine.
01:06She spent her day yesterday in London with her counterparts there making sure that whatever
01:10happens to Ukraine, the EU will be there the whole way.
01:14And in economic news, a top European banker has told Euronews what is at stake if President
01:21Trump goes ahead and makes good with his tariff plans.
01:24Were there to be a 25% tariff on all of those goods, that could actually tip the Eurozone
01:31into recession.
01:34We'll get back to that story in just a little while.
01:36We also have a business brief for you with our editor Angela Barnes.
01:40But now it is time to go back to our top story and that is the phone call that took place
01:45yesterday between Trump and Putin.
01:47As I said, it lasted some 90 minutes and it was rather underwhelming.
01:51Our reporter, Sasha Vakilouny, has been looking into the details.
01:55That was the most anticipated phone call in the world.
01:59Moscow had one week to respond to a 30-day ceasefire proposal by Washington, which Ukraine
02:06had agreed upon.
02:08What's missing in this crucial moment, which can help put an end to the largest and the
02:14bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, is Europe itself.
02:19The EU has not participated in the talks, which can put an end to the war at its own
02:26borders.
02:27And that was a mistake, says Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
02:31of Belgium.
02:32We need to be involved in the process.
02:36It is not yet the case and we think that it's certainly a mistake.
02:41It's not the role of President Trump representing the interests of Europe.
02:46And Europe should be around the table with its own representatives.
02:53I emphasize the key role that Kaja Kallas, our representative for the foreign policy
03:02of Europe, is playing.
03:03On top of getting its seat at the table, the EU is facing a challenge of getting all members
03:07agree first among themselves.
03:10And of course, that topic of Ukraine will clearly be dominating the EU summit taking
03:39place tomorrow in Brussels.
03:41President Zelensky of Ukraine will be joining the meeting virtually.
03:45And the feeling in the room will be similar to the one we heard in that package alluded
03:49there to by the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, that the Europeans are clearly not around
03:55the table.
03:56And Kaja Kallas perhaps could have a voice here.
03:58Well, the EU foreign chief is in fact our guest today live with us here on Euronews
04:02on Europe Today.
04:03So we're thrilled that you're here with us.
04:04Thank you so much for making the time.
04:06It's been a busy week.
04:08mentioned earlier.
04:09But first, let's talk about that phone call, that high-stakes phone call between Trump
04:13and Putin.
04:14What is your reaction to this partial ceasefire that they brokered?
04:18Well, first of all, it's good that they had this call because the conditions that Ukrainians
04:25agreed to were there and everybody wanted to listen what also Russia has to say.
04:31Of course, we have two different pictures, one that is given by the United States, what
04:38was discussed, and the other one what is given by Russia, what was discussed.
04:43So I think it's really good to see how these things are going.
04:50I mean, President Trump was very clear the aid to Ukraine was not discussed.
04:56But President Putin said that it was discussed.
05:00So I rather believe President Trump in this.
05:05Even though do you trust President Trump because he seems to like Putin a little bit more than
05:08he likes the EU and Brussels?
05:12Well, they have the talks.
05:15And what I want to say is that this is the shuttle diplomacy right now.
05:19I mean, there is no negotiation table yet.
05:24But the, you know, really trying to get the picture where the parties are, does Russia
05:30really want peace?
05:31I mean, if they wanted to show goodwill, they could have started with, you know, giving
05:36back the Ukrainian children that have been deported to Russia, releasing prisoners of
05:41war.
05:42They didn't.
05:43But, of course, a ceasefire regarding the energy infrastructure is also welcomed by
05:50Ukraine.
05:52Even though the Europeans are clearly not around the table in these talks, the EU has
05:56been completely sidelined here.
05:58No, that is not true.
06:00I mean, there is no table where Russia and Ukraine are sitting right now.
06:04It's a shuttle diplomacy.
06:05I mean, the U.S. is talking to Europeans, U.S. is talking to the Russians, U.S. is talking
06:11to the Ukrainians.
06:13Of course, any deal to really work, you need the Europeans to be around the table and agree
06:20to the deal, because the implementation of the deal has to be in the hands of Europe.
06:26And for that, you need the phone line to work between Brussels and D.C.
06:29And you need not to be snubbed when you go to D.C.
06:32And you think that you might be meeting Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, but he doesn't
06:36have time.
06:37This is a problem.
06:38Well, we had the G7 meeting last week, where we had plenty of opportunities to talk about
06:45different issues, also with Marco Rubio.
06:48So I don't see any wedge there.
06:51And of course, Russia really wants to see U.S. and Europe divided, because then they
06:57are much stronger.
06:58If we are divided, let's not give them that.
07:01And you're presenting a Thieler paper today on how to support Ukraine in defense.
07:06Is this your way of kind of preparing the continent for war?
07:09Well, we have to prepare so that we would be able to deter this happening.
07:17I think the strongest we are, the stronger we are, the less likely the war is.
07:24There is this conflict there.
07:29We need to do more for our defense.
07:31We have been discussing this for a long time.
07:33We also need to do more for Ukraine so that the stronger they are on the battlefield,
07:39the stronger they are behind the negotiation table.
07:42And they must be strong enough to be able to say no to a bad deal.
07:47But what's the price you would pay for the ceasefire?
07:49Would you stop sending weapons to Ukraine?
07:52That is not very wise, because in order for the ceasefire to work, there has to be really
07:59deterrence.
08:00And if all guards are down, I mean, Putin has showed this before.
08:05He's not keeping to the ceasefires.
08:08And if he wants the guards to be down on Ukrainian side, then he actually achieves what we want.
08:14And I'm absolutely certain that he will continue.
08:18Putin is investing more than 9% of his GDP on military.
08:22He will want to use it again unless we are very strong and united on our side and making
08:29all the steps necessary that, you know, it would be too costly for him to take up this
08:34war.
08:35Okay.
08:36We'll see what happens at that EU summit tomorrow.
08:37And also on Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State is in town in a couple of weeks in
08:41early April for that NATO summit.
08:42But for now, Kaia Kellis, thank you so much for being our guest today.
08:45We'll see you very soon, hopefully, on your own news.
08:49And of course, at EU summits, they're busy.
08:52They're very busy for heads of state and government.
08:54They have long dinners, long desserts, and also there's lots of journalists, over 1,000,
08:59waiting to get some news.
09:01And on that point, we were taking a look at who's up and who's down right now when it
09:05comes to the leaders sitting at the EU Council table.
09:08You can take a look at this report brought to you by Vincenzo Genovese and Sander Giras.
09:16Popularity is key for politicians and domestic approval matters at EU summits too.
09:26Leaders often leverage their standing at home in tough all-night negotiations.
09:32So who's riding high in the popularity stakes right now?
09:38According to Morning Consul's latest global approval ratings for March, leading the popularity
09:43pack are Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk.
09:51Close behind is another right-wing newbie.
09:54Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof took office last July and enjoys a 39% approval rating.
10:02Britain's Ulf Christensen and Spain's Pedro Sanchez follow up with 34% approval.
10:09On the flop side, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scraping the bottom with just
10:1521% approval.
10:18French President Emmanuel Macron faces steeper challenges with just 19% approval, though
10:24that's not stopped him putting himself out front on Europe's response to Ukraine and
10:29relations with Donald Trump.
10:34The lowest-ranked EU leader is Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, with only 16% approval.
10:41With Czech elections approaching later this year, right-wing rival Andrej Babis is waiting
10:47in the wings.
10:54And you can read more about upcoming EU elections and political musical chairs on euronews.com
10:59or download our app.
11:00But now, as promised, it is time for our business brief.
11:04Our business editor, Angela Barnes, is in the studio.
11:07Over to you, Angela.
11:13Thanks very much, Maeve, and good morning.
11:16Well, in business news today, the CEO of Barclays Europe says investors are concerned about what
11:23current trade disruptions may do to the economy.
11:27That's in Europe and the US.
11:29While speaking exclusively to Euronews, Francesco Ducato emphasized that while fiscal initiatives
11:35in Europe may provide some relief, such as Germany loosening its debt break, caution
11:40should be maintained.
11:42The euro area has roughly 480 billion euros of goods exports to the US.
11:50Now, at the moment, the latest models that our research team have looked at are relatively
11:59mild in terms of the tariff assumption that's being made.
12:04But were there to be a 25% tariff on all of those goods, that could actually tip the eurozone
12:11into recession.
12:12Well, in other business news, Alleyes are on the Federal Reserve today, with the central
12:17bank scheduled to deliver its second interest rate decision of the year.
12:22Well, markets are expecting the Fed to keep rates steady.
12:25Well, earlier, I spoke to Krishna Guha, who's the vice chairman of Evercore ISI, about how
12:31the rate outcome could impact the European Central Bank's monetary policy path.
12:38The ECB is certainly looking very closely at the US economy, both in terms of what's
12:43happening to US growth, and in terms of what's happening to Fed rate policy.
12:49Of course, the bigger influence on the ECB right now, though, is coming from the Trump
12:54administration itself, ahead of the possible announcement of further reciprocal tariffs
13:00in April.
13:01Well, for more business, economy and markets news, head over to the Euronews website.
13:07Maeve, back to you.
13:09We certainly will, Angela Barnes, our business editor.
13:12Thank you so much for that live update.
13:14You mentioned, of course, the European Central Bank.
13:16Well, its president, Christine Lagarde, will be here in Brussels.
13:20She'll be sitting down with EU leaders tomorrow, telling them what exactly is at stake and
13:24if a recession is really coming.
13:27But other news taking place in Brussels today, of course, the mantra is, make Europe competitive
13:33again.
13:34You might have seen steel workers out on the streets of Europe over the last couple of
13:37months.
13:38Well, today, the European Commissioner, Stéphane St-Jean, has a plan up his sleeve.
13:42He's trying to save the industry, make it competitive again.
13:45And are you good at saving money?
13:47I'm terrible.
13:48Well, the EU is trying to help us out here.
13:50Later today, they'll be presenting a savings plan.
13:52It's linked, of course, to their capital union markets.
13:55It's a way to rally money and make sure people stay in the European Union, do business here
14:00and not flee to somewhere else.
14:02That brings today's edition of Europe Today to an end.
14:06Keep an eye out for our newsletter and keep an eye out for Euronews.com for all the stories
14:10we've been covering today.
14:11As I mentioned earlier, that summit is taking place tomorrow.
14:15We'll be live with you once more, bringing you all the details.
14:18We have special guests and exclusive interviews.
14:21See you tomorrow.
14:22Take care.