Inside Putin’s Plan to Cripple Ukraine This Winter

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. It's destroying athlete, creator, and YouTube Maxer. YouTube Premium enhances how I use YouTube with awesome features like offline downloads so I can download my favorite training videos before I hit the gym. So no Wi-Fi doesn't turn leg day into loading day. Plus, I get ad-free videos, background play, and so much more. YouTube Premium is like YouTube got some extra gains. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com/premium. Trial eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime.

Natalie Kitroeff (0:31)

From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitroeff. This is The Daily.

The last week in Ukraine has been one of the most dire stretches the countries lived through in more than four years of war. After making an energy deal with Vladimir Putin, President Trump waived new sanctions on Russia, and is now openly feuding with Ukraine's leader. Russia is taking advantage of the moment by relentlessly striking Kiev, killing civilians, and cutting off power for more than a million people. Today, my colleague, Constant Méheut, on how the U.S.-Ukraine relationship took a turn for the worse, and why Putin is now so confident that Russia can bomb Ukraine into submission this winter. It's Monday, October 19th.

Constant, thank you for being here. It's wonderful to have you.

Constant Méheut (1:40)

Thank you for having me.

Natalie Kitroeff (1:42)

So last week on the show, we talked about this deal that was struck between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia for the US to buy billions of dollars in diesel from Russia. And we started to think about how that deal might affect the war in Ukraine.

It seems as though we have started to see impacts almost immediately in the form of, on the one hand, the rift between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine widening in public and Russia pounding Ukraine more and more aggressively. You're on the ground in Ukraine. So can you just orient us?

Constant Méheut (2:22)

Well, it's probably been one of the worst weeks in the Ukraine-U.S. relationship since the war began more than four years ago. Since Trump announced that diesel deal, the public exchange between him and Zelensky has really turned hot.

Donald Trump (2:42)

Zelensky could have settled this war many times, many, many times.

Constant Méheut (2:46)

Trump has come out publicly and blamed Zelensky for the current state of the war.

Donald Trump (2:51)

And we told them, do whatever you want, but don't hit the diesel fuel.

Constant Méheut (2:55)

He blamed him for the diesel crisis.

Donald Trump (2:57)

And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.

Constant Méheut (3:00)

And he said that Ukrainians should vote him out of office.

Donald Trump (3:04)

And I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president.

Constant Méheut (3:09)

Zelensky at first tried to maintain some semblance of calm.

Volodymyr Zelensky (3:14)

It's a big aggressor, Russia. Only unity can stop them. And of course, the United States and Europe can do it.

SPEAKER_1 (3:22)

Of course. I'm sure. I'm sure.

Volodymyr Zelensky (3:24)

I said to the president, we can do it very quickly.

Constant Méheut (3:27)

But then, soon enough, he said that Trump actually prefers to strike business deals with Moscow, that he has an affinity for autocrats, and that he felt betrayed. Do you feel betrayed by what has been happening?

Volodymyr Zelensky (3:46)

Really, yes. Really, between us.

Constant Méheut (3:52)

So pretty strong words. And those strong words come right at the time when Russia is actually expanding its bombing campaign on Ukraine, sending salvos of missiles and drones every other night, and using that moment to just pressure Ukraine, even more into submission.

Natalie Kitroeff (4:14)

And as far as I understand it, these have been some of the most severe bombing campaigns in the entire war.

Constant Méheut (4:20)

Right. Russia is sending dozens of missiles, hundreds of drones in a single attack overnight. They're also targeting Ukraine during the day with plenty of drones. And in terms of civilian death, just in the first week of October, they were more than 100 civilians killed in Ukraine.

This is a level of civilian casualties that is among the highest that we've seen since the very first month of the war.

Natalie Kitroeff (4:48)

So with all this escalation, it sounds like really just in the past week, we are seeing this war hitting Ukrainian cities and civilians on a scale that we haven't seen in a long time.

Constant Méheut (5:03)

Yeah. Well, for years, we didn't really feel the war that much in cities away from the front, to state Kiev, where I live. I arrived there about three years ago.