Zelensky pushes for ‘reliable and cle ar’ security guarantees after tough week

Hello. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed his country's needs for security guarantees in a meeting with US envoy Keith Kellogg. Correspondent James Waterhouse explains why a press conference between the two men was cancelled. In West Africa, BBC Eye investigates an Indian pharmaceutical company illegally exporting highly addictive opioid pills. And finally, chainsaw diplomacy takes the stage at a political conference in Washington DC.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Zelensky calls for security guarantees

Sources told the BBC that Keith Kellogg appears increasingly "sidelined" by the Trump administration. Credit: Reuters

In his nightly address on Thursday, President Zelensky described his day of talks with Kellogg, the US envoy for Ukraine, as restoring "hope" - an oblique reference to a challenging week for relations between the two countries. President Donald Trump sent top US diplomats to meet their Russian counterparts and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, just as the country prepared to mark the third anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion. Trump reacted to Ukraine's frustration at being sidelined from the talks by branding the Ukrainian leader a "dictator". The remark may have been one of the reasons the US cancelled a news conference featuring Zelensky and Kellogg, explains James Waterhouse from Kyiv. Zelensky later said there is a need for a "reliable and well-defined system of security guarantees" to end the war. Russian drone attacks continued overnight, with a civilian killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional authorities.

Watch: BBC analysis editor Ros Atkins looks at why Trump is making security guarantees contingent on US access to Ukraine's resources.

Challenging depths: Security correspondent Frank Gardner reports on how recent damage to Europe's underwater cables raised concerns about Russia's deep sea capabilities.

WORLD HEADLINES

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Indian pills fuel West Africa's opioid crisis

Packets of the drug cocktail were found for sale on the streets of Ghanaian, Nigerian, and Ivoirian towns and cities. Credit: BBC

An Indian pharmaceutical company is manufacturing unlicensed, highly addictive opioids and exporting them illegally to West Africa where they are driving a major public health crisis in countries including Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote D'Ivoire, a BBC Eye investigation has revealed.

And finally...

Argentina's President Javier Milei became known for brandishing a chainsaw on the campaign trail. The power tool has now made an appearance on a different stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC, where Milei presented it as a gift to Elon Musk. Watch the exchange and Musk's delighted reaction.