The US envoy Steve Witkoff has been meeting President Putin in St Petersburg. Meanwhile, Ukraine's allies have pledged more military aid at a gathering in Brussels. We get a sense of the mood in Kiev from our correspondent there, and ask Max Bergmann, an advisor in Barack Obama's State Department, what he makes of President Trump's Ukraine policy.

Also in the programme: leading Iranian-American political scientist Vali Nasr examines the prospects for a nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran ahead of Saturday's face-to-face talks; and a new deal aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the world's shipping.

(Photo: President Putin shakes hands with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg, Russia, 11 April 2025. Credit: GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)