{"text":[[{"start":10.36,"text":"Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Norway this week for the latest round of talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeking to end the war in Ukraine."}],[{"start":22.22,"text":"A person familiar with the arrangements said that the visit was “in the works” but cautioned that it could still be subject to change."}],[{"start":29.84,"text":"The Ukrainian president also referred to a potential meeting with Witkoff and Kushner “in the coming days” in Norway while speaking over video call to US members of Congress on Monday."}],[{"start":41.16,"text":"The talks in Norway will come as Trump has leaned heavily on Ukraine to end its long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries in a bid to ease global diesel prices ahead of midterm elections next month."}],[{"start":53.04,"text":"The White House declined to comment on the talks this week."}],[{"start":56.48,"text":"Tensions between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart have spiralled to their lowest point since their public spat in the Oval Office last year."}],[{"start":64.04,"text":"Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to stop [the war]” and “is not helping matters much”, Trump said as he departed the White House on Monday for Kansas as part of his campaigning for November’s midterm elections. “I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine,” he added."}],[{"start":81.28,"text":"Trump’s frustration with Zelenskyy comes as soaring fuel prices have become a key liability for the president ahead of the midterms, with opinion polls showing his approval ratings are at an all-time low."}],[{"start":92.44,"text":"Petrol prices have risen by more than half since the beginning of the year and reached $4.29 a gallon on Monday, according to the AAA motoring group. Diesel prices, which reached $6.32 a gallon, have risen almost 80 per cent to record highs, heaping pressure on farmers and truckers."}],[{"start":111.72,"text":"Trump has also eased the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin by lifting sanctions on Russian diesel and opting not to impose further sanctions on Moscow’s war economy as mandated by new legislation passed last month."}],[{"start":124.48,"text":"Explaining the move in a post on social media over the weekend, Trump said he did not want to do anything that could “drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table”."}],[{"start":132.84,"text":"“Trump is scapegoating Ukraine for narrative purposes in the domestic American political context,” said Michael Kimmage, director of the Kennan Institute think-tank. “It’s an indication of exactly how thin and to a degree catastrophic his foreign policy record is that he’s fishing in these waters for some kind of victory.”"}],[{"start":150.32,"text":"The hostility towards Kyiv coincided with days of intense scrutiny over the conduct of senior US officials that has piled more pressure on the president. Last week the White House asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Trump-appointed ambassador to Greece, to step down following a series of reports in The Wall Street Journal about her accepting improper gifts."}],[{"start":170.48,"text":"Trump also voiced frustration over reports that two of his senior campaign aides travelled to Bosnia’s Serb-majority entity earlier this month where they were reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide election advice."}],[{"start":183.4,"text":"Trump’s relationship with his Ukrainian counterpart has see-sawed wildly over the course of his second term. During the summer the president repeatedly complimented the performance of the Ukrainian military and Zelenskyy."}],[{"start":195.12,"text":"The most recent rupture came to a head after Trump spoke with Putin earlier this month and unexpectedly announced a deal to release Russian diesel on to the global market in a bid to tame high prices at US fuel pumps."}],[{"start":207.56,"text":"Zelenskyy was quick to criticise the deal. “Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness,” he said shortly after it was announced."}],[{"start":219.6,"text":"The Ukrainian president told the FT last week that he had halted the strikes for three days following Trump’s call for an energy ceasefire but resumed after Russia continued to bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and kill civilians."}],[{"start":232.38,"text":"Trump has pulled a host of different levers in a bid to douse the high energy prices but Washington’s interventions have done little to ease pressures as supplies of diesel in particular remain tight globally."}],[{"start":243.04,"text":"Analysts are sceptical that Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel will have a meaningful impact on global supply as the country’s supplies have been constrained by damage to its refineries rather than export restrictions."}],[{"start":254.64,"text":"Meanwhile, the president’s U-turn on Ukraine and his decision not to impose further sanctions on Russia have drawn unusually sharp criticism from Republicans in Congress."}],[{"start":264.08,"text":"“It’s unconscionable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine and butchers innocent civilians every single day,” said Republican Senator Thom Tillis."}],[{"start":277.46,"text":"On Monday, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick said that anyone who impedes Ukraine’s use of Starshield, which has experienced unexplained delays in recent days, would be “fully investigated and will be held fully accountable”."}],[{"start":291.1,"text":"“Congress will unequivocally reaffirm that Ukraine is an indispensable ally to the United States, that Russia is a self-declared enemy of the United States,” he said."}],[{"start":306.44,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792479096_7120.mp3"}