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Ali Miraj reacts as Melania Trump secures a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for a blockaded town 'on the brink of disaster'.
Both countries have agreed to temporarily stop all military action in Russian-occupied Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and get ready for a civilian evacuation through a safe passageway, the White House added.
The ceasefire will begin on October 29.
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0:00
If you thought it was a man's world, it's not really. It's a Melania Trump world. It's a woman's
0:05
world, actually, because Melania Trump has secured a town-wide Russia-Ukraine ceasefire. Military action has been paused in the city of Oleski to allow for aid to enter and civilians to
0:21
escape. Melania Trump, the president's wife, has brokered a ceasefire. I think the Pope was
0:28
involved as well, to be fair, has brokered a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian
0:35
controlled city of Eleshky. This is in the Telegraph, but it's covered in many of the papers today
0:40
Now, the two sides have agreed to pause the fighting to allow civilians to escape the city
0:47
which has been occupied by Russian forces since February 2022. Now, the White House said this
0:55
both nations agreed to temporarily stop all military action in Oleski to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway
1:10
Now, Russian forces are going to halt fire from 4 a.m. local time on October the 27th to allow aid to enter the town, which is according to a Kremlin spokesperson that has been confirmed
1:25
And the first lady, the first lady has taken a leading role in returning Ukrainian children
1:31
seized by Russia during the war to their families. Her efforts have helped more than two dozen Ukrainian children to return to their families
1:40
after Moscow took them from their homes for forced re-education. Now, the situation in Oleshky is dire, according to Mrs. Trump
1:49
This is what she said. Oleshky is a frontline war city on the brink of disaster
1:55
This is Melania Trump saying this. Oleski's remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food and clean water, she said
2:11
Food and medical supplies have been scarce for months in Oleski, which sits on the Dnipro River and separates Ukrainian forces from the city's Russian occupiers
2:21
There's also no electricity, heat or running water. roads leading from the town are mined and dotted with burnt out cars menacing drones buzz overhead uh it made me think you know this melania trump thing uh look she knows the region She Slovenian She understands what going on She cares I actually genuinely think she cares about
2:41
this because she has put some political capital behind it. And I don't know the ins and outs of
2:46
what happened here. I mean, none of us do. I mean, the FT is also reporting it, by the way
2:51
Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporary ceasefire around occupied town of Oleski
2:56
they say and they reference the the pope in this as well I don't know the ins and outs of this
3:02
but it is being reported that she played a key role and it made me think about this question
3:09
would the world be more peaceful with women running it would the world be more peaceful
3:17
with women running it do you think that that makes a lot of lazy assumptions about how women
3:24
might be more, what, collaborative, less confrontational, more pliant, less aggressive, less prone to wave their weapons around the men. Is that what it implies? Does it imply that
3:38
women are more strategic, more long term thinking, more empathetic, more moved by the plight of
3:48
children, as is the case with Melania Trump, than perhaps men, including her husband, might be? I
3:53
don't know. You tell me. I think it's dangerous to make lazy assumptions here. It's dangerous to
3:59
make lazy assumptions based on anecdotes or stereotypes. So I want to avoid that. But I do
4:05
think that there's something worth discussing here because there was a piece out last year
4:11
Would the world be more peaceful if more women were in charge? It says this, if the world has
4:17
felt more dangerous, you're not mistaken. The number of conflicts has been rising and from
4:22
Ukraine and Russia, to Israel and Gaza and Sudan. A common thread running through all of these wars
4:28
is that they are waged by men. Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, we have seen
4:35
powerful men wielding chainsaws for fun. Yeah, remember that one? I think it was. Was it Javier
4:39
Emilia doing that? I can't remember. Look it up. I think he was running around on stage wielding a
4:44
chainsaw about cutting red tape or something, if I remember correctly. I don't want to misquote
4:48
the guy, but I think it was. But we'll double check that. Just 13 out of 193 countries at the
4:54
last count had female leaders. That was according to October 2024 data. Yes, it was Elon Musk and
5:00
Javier Mille We chainsaw on stage at Conservative Conference Wonderful Very very nice indeed Thank you There would be according to Obama there would be less war Kids would be better taken care of And there would be a general improvement in living standards and outcomes according to former U President Barack Obama who said this back in 2024
5:23
He's not alone, by the way. He's not alone because former Irish president Mary Robinson said ahead of International Women's Day a couple of years ago that having more women at the top was necessary for a more peaceful world
5:40
world. I mean, we should note that there's never been a woman at the top of the UN in 80 years in
5:46
its history. But is this all a bit simplistic to argue that the world would be more peaceful
5:53
if women were in charge? Because let's just take three examples, shall we? Let's take Margaret
5:58
Thatcher to start with. Pulled no punches. And I'm just thinking about sinking of the Belgrano
6:04
and taking on the Argentinians over the Falklands War. Number two, Indira Gandhi
6:09
not shying away from a confrontation with Pakistan or East Pakistan, then leading to the formulation or foundation of Bangladesh
6:18
not afraid to go into the Golden Temple and basically engage in a massacre to Sikhs
6:25
who were trying to call for Kharlistana separatist state or separatist state, country, whatever you want to call it, for Sikhs
6:33
She was later murdered by her own Sikh bodyguards for taking that stance
6:38
Golda Meir, former head of Israel, who had to deal with the Munich issue when I think it was 11
6:46
I think it was 11 athletes were killed in Munich Olympics and then also had to deal with the 1973 Yom Kippur War
6:53
She didn't start that one, but she retaliated very, very hard on the back of it
6:58
So there are some examples. There are some examples there for you to think of
7:03
and I think we just need to reflect on this a little bit. So are we saying, and these are questions that I have for you
7:10
I don't have the answers. I'm here to explore with you because I don't know. I mean, I'd love to live in a more peaceful world generally
7:15
quite frankly, although I'm not a pacifist and I'm not someone who believes in the fact
7:20
that there will never ever be conflict in the world because I think conflict, unfortunately
7:24
and I don't take any relish in this, is a perpetual state of nature
7:30
I mean, it happens, it will happen, And it has happened for millennia and it will continue to happen
7:34
So I don't see any way out of that. Would there be less of it if women were in charge Well let just think about it Are women and men on average different in their attitudes towards conflict
7:48
You see, based on what I've just told you, I'm not sure they are. You see, because I would have
7:54
thought that women might want to, and this is where I want you to put me straight if you are
7:58
a woman and tell me I'm wrong or right or whatever, because I'm just giving you my perspective. I may
8:02
be completely wrong because I'm not a woman. But I would have thought that in a very masculine world
8:07
and James Brown said it's a man's world, but he would be nothing without a woman or a girl
8:13
Look, do women have to just overcompensate to be more masculine to show that they're not weak and
8:19
soft and all the rest of it? I mean, is that part of it? Is that part of why Margaret Thatcher had
8:24
to sink the Belgrano? I mean, not everyone in her cabinet necessarily wanted to sink the Belgrano
8:29
but was that a factor? I don't know. Was it a thing that Golda Mare in the end decided not to
8:36
attack first when the Yom Kippur War started, but then retaliated, showing that she was actually
8:44
sensible and strategic and not a trigger happy, but then paid the price ultimately by having to
8:49
resign for the fact that she hadn't actually spotted that that war was coming. Something that
8:54
Benjamin Netanyahu might want to take some examples from, but he won't. I don't know. I just think it's
9:01
worth exploring and discussing and thinking about because I was at a conference the other day and
9:08
a lady was on stage, communications expert, and said, you see, we've got a lot of conflict in
9:13
the world at the moment. And it's basically perpetuated by, yes, men, all men. And she's
9:20
right. She's right. You've got strong men all over the place wanting to flex their muscles and
9:25
showing that they're hard men. I understand that particular point. But would it be any different
9:29
if women were in charge. Look, it might be, and we'll come to this in the next hour, so I don't
9:33
want to steal my own thunder. But if you look at what Alice Weidel and Marine Le Pen are saying
9:40
right, who might be in charge in Germany and France, respectively, in not so long a time frame
9:47
they want to end the war in Ukraine by basically capitulating to Russia, or some of you might say
9:51
capitulating to Russia, I would say being realistic about it. But they're women. And they would
9:56
actually achieve peace through that means by basically recognizing what is an inevitability
10:02
which is there has to be a land for peace deal. Now, would you say, would you say that they're
10:06
wimps, that they're strong, that they're in favor of peace, that they're pragmatic? What would you
10:11
say? Over to you. Would the world be more peaceful with women running it
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