The Monocle Daily – November 26, 2025

Why is Europe Taking a Back Seat on Ukraine’s Peace?

Host: Andrew Muller
Guests:

• Alena Hlivko (Founder & CEO, St James Foreign Policy Group)
• John Everard (Former UK Ambassador to Belarus, Uruguay, North Korea)

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Europe's wavering leadership and engagement with the ongoing Ukraine war, especially amid U.S.-driven peace initiatives that raise doubts among Ukrainians and European officials alike. The panel delves into the realism of Ukraine’s position, the public mood inside Ukraine, and the consequences of budget battles and election cycles in the UK and Germany.
Additional segments include a critical look at Hollywood’s political power plays, a light-hearted review of Sweden’s new “come to be bored” tourism campaign, and reflections on the world’s dullest destinations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Mood in Ukraine and the Human Cost

[03:36–05:06]

• Alena Hlivko shares impressions from her October trips:
  • Policymakers in Kyiv: “Mobilized, professional, upbeat, definitely knowing what the objectives are, but also very realistic about the resources that they have to keep fighting the war.”
  • Civilians and soldiers: “Exhaustion is really obvious. The resources are very thinly spread across the front line. Both human resources with very little professional troops left... That’s quite disappointing.”
  • On basic hardships: “Some of my friends have been texting me that they’ve had electricity for two hours a day.”
  • On winter: “Ukraine’s winters are cold, very much so... They've had their 1st, 2nd and 13th snow already. It's not an easy winter ahead.” (05:09)

The U.S.-Driven Peace Plan

[05:20–11:11]

• Trump Administration’s Peace Proposal:

  • “What started as a 28-point plan brandished by US President Donald Trump...appeared to many unnervingly close to what Russian President Vladimir Putin might have sent to Santa.” — Andrew Muller (05:20)
  • Major Criticism: Heavy demands for Ukrainian concessions, exclusion from NATO, military restrictions.
  • European Reaction: Ursula von der Leyen declared “Russia is not serious about peace.”

• Credibility Issues:

  • John Everard (07:57): “The 28 points is the kind of document that you would fail a second year undergraduate on... It is a complete mess as a diplomatic document. Badly drafted. It commits various third parties... It is not actually a serious diplomatic document... maybe this is about Ukraine at all?”
  • On Steve Witkoff: "Witkoff's credibility as an honest broker is now completely blown. A man is quite clearly hopelessly pro-Russian.” (07:57)
  • On media distraction: “I suspect that Witkoff's brief was to come out with something nice and incendiary that would fill the airways for a week so that everybody forgot their Epstein files. And he succeeded brilliantly.” — John Everard (07:57)

• Is the Plan Designed to Fail?

  • “Trump has let himself be persuaded fairly easily to drop key provisions... It looks as if the fate is going to come on the Russian side... If you give Putin anything less than the full 28 points, he’s bound to refuse. And that gives Trump his out.” — John Everard (09:33)

Could Zelenskyy Sell Territorial Concessions?

[10:19–14:04]

• Limits of Compromise:
  • “Is he able to sell any amount of concession to Ukraine’s people after four years of extraordinary sacrifice?” — Andrew Muller (10:19)
  • Alena Hlivko emphasizes: “People’s lives have been put on hold for so long that everybody’s reaching their limits. There was a clear readiness...seeing there are simply not enough weapons and financial aid that Europe can give Ukraine, there’s nothing that United States can give.”
  • “But concessions doesn’t mean capitulation. Nobody’s ready to sign off the territories to Russia legally.” — Alena Hlivko (13:44)

Is Europe Wavering on Ukraine? Domestic Distractions

[14:04–19:17]

• Budget Woes in UK and Germany:
  • “Both countries are inevitably preoccupied with domestic concerns. Will the war on Europe’s doorstep be overlooked?” — Andrew Muller (14:04)
  • John Everard: “Both Chancellor Richard Reid and Federal Chancellor Merz today made very strong speeches saying we are just that way behind Ukraine and we will support Ukraine to the end... That, in the midst... some quite sharp exchanges on the lack of money.” (15:04)
• Alena Hlivko: “There's a huge amount of gratitude that basically Europe mostly has subsidized Ukrainian budget for the last few years... If Russia gets a ceasefire... they will be rearming for Europe, for vulnerable states like the Baltics, potentially maybe Poland.” (15:50)
• Concerns over foreign troop deployments:
  • “If it came to boots on the ground, we’d back it.” — John Everard (17:24)
  • Macron’s hedging: “Any French troops that go would be stationed in Kyiv or Lviv at the maximum. Any air power would not be based in Ukraine.” — Andrew Muller (17:49)
  • Hlivko on why Ukraine avoids pushing too hard: “There is no need to push too far not to antagonize... and basically bring a whole anti-Ukrainian wave into governments across Europe... that would scupper not just Ukrainian security and coalition of the willing’s efforts, but the EU accession for Ukraine.” (18:20)

U.S. Politics and Hollywood: The ‘Rush Hour 4’ Gambit

[19:17–22:41]

• Trump as Cultural Manipulator:
  • “Apparently, in response to heavy presidential hinting... Rush Hour 4 has... the green light.” — Andrew Muller (19:17)
  • “Any film that Donald Trump likes, I’m most unlikely to appreciate... This trying to turn cinema back to the 1990s... deeply pathetic.” — John Everard (20:07)
  • “Tech billionaires... violate everything that they seem to have stood for... as soon as there’s the bull in the china shop.” — Alena Hlivko (21:27)
• Darker undertones: “It gets dangerous... not when the autocrat starts to suggest, quote-unquote, various films, but when he starts to stop films.” — John Everard (22:32)

Sweden’s Tourism Pitch: Travel to Be Bored

[23:54–25:47]

• Sweden’s Campaign:
  • “A new ad campaign by Sweden is seeking to make a virtue of the cold and dark by actually inviting tourists to come and be bored.” — Andrew Muller (23:54)
• Reflection on boredom:
  • “Sometimes I have days... where I do just want to go and stare into the hole in the ice. And that would bring me peace.” — Alena Hlivko (24:39)
  • “Life was much, much slower in those days. Bored, yes... but you had time to reflect, to sit and stare at that hole in the ice.” — John Everard (25:42)

Dullest Destinations Debate

[26:09–28:57]

• Host’s Pick: “Lunderskov, Denmark... I went to the local bar, asked the barman, what do people do for fun?... 'We have a pond.'” — Andrew Muller (27:21)
• Alena’s Pick: “One of the dullest places I’ve ever been... Huntsville, Alabama.” (27:31)
• John Everard: Aspires to visit “the town of Dull in Canada, which gloriously is twinned with a town of Boring in... Oregon... Every year they celebrate Dull and Boring Day.” (28:23)

Memorable Quotes

• “What feet of clay our democracy has. I mean, the whole thing rests on getting these people to register and to vote. And it really is quite shaky.” — John Everard (02:44)
• “Concessions doesn't mean capitulation. That’s one thing Ukrainian people are very certain about. De facto, yes; de jure, absolutely not.” — Alena Hlivko (13:44)
• “It's a dangerous track to go down. I don't think America is quite at the North Korean level yet... It gets dangerous when he starts to stop films.” — John Everard (22:32)

Notable Moments (Timestamps)

• [03:36] – Discussion of real-life hardship and exhaustion across Ukraine.
• [07:57 / 09:13] – Witkoff/Trump peace proposal dissected and ridiculed; “not a serious diplomatic document.”
• [10:19 / 13:44] – Whether Ukrainians would accept any concession—and the difference between “de facto” and “de jure” losses.
• [14:04 / 15:04] – Budget debates in the UK/Germany and the risk of Ukraine fading from the agenda.
• [17:24] – Support for foreign troop deployments.
• [19:17 / 20:07] – Trump’s Hollywood meddling and the culture wars.
• [23:54 / 25:42] – Sweden’s boredom campaign and nostalgia for a slower era.

Conclusion

This episode is a sobering, insightful, and often candid exploration of the high-stakes diplomatic chess game surrounding Ukraine, coupled with sharp commentary on the interplay of culture, politics, and identity in Europe and the US. It balances the grim reality of war and international apathy with lighter, wry observations on the absurdities of modern politics and the world’s most uninspiring destinations.