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CNN International: Ukraine: Starlink Restriction Disrupting Military Operations; Pope Shares First Message After Lung Cancer Surgery; France's Finance Minister Speaks With CNN. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 15, 2026 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Turning back now to developments from Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells the Financial Times that his country plans to resume strikes on Russia's oil refineries. He also spoke out about what he called a dangerous withdrawal of U.S. intelligence sharing. This comes after officials say restrictions on Starlink are disrupting military operations.

Tom Keatinge is the Director at the Center for Finance and Security at the Royal United Service Institute. He joins me here in London. Thank you so much for your time. So, look regarding this Starshield -- I mean, the speed limits that we've seen imposed on Ukraine have completely, it seems, disrupted its ability to defend itself. How vulnerable does this leave Ukraine, and what ability do you think Europe have to fill those intelligence deficits if the United States were to say here, pull back entirely?

TOM KEATINGE, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR FINANCE AND SECURITY AT THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTE: Well, I mean, there's obviously been an unfortunate war of words about this in the press over the last 24 hours. But more importantly, Ukraine has obviously lost an important capability to inflict what they call kinetic sanctions on the Russian economy, are targeting the oil refineries and so forth, which are so critical to the revenue raising that the Kremlin needs to do in order to fund its war in in Ukraine.

And unfortunately, this is an area where the United States is able to put its foot on the jugular of President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. Europe, frankly, doesn't have an answer to the kind of technology that President Trump has the ability to withdraw access to for the Ukrainian people.

MACFARLANE: President Zelenskyy's visit to London yesterday was kind of a familiar scene. You know, it recalls his meeting last year with Keir Starmer, just a day after that Oval Office showdown, which of course no one will ever forget. And Andy Burnham made it clear yesterday that he does intend to act as mediator, but Tom, this is a scene and a scenario that European leaders have -- have seen over and over again. The strategy here will no doubt be to flip the U.S. president back to

working for Ukraine as soon as possible. But how do European allies address the broader, perhaps more major problem of the U.S. easing sanctions on Russia?

KEATINGE: Well, obviously, the since the Trump Administration came in in January last year, it's shown precious little interest in pressuring the Russian economy and continuing the sanctions commitment that was shown by the Biden Administration. That the U.S. administration has taken a few steps, and indeed we've had the -- the Graham Act. But to be honest, I think the president is disrespecting the memory of Lindsey Graham by overlooking his desires for that act to be implemented and to put pressure on the Russian economy.

So fundamentally, sanctions work best when strong countries stand shoulder to and are aligned. We don't have that. We also have a situation in Europe where increasingly European countries are acting in their own self-interest, not in the interest of Ukraine.

[04:35:00]

We saw the unedifying site recently of France and Luxembourg blocking the renewal of sanctions in some areas against oligarchs in Russia. So, you know, the sanctions should work. The problem is, we're doing everything we possibly can to ensure they don't, unfortunately.

MACFARLANE: I mean, in addition to sanctions, we've seen reports suggesting that the -- the U.S. wants to unfreeze some of Russia's frozen sovereign assets as part of efforts to restart peace negotiations as well. I mean, this whole thing represents significant financial leverage over Moscow. So, what do you make of that as a as a proposal on the table?

KEATINGE: Well, I mean, this is one area where Europe does have the leverage. The assets are in Europe. The assets are under control of the Europeans, and so it's really up to Europe or to the EU specifically as to what happens to those assets. Now, the Europeans have difficulty deciding amongst themselves what to do with those assets, but at the very least, they all agree that they should stay immobilized. But of course, you know Donald Trump has an ability to strong arm people into making decisions, and you know he is always up for -- for a deal.

So, he may well try and pressure the Europeans to release some of those assets. It's interesting to note that this is the one thing that the Russians really care about. The $200 billion-$300 billion dollars equivalent of assets that were mobilized right at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, assets belonging to the Central Bank of Russia.

So, I think what's interesting here is that Donald Trump thinks that unfreezing as assets could get Putin to negotiate. I think that's for the birds, but anyway, let's run with that. But it does show that this is one point of leverage the Europeans have, and clearly the Europeans should make the most of that.

MACFARLANE: Interesting. Tom, as a final point, I just wonder, you know, as we're talking so much about the midterms, if we are, you know, nearing the point where Europe and European leaders can begin to zone out Donald Trump, perhaps for the -- the sort of last 18 months of his -- of his presidency, and perhaps wait for him to depart while doing all they can to bolster Ukraine in the meantime. Do you think that will be a discussion that might be being had behind closed doors right now?

KEATINGE: Look, I spend a lot of time circling Brussels, and look, hope is not a strategy. And I think if we've learned anything from the last two years, we've learnt that it's a roller coaster ride with President Trump, and whatever happens in the midterms, that roller coaster will continue. The bottom line is, as it stands, Donald Trump is putting his electoral position ahead of the security, the safety, the lives of Ukrainian people, and this should not be lost on -- on viewers and on policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.

We need to support Ukraine in the face of an illegal war, illegal aggression from -- from the Kremlin, and it's high time the President of the United States recognized that and acted accordingly.

MACFARLANE: It's a good point, Tom Keatinge. We appreciate your thoughts this morning and your analysis. Thank you very much.

Now, still to come. Pope Leo shares his first message after undergoing lung cancer surgery. A live report from Rome on the pontiff's health.

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[04:40:00]

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MACFARLANE: Pope Leo thanked fellow Catholics for their prayers in his first message after undergoing surgery for lung cancer in Rome. You are looking at live pictures of the hospital in Rome, where the Pontiff is recovering. The Vatican spent a good night in the hospital, and his recovery is proceeding as expected. The pontiff has canceled all his public appearances until October 20 as he undergoes treatment.

Let's check back in with Stefano Pozzebon, who is tracking all developments in Rome. And Stefano, clearly, this hospitalization is being followed very closely around the world. You spoke to us last hour about the U.S. president, who's sent a message. Just tell us about all the reactions you've had heard coming in.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: YES, Christina, you're right. Overnight, we heard from President Trump, who said that he's following this hospitalization closely and wanted to make a comment about Leo's brother being -- he called him a close friend of the family. However, it was important because it's the first time that the U.S. president referred to Leo's hospitalization since last Sunday, when the pontiff announced that he was coming here to go under the surgery.

However, international reactions were nowhere close as in Lima, in Peru, where Leo is expected to travel to in the upcoming month, between the sixth and the 17th of November. Of course, Peru is where the pontiff spent more than 20 years as a missionary and a bishop. And just this week, they even unveiled a very realistic statue of Robert Prevost himself in the city center of Lima. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We consider the Pope as a family member. When he said he was coming back to Peru, it's like a relative coming back home, and you get emotional. You want to have the house beautiful. We're happy. Now we worry about his health. We all hope he really recovers, and the most important is the Pope's health. We all wish him a speedy recovery.

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POZZEBON: Meanwhile, here in Rome, the Vatican is telling us that the recovery is going on as planned, as any 71-year-old man who has undergone that type of surgery would do. We know that the Pope woke up and got up this morning and had breakfast, and he's now following therapy as it should be. Christina?

MACFARLANE: That is an incredibly lifelike statue in Lima, isn't it? Stefano, thank you very much.

POZZEBON: Yes.

MACFARLANE: We'll of course continue to track those things. All right, still to come. France's Finance Minister speaks to CNN about the country's fiscal crisis. Our Richard Quest is joining us with the details next.

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[04:50:00]

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Now the French Finance Minister has said that his government will not require bailing out. That there's no budget crisis and that they have a budget plan. He just spoke to CNN's Richard Quest, who is joining us live from Bangkok. And Richard, it's quite a claim given France's huge public debt. Tell us more about the interview.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Yeah, exactly. That's exactly the point. The minister was responding to various comments, rising bond yields that we've talked about in the United States and Europe, but France is amongst the worst affected. With the protests in the streets and the rising bond yields, there are some suggestions that there could be a full budget crisis, which might lead to a bailing out by the European central bank.

Certainly, that's been the sort of talk. This budgetary issues, yields here at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings. Yesterday, the president of the IMF, sorry, the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said that they would not bail out the French government; that it was up to the French government itself to do whatever was necessary with the budget. And that's something that the French Finance Minister, when I asked him, did he agree with Christine Lagarde, was quite clear about.

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ROLAND LESCURE, FRENCH FINANCE MINISTER: She's right. I mean, obviously, we don't need any bailout. You know, I'm issuing debt every couple of weeks, and it's going well. The rates are high, and the rates are high because our deficit is high, so we need to bring that deficit down, and we're doing it with the budget we've tabled in. We're going through the process of parliamentary discussion, and my job is to make sure that next year's deficit is five or below, no more.

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QUEST: And the issue here in Bangkok for all the finance ministers, is they are all watching these rising bond yields, which are happening for a variety of program -- reasons. The United States, the U.S. economy, the hyperscalers borrowing, doesn't really matter. What it means is for governments they have to pay more for the debt that they have.

Add into it the worries about what's happening with A.I. and investment. Overnight, we saw the Asian markets fall sharply. The U.S. markets fell sharply as well. So, Christina, it is what I would call a perfect storm brewing, and we've yet to feel the full force.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and we also had those U.S. inflation figures out yesterday as well. So, you're right, Richard. Appreciate you bringing us those comments from the Foreign Minister. Thank you. And we'll be back with a bit more after this quick break. Stay with us.

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[04:55:00]

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MACFARLANE: Major floods swept through Istanbul on Wednesday after heavy rain across Turkey. This video shows the flood waters were so powerful a woman fell over while trying to cross the street, and bystanders had to rush to keep her from being swept away.

In other parts of the city, flood waters were so high that parked cars became submerged, and only the top of the vehicles could be seen here. The floods were caused when a major creek in Istanbul overflowed after heavy rain, causing roads to collapse in two districts in the city. There have been no serious reports of injuries, according to the Associated Press.

And in the U.S. severe weather sparked a huge tornado in West Texas on Wednesday. These are images from Fort Stockton in Pecos County. As you can see, the scale of the twister here as it looms over houses, fields, and businesses.

Archeologists have found the world's oldest shipwreck off the coast of Turkey. The wreck was found at depths of around 100 feet or 30 meters and dates back to about 4700 years. A number of ancient storage vessels were recovered during the excavation.

The vessels are thought to have mainly been used to transport olive oil or wine, but distinctive holes suggest some could have been used to make cheese or butter. Turkey's Culture Minister says the find is of great importance for understanding ancient trade networks in the region.

And that will do it for this hour of CNN Newsroom. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay tuned for CNN Headline Express coming up next.

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