Sky News Daily

JD Vance is the latest senior member of Donald Trump's administration to say the US will walk away from peace talks if there isn’t a yes from both Ukraine and Russia.   
 
But the US plan to recognise Russia's claim to Crimea would be a breach of Ukraine's constitution and so not something President Volodomyr Zelenskyy can agree to even if he wanted to keep the talks alive.  
 
On today's Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson talks to our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn about what will happen to Ukraine and Russia - and to the UK's and Europe's relations with the US - if Trump walks away from peace talks. 
 
Producer: Soila Apparicio 
Editor: Wendy Parker 

Delegations arrived in London on Wednesday for talks on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after the discussions were downgraded from the very top level. Officials, including the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Foreign Secretary David Lammy had been expected to attend, but that’s now not happening.

The downgrading in the level of diplomacy is in contrast with an intensification in the pressure from Donald Trump to agree a ceasefire. So, what’s going on? Is a peace deal inching closer or moving further away?  

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson talks to Sky’s military analyst Michael Clarke to find out.

Producer: Soila Apparicio 
Editor: Philly Beaumont

As Catholics around the world continue to mourn the death of Pope Francis, the process to elect a new pope will begin soon. 
  
But what direction will the new pontiff take? Will the cardinals pick a reformer or go with a traditionalist? And how will the church deal with waning congregations in the global north in comparison with the growing numbers in the south.  
  
Niall Paterson speaks to Freddy Gray, editor of the US Spectator and former deputy editor of the Catholic Herald about the tensions in the Catholic Church and how they will be resolved.

Producer: Natalie Ktena 
Editor: Philly Beaumont 

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, a day after appearing in the Vatican’s St Peter's Square to wish worshippers a happy Easter Sunday.  
 
Earlier this year, he was treated in hospital for five weeks with an infection, but had been discharged. 
The Argentinian pontiff, who ushered in a swathe of reforms over his 12-year papacy, symbolised to many an increasingly modern, progressive, and inclusive church. 
 
Niall Paterson is joined by Italian-born Sky News presenter Barbara Serra, who covered the death of Pope John Paul II for Sky News in 2005, as well as Pope Francis's election in 2013, and is herself a Catholic. 
 
Producer: Soila Apparicio 
Editor: Philly Beaumont 

El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele was welcomed into the White House by President Trump earlier this week. The pair have recently become close allies after Trump began sending Venezuelan immigrations to a prison in El Salvador.  

On this Sky News Daily host Niall Paterson finds out who the self-proclaimed "world's coolest dictator" actually is. He speaks to chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay about what impact Bukele has had on El Salvador's gang problems and if he has transformed the country into a business and tourism haven.  

He also hears from Dr Ainhoa Montoya author and senior researcher at the Spanish National Research Council, and founding director of the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of London. She explains how Bukele secured his position of power and uses social media as a propaganda tool.

Producer: Soila Apparicio