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Yara Bayoumy: Your career started out in the Middle East. Where do you see the situation there now, especially with the peace process?

Gérard Araud: I'm close to Jared Kushner ... Everywhere in the history of mankind, when there is a negotiation between two sides, the more powerful [party] is imposing terms on the weaker party. That's the basis of Jared Kushner's [peace plan] - it will be a proposal very close to what the Israelis want. Is it doomed to fail? I should say 99 percent yes, but 1 percent, you never forget the 1 percent. Trump is uniquely able to push the Israelis, because he is so popular in Israel.

Bayoumy: But Trump hasn't pushed the Israelis so far.

Araud: Exactly, but if need be, he may do it. Once Trump told Macron, "I have given everything to the Israelis; the Israelis will have to give me something." He is totally transactional. He is more popular than [Benjamin] Netanyahu in Israel, so the Israelis trust him. That's the first bet, Kushner told me. The second is that the Palestinians may consider, it's their last chance to get limited sovereignty. And the third element is Kushner is going to pour money on the Palestinians. Don't forget, the Arabs are behind the Americans. The plan is 50 pages, we were told, very precise; we don't know what is in the plan. But we'll see.

The problem is that the disproportion of power is such between the two sides that the strongest may conclude that they have no interest to make concessions. And also the fact that the status quo is extremely comfortable for Israel. Because they [can] have the cake and eat it. They have the West Bank, but at the same time they don't have to make the painful decision about the Palestinians, really making them really, totally stateless or making them citizens of Israel. They won't make them citizens of Israel. So they will have to make it official, which is we know the situation, which is an apartheid. There will be officially an apartheid state. They are in fact already.

Bayoumy: How do you feel Kushner approached the peace plan?

Araud: He is totally in real-estate mode. He is totally dry. He's extremely smart, but he has no guts. He doesn't know the history. And in a sense, it's good - we are not here to say who is right, who is wrong; we are trying to find a way. So in a sense, I like it, but at the same time he is so rational, and he is so pro-Israeli also, that he may neglect the point that if you offer the Palestinians the choice between surrendering and committing suicide, they may decide the latter. Somebody like Kushner doesn't understand that.

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On the eve of Ukraine's presidential runoff, authorities have been overwhelmed by dozens of bomb threats, just as a court in Kiev was forced to hear a last-ditch lawsuit demanding that the frontrunner's registration be annulled.

The second round of the Ukrainian election takes place on Sunday, with Volodymyr Zelensky having an overwhelming advantage over incumbent president Petro Poroshenko, according to the latest polls. But a lawyer and election observer, Andrii Khilko, has claimed that the leading candidate's invitation of his supporters to a final debate between the contenders somehow amounted to bribery of the electorate.

Forced to convene overnight, an appeals court in Kiev has dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Zelensky's reminder to supporters that they needed tickets to attend the event could in no way be considered as bribery or illegal election campaigning.

In the meantime, police in Kiev received numerous calls about explosive devices allegedly planted in at least 18 malls all across the capital on Saturday night. Earlier in the day, authorities had to sweep Kiev's central railway station following a similar bomb threat, which turned out to be fake.

In Odessa, bomb squads had to evacuate hundreds of patients from two hospitals, as well as check an airport, a mall and a movie theater following nearly a dozen tip offs - but also gave the all-clear, after finding nothing suspicious.

The high turnout in the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine reveals an enthusiasm for the promise of change brought by Zelensky. He's leading with some 72-74 percent of the votes, according to the latest exit poll figures. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko secured only around 25-28 percent of votes, suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Zelensky.

Zelensky's team celebrated victory as soon as the first official exit polls were out, even reciting a rocket launch-like countdown. The soon-to-be president didn't waste many words, simply thanking his parents, his wife, his team and Ukrainian citizens who voted for him. He also jokingly thanked the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) for "keeping him in shape" during the campaign.

In contrast, Poroshenko held a lengthy speech and a Q&A, vowing to remain active in politics and to protect the "achievements" of his presidential term, including sanctions against Russia. Yet he accepted the defeat and said the election was fair.

Not too graciously it seems.

Zelensky's campaign apparently outmaneuvered that of Poroshenko's, culminating in the comedian's idea to turn the public debate into a massive show hosted at a Kiev stadium. The Friday debate sealed Zelensky's lead, despite the incumbent's attempts to portray his opponent as a Moscow stooge and a puppet of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky.

By securing the presidential office Zelensky's political party - called Servant of the People, after his own TV show - gets a head start in the upcoming parliamentary election, scheduled for October. He will need to secure a support base in the legislature to be able to implement his policies, and a failure to do so may easily undermine his landslide win.

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