Vladimir Putin agrees to halt strikes on Ukraine energy targets for 30 days, after a lengthy phone call with Donald Trump
Volodymyr Zelensky says he supports the energy truce but insists Russia isn't "ready" to end the war, in his first response to the call
The Russian president set out several conditions for a fuller ceasefire during the 90 minute call, including that any settlement should "eliminate the root causes of the crisis", the Kremlin says
Fresh Ukraine peace talks will also begin in the Middle East immediately, the White House says
There's gain and losses for both sides in this, writes our security correspondent Frank Gardner
You can read a recap of the statements from the White House and the Kremlin here
Trump hoped his involvement would bring a swift end to the war, but in practice, the will of a US president alone proves not to be enough, BBC Russia's Liza Fokht writes
The new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived at France's Elysee Palace on his first trip abroad.
He was welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The two leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine, we'll bring you any lines on Ukraine from their press conference, which is currently taking place.
Several regions in Ukraine are without power after Russian drone attacks, says Ukrenergo, the state-owned electricity operator.
It says Russia targeted energy facilities in multiple areas, damaging equipment. Emergency repairs are under way.
Ukrenergo is also urging Ukrainians to limit their electricity use.
Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring
Civilian casualties continue to be reported after Russian attacks in Ukraine. In the front-line town of Myrnohrad in the eastern Donetsk region, a local resident was killed after a drone targeted his car, Ukrainian police say, external.
In Seredyna-Buda, next to the Russian border in the northern Sumy region, a 65-year-old woman was killed outside her house as Russians opened mortar fire across the border yesterday, Ukrainian prosecutors say, external.
Authorities in Sumy region have repeatedly urged locals living near the border to evacuate, fearing an increase in Russian attacks.
Frank Gardner
reporting from Berlin
Watch: Video last week showed the aftermath of the largest drone attack on the Russian capital since the war in Ukraine began
"Quantity has a quality all (of) its own" is a quote often attributed to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin during the battles of World War Two. And so it has proved in the most recent phase of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Ukraine’s forces have often been better equipped, better led and better motivated.
Yet that has proved no match for Russia’s massive advantage in sheer numbers of men and munitions that it can hurl at the front lines.
Moscow put its economy on to a war footing long ago, appointing an economist as defence minister and diverting close to 40% of the state budget to defence, its factories churning out artillery shells and drones.
While Nato countries debate whether to raise their defence spending to 3% of GDP, Russia is spending more than double that - its highest level since the Cold War.
As well as mass, drones have proved a game-changer in this war. Both sides use them with devastating effect.
For a while Ukrainian electronic warfare specialists were able to jam the signal on Russian battlefield drones but Moscow got around this by loading them with thin, fibre-optic cables that can spool out from the back of the drone for several kilometres, making them impossible to jam.
Again, the high numbers of these have had a major impact on infantry, especially those caught out in open country.
Ben Tavener
Moscow producer
The Kremlin has confirmed that a call between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is being prepared for Tuesday.
“Yes, that’s true. A call is being planned for Tuesday,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov tells reporters on Monday.
Peskov would not be drawn on what the two presidents would discuss specifically regarding Ukraine peace talks, when asked whether they would broach questions of Ukraine territory and power plants, as mentioned by Donald Trump.
“We never do that,” Peskov says.
Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs urges the use of all "diplomatic tools" to make Russia "unconditionally" accept the US and Ukraine's peace proposal.
Speaking about the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Andrii Sybiha says he has "focused on efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s and Europe’s defence capabilities".
He also says he has been concentrating on "self-sufficiency, advance sanctions policy, and proceeding on Ukraine’s EU accession path".
Image source, EPAAustrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger speaks to the media as she arrives at the EU headquarters in Brussels
More now from Brussels, where foreign affairs ministers from across the European Union are gathering this morning.
They will be discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine, and ways to bring about peace, after an exchange with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, who is joining via a video call.
The council will also discuss EU-US relations and the situation in the Middle East.
Image source, EPAEuropean Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos (left) and the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas (right) talk before the start of the meeting
Image source, EPAThe Polish foreign minister (left), who has recently been involved in a spat with Elon Musk over Starlink satellites, pictured with his German counterpart (right)
Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring
US officials say they are planning to discuss the fate of a key Ukrainian power generating facility with Russia as part of peace talks.
Although they did not name the facility, it is likely to be the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. It has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, and fears of a nuclear accident have persisted due to fighting in the area.
As we reported, US President Trump said on Sunday evening that he and President Putin will be “talking about power plants” in their telephone conversation on Tuesday.
Although he used the phrase in the plural, there do not appear to be any other power plants so big and so close to the front line that they could be discussed as bargaining chips in key negotiations.
Image source, ReutersThe Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Europe's largest
Earlier, last Thursday, Trump said there was "a very big power plant involved; who is going to get the power plant".
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy who spoke to Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Moscow also last Thursday, says “there is a nuclear reactor that supplies quite a bit of electricity to the country of Ukraine. That's got to be dealt with”.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six reactors. It has not been supplying electricity since September 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also suggested on Friday that the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been discussed between Ukrainian and US negotiators.
In eastern Ukraine, Moscow's war machine has been churning mile by mile through the wide open fields of the Donbas, enveloping and overwhelming villages and towns.
Russian attacks have intensified, hitting the Donetsk Region harder, but also Kharkiv and Odesa.
Russia's biggest advantage is manpower and it has shown a willingness to throw soldiers at Ukrainian positions to gain a few metres at a time.
Ukrainian military intelligence says about 620,000 Russian soldiers are operating in Ukraine and Kursk, according to experts at the Institute for the Study of War.
Russia has continued advancing to the north east, towards the city of Pokrovsk, where they have been met by Ukrainian forces.
Image source, ReutersAs we reported a short while ago, the EU's Foreign Affairs Council is meeting this morning to discuss the ongoing Ukraine war.
We've got a little more on that now from Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief. She says she welcomes the peace talks in Jeddah, referring to negotiations between the US and Ukrainian officials in the Saudi Arabian city last week, where a 30-day ceasefire proposal was put forward.
"The ball is in Russia's court," she says in the video posted on her account on X, adding that whether they want peace is "a big question".
She says the conditions demanded by Russia for any ceasefire in Ukraine show that Moscow doesn't really want peace.
Quote MessageThey don't really want peace, actually, because they are presenting as conditions all their ultimate goals that they want to achieve from the war."
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas
It's expected that there will be a news conference after the meeting today.
Stay with us and we'll bring you the key lines when it happens.
Russia will demand security guarantees from the Nato alliance military alliance and from the US in any agreement on Ukraine, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has said.
Part of those demands include Ukraine's exclusion from membership of Nato, which is a major ambition of President Zelensky.
"Only through the formation of ironclad security guarantees will it be possible to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine," Grushko tells Russian newspaper Izvestia.
Image source, ReutersPresident Putin pictured visiting his forces in the Kursk region last week. Russia has been steadily retaking territory in the area after Ukraine captured land there last year
Image source, Getty ImagesA Ukrainian soldier comforts a comrade during fighting in Kursk
If you're just joining us, or are in need of a quick summary, here's the latest:
Stick with us for the latest updates and analysis.
Image source, ReutersThe aftermath of a Russian drone attack in Chernihiv
The head of the Ukrainian president's office says his country will continue to respond to Russian attacks "until Putin stops the war".
"Russia continues to attack; Ukraine is responding to the attacks," Andriy Yermak says in a post on X.
His comments come after Russia and Ukraine launched overnight drone attacks on each other, according to officials from both countries.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine has said there were 112 clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces yesterday.
Russia launched air strikes in several settlements across Ukraine, while the Ukrainian forces struck areas with Russian personnel and military equipment, the Ukrainian army adds on social media.
Image source, ReutersAs Trump prepares to speak with Russia's President Putin tomorrow, the EU is continuing its own efforts to bring peace to Ukraine. Its foreign affairs council will meet this morning to discuss security.
Speaking beforehand, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says Russia's conditions on the proposed ceasefire show that "they don't want peace".
Quote MessageThis is the strategic moment for Europe. The decisions of today will shape the security of tomorrow."
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys
Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring
Apparently building up on the success of their counteroffensive in Kursk region (see our previous post) Russian forces continue their efforts to cross the border and invade another part of Ukraine: northern Sumy region.
Russian forces have been using small assault groups to attack Ukrainian positions, and also subversive groups to carry out reconnaissance and plant landmines, Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian State Border Service, tells Ukrainian TV this morning.
But, he claims, the Ukrainian army has been "destroying these groups of infantry either after they cross into our territory or even as they’re approaching the border".
As we reported last week, the authorities in Sumy region say Russian attacks have intensified and are now ongoing along the whole stretch of the region’s border with Russia.
One civilian has been killed in Russian attacks on Sumy region, the regional administration said in an update, external yesterday evening.
Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent, reporting from Ukraine
Image source, Russian Defence MinistryRussian service members walk past a destroyed building in the town of Sudzha in Kursk, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces - picture from the Russian Defence Ministry
Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Russia's Kursk region have described scenes "like a horror movie" as they retreated from the front lines.
The BBC has received extensive accounts from Ukrainian troops, who recount a "catastrophic" withdrawal in the face of heavy fire, columns of military equipment destroyed, and constant attacks from swarms of Russian drones.
Ukrainian restrictions on travel to the front mean it is not possible to get a full picture. But five Ukrainian soldiers described to us what had happened.
On 9 March, "Volodymyr" sent a Telegram post to the BBC saying he was still in Sudzha, a town in Kursk, where there was "panic and collapse of the front".
Ukrainian troops "are trying to leave - columns of troops and equipment. Some of them are burned by Russian drones on the road. It is impossible to leave during the day."
Movement of men, logistics and equipment had been reliant on one major route between Sudzha and Ukraine's Sumy region.
Volodymyr said it was possible to travel on that road relatively safely a month ago. By 9 March it was "all under the fire control of the enemy - drones around the clock. In one minute you can see two to three drones. That's a lot," he said.
"We have all the logistics here on one Sudzha-Sumy highway. And everyone knew that the [Russians] would try to cut it. But this again came as a surprise to our command."
The Ukrainian Air Force has said Russia attacked the country overnight with 174 drones, following earlier reports of damage in Kyiv and Nikopol.
It shot down 90 drones and 70 others were successfully diverted, the air force adds.
The strikes hit the Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions, the post on messaging app Telegram says.
Last week in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian and American delegates met to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.
After hours locked away in a room, they announced proposals for a 30-day ceasefire.
It was widely welcomed news, as European leaders praised the plan.
Ukraine was "ready to stop shooting and start talking," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, and if Russia rejects the offer "then we'll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here".
Image source, ReutersUS and Ukrainian representatives held talks in Saudi Arabia last week
Following the announcement, US envoy Steve Witkoff took the ceasefire plan to Russia, where he met with Putin and other officials.
However, Russia is yet to agree, as Putin says there are a lot of details that need to be worked out.
Russia is ready for a halt in fighting, the leader says, but "there are nuances". He says it must lead to "long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis".
But this is Russia's way of "deliberately setting conditions that only complicate and drag out the process," according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Watch: President Trump tells reporters he will speak to Vladimir Putin
On board his presidential plane Air Force One on Sunday evening, US President Donald Trump announced to reporters that he will be speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
He said "a lot of work" has been done over the weekend, and they will see if they have "something to announce" on Tuesday.
It comes one week after US and Ukraine delegates met in Saudi Arabia, where they announced the prospect of a 30-day ceasefire - the first step to ending the war.
However, the US is still trying to convince Russia to agree.
On the talks with Putin, Trump says: "I think we'll be talking about land. It's a lot different than it was before the war, as you know. We'll be talking about power plants, that's a big question.
"But I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets and they've been working on that."
Quote MessageWe want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance."
US President Trump
Russia and Ukraine have launched overnight drone attacks at each other, officials from the respective countries say.
Ukrainian drones targeted energy facilities and other objects in Russia's Astrakhan region, injuring one person and sparking a fire, the regional governor has said on messaging app Telegram. "The situation is under control," Igor Babushkin adds.
Russia's Ministry of Defence says it destroyed 72 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 36 over the Kursk region.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defence units were trying to repel an attack launched by Russia in Kyiv, the capital's Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said in a post on Monday night.
