Image source, Reuters

Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who is in Washington for today's summit at the White House, says the West is a tool to "build peace and guarantee justice".

Speaking in her native Italian ahead of the meeting, she says she's happy the proposal for a Nato-like security guarantee – which Italy first proposed – is central to today's talks.

"We are on the side of Ukraine, we support the efforts of the President of the United States," she tells reporters.

"I think that the work we will do today will be, from this point of view, important work."

Image source, Reuters

European leaders are expected to arrive at the White House shortly.

Zelensky is due to follow around an hour after that, when he is expected to be met by Trump before heading into a bilateral meeting.

As the world's media assemble, pro-Ukrainian demonstrators are also gathered nearby.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Shutterstock

"This time the President [Zelensky] will be in a suit," Elvira Gasanova, one of the Ukrainian leader's designers tells Politico. Although "the style still remains in a military key with the same symbolism: he is the Head of State, which is at war,”

She adds that "it is Volodymyr Zelensky who personally decides what to wear".

Gazanova says he "is now in a state where every detail matters - his appearance, mood, emotions" and so "chooses the image that best suits his role and moment".

These comments follow that dramatic Oval Office showdown in February this year, which saw Zelensky criticised for not wearing a suit, but instead military-style clothing.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent, in Washington

The other European leaders will wait at the White House before President Zelensky arrives, where he will be greeted by Trump at the West Wing entrance.

Media will be allowed in at the start of the meeting between the two leaders in the Oval Office, creating another high-profile and high-pressure moment ahead of the meeting upon which the fate of Ukraine could hang.

It will be the first time the Ukrainian leader will have been in the room since he was berated and humiliated by the US president in February.

The fear among the Europeans is that, after Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the Ukrainian leader will be pressed to hand over chunks of territory to Russia before any halt in the fighting - exactly the scenario the Europeans were trying to avoid - while the details remain far from clear about pledges of American backing for a European security guarantee for Ukraine that has been dangled by Trump’s chief negotiator.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Jonathan Csapo/BBC News

I spend almost all my work days at the White House and I've been here for most of the visits by foreign leaders that have taken place so far during this administration.

Today feels different. For one, it's unprecedented in modern times for so many world leaders to be here at once. It's a stark reminder of the urgency of the situation, given that people are still dying in Ukraine on a daily basis.

I don't think I've ever seen it as crowded as today, including Zelensky's first high-profile visit and that of Benjamin Netanyahu in January.

The set-up today is also unusual. European leaders will arrive, one-by-one, on the south side of the White House, and will hold in place until later.

On a "normal" visit, cars enter using the driveway closest to the West Wing, where they are greeted by US mitary personnel bearing flags and the lenses of the world's press. Today, only Zelensky will recieve that treatment.

There's also an element of uncertainty today, with no real indication of what's to come. Since arriving here at 06:30 this morning, I've been listening to reporters doing live shots, and conversing among each other, about possible outcomes and whether - or not - there will be any clear indication of the path forward to end Ukraine's war.

Liza Fokht
BBC News Russian

Image source, Getty Images

Photos of Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival in Washington DC suggest his welcome was far less ceremonial than Vladimir Putin’s in Alaska.

Just three days ago, Donald Trump personally greeted the Russian leader as he stepped off his plane onto a red carpet, while fighter jets roared overhead. The spectacle was broadcast live worldwide.

By contrast, Zelensky’s pre-dawn arrival in Washington looked decidedly low-profile.

But the Ukrainian president is likely less concerned about pomp than about whether the White House may lean toward Putin on how the war in Ukraine should end.

Today’s meeting with Trump is likely one of the most important of Zelensky’s political career.

His goal will be to persuade the US president, who has spoken with satisfaction about his summit with Putin, that Kyiv deserves American backing more than Moscow.

Jonathan Csapo
BBC Producer

Image source, Jonathan Csapo / BBC

I'm standing outside the White House, waiting for European leaders to arrive, along with a crowd of other journalists.

We've just seen a Marine arrive to stand outside the door - a tell-tale sign the president has come down to work in the West Wing.

Image source, Jonathan Csapo / BBC

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring, reporting from Washington DC

One of the Ukrainian officials accompanying President Zelensky to the White House is Rustem Umerov, former defence minister and now head of Ukraine's national security and defence council.

He is an ethnic Crimean Tatar - a member of the indigenous population of Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed by Russia in 2014.

Just like almost all other Crimean Tatars, his ancestors were deported to Central Asia by Stalin in 1944 and Umerov himself was born in Uzbekistan.

His family returned to Crimea after Ukraine's independence in 1991 and he went on to become an activist and a leading member of the Crimean Tatar community.

After Crimea's annexation, Crimean Tatars have taken a largely pro-Ukrainian stance and many of them have been arrested by the Russian occupation forces.

The White House has confirmed five US officials will be present in the room with Donald Trump when Volodymyr Zelensky meets the US president in the Oval Office later today.

They are Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and special envoy Keith Kellogg.

Zelensky will be accompanied by Andriy Yermak, his top chief of staff and Rustem Umerov, former defence minister and now head of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Trump's last two posts had an angry tone - one that was directed largely at the US media for what he clearly sees as a failure to give him credit for his efforts to end the war in the Ukraine.

It's a common theme with the US president, who has repeatedly struck out at commentators in the US media who pointed out that his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska ended without any firm agreements, path to peace or ceasefire.

He's also been quick to point to what the administration perceives as his main foreign policy achievements so far: six wars settled and the strike on Iran.

Trump is highly sensitive to any suggestion that he has failed to bring about an end to the two most high-profile conflicts of today: Gaza and Ukraine.

"Nobody gives me credit for anything," he often says in public remarks.

What his posts don't offer is any indication of how today will go, or any details about what the US wants to get out of today's meeting, or his thoughts on Zelensky's comments so far on Ukraine's positions.

It seems we will have to wait until the meeting begins for those vital details.

Image source, EBU

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also just arrived at the Ukrainian embassy.

A black motorcade bearing the Union Jack flag was spotted outside the building in Washington DC just a short while ago.

A little earlier, we heard that President Alexander Stubb would meet President Zelensky for a "preparatory meeting".

We can now confirm that meeting is under way.

The Finnish president was seen arriving at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington DC a short while ago.

Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

While Zelensky, Trump and other European leaders prepare for talks at the White House, Putin has been busy with his own diplomatic efforts.

So far today, the Russian leader has had phone calls with:

• Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
• President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa
• Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi
• President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon

According to the Kremlin's Telegram account, Putin briefed the leaders on the "key outcomes" from Friday's summit in Alaska.

Image source, Volodymyr Zelenksy/X

Volodymyr Zelensky has just held talks with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Washington DC, ahead of what he says will be a "very serious" meeting with Trump and European leaders later today.

"Russia can only be forced into peace through strength, and President Trump has that strength," Zelensky says in a post on social media thanking Kellogg for the meeting

He adds that Ukraine is "ready to continue working with maximum effort to end the war and to ensure reliable security".

"We must do everything right so that peace really comes," he says, adding: "When peace is discussed for one country in Europe, it means peace for all of Europe."

We've just seen the plane carrying Prime Minister Keir Starmer land at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, near Washington DC.

He will be joining Zelensky and other European leaders at the meeting with Donald Trump later today.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring, reporting from Washington

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha says Kyiv's position that it will not give up territory as part of any deals with Russia remains unchanged.

Asked at a meeting in Kyiv about Donald Trump's post on Truth Social that Ukraine is not "getting back" Crimea, Sybiha said: "The Ukrainian president went [to Washington], as always, with the strong position coordinated with all allies: Crimea is Ukraine."

He said the talks in Washington were a decisive moment which could bring "a just peace" closer thanks to diplomatic efforts.

"As regards expectations from this meeting, it's further progress, a clearer understanding to the parameters of future security guarantees - which is extremely important - and further work to bring nearer a trilateral meeting in the Zelensky-Putin-Trump format with the possible involvement of other allied leaders," he said.

Referring to another demand put forward by Russia, Sybiha said "any limits on the Ukrainian army and our defence capability" were unacceptable for Ukraine.

What we know from strikes on three Ukrainian cities todaypublished at 15:08 British Summer Time 18 August

15:08 BST 18 August

Image source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine/X/Telegram

By Richard Irvine-Brown

According to authorities, seven people have been killed in Kharkiv, including a girl under the age of two, and three were killed in Zaporizhzhia.

There have been no reports of casualties in a strike on a fuel facility outside Odesa.

Kharkiv: Verifying images from east Kharkiv showed the damage to one residential building in Obriy, including a fire on the top floors, and a photo of a firefighter holding a small child, possibly the young girl reported killed, but deliberately blurred.

An eyewitness video filmed next to the building claimed it had been hit six times.

Zaporizhzhia: Videos from Zaporizhzhia show shops at the corner of a highway and residential road on fire and premises a few doors along full of debris.

The videos spread online from around 10:00 local time today (08:00 BST), and weather reports for the city this morning match the clear skies seen in the videos.

Odesa: Meanwhile, the regional governor of Odesa says Russia struck a site belonging to the Azerbaijani oil company Socar.

Among the many videos shared of the fire, only one, showing a distinct building and mast beside a Socar-branded silo, gave us a location which matched satellite heat detection data in the area from Nasa.

We're seeing new pictures from a Russian strike on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, south-eastern Ukraine, earlier today.

At least three people were killed and 23 others injured, according Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

It's still early at the White House, but it's already shaping up to be something of a chaotic day.

Outside the West Wing of the White House, photographers are already jostling for space, setting up ladders and stools in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Zelensky and the European leaders as they arrive.

Just across the driveway, camera crews and reporters have set up on a few patches of grass and gravel. Space is at a premium, and news outlets have been quick to claim their spaces.

Many early morning TV hits, however, were interrupted by the loud whirring of a lawn mower driving back and forth across the White House's grass.

President Donald Trump is not yet in the West Wing. If he was, there would be a US Marine posted outside. But we have been hearing from him on Truth Social.

"A big day at the White House," he wrote just a short while ago. "We have never had so many European leaders here at one time. A great honour for America!!! Let's see what the results will be?"

It's clear, however, that there are also other matters on his mind. So far this morning, he has also posted about crime in Washington DC, Hamas, Iran and his opposition to mail-in election ballots - as well as a simple message to "Make America Great Again".

A little earlier, we brought you the news that Zelensky will meet EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a "preparatory meeting".

We've just heard that President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, is also joining the meeting with Zelensky happening at 15:00 BST (10:00 ET), according to news agency EBU.

As political correspondent Jack Fenwick reported earlier, he's one of the European leaders who is seen as closest to Trump.