A bit more now from Peskov.

Responding to Zelensky's comments that Ukraine will not accept the annexation of any territory, Peskov says: "Crimea, Sevastopol, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk are Russian regions.

"They're in the Russian constitution."

He adds that it would be "wrong" to discuss possible negotiating positions publicly before talks begin.

"Let's not forget that they haven't started," he says.

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has confirmed that US negotiators are on their way to Russia.

“It’s true that [US] negotiators are en route and it’s true that contacts are planned. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we’ll tell you about them later," Peskov says.

"Contact has already happened – there was a telephone conversation between [US National Security Adviser Mike] Waltz and [Russian presidential adviser Yuri] Ushakov. Certain information has been provided to Russia.”

It comes as Russian state news agency TASS reported a plane carrying US envoy Steve Witkoff had crossed the Russian border.

Peskov would not confirm the identities of the US negotiators heading to Russia. He would also not confirm, nor comment on, reports that Russia had already listed its demands to the US, including on re-establishing diplomatic relations.

The Kremlin spokesman also said Vladimir Putin may have an “international phone call” later today, but did not specify who with.

Ben Tavener
Moscow producer

But it was the army fatigues that stole the show for most when the Kremlin unexpectedly published footage of the visit, which it said was to one of the Kursk military command centres.

“First time in military uniform. First time on the front line,” wrote Sergei Markov, an influential pro-Kremlin political commentator and former Putin adviser. He hailed Putin’s courage for undertaking the trip, saying it was “much more dangerous” for the Russian leader than for his Ukrainian counterpart. Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the frontline in Ukraine on many occasions.

Some commentators were of the opinion that the publication time – just before 10pm Moscow time – indicated the images were not just for Russian audiences, dropping in time for prime-time evening news bulletins in Europe and the US.

But why the uniform? No consensus. Some believe it is a signal to the West that Russia is ready to fight on if needed, if negotiations fail. Others thought it was for domestic audiences to underline Russia’s military progress:

“President Putin is a very brave person,” wrote Markov. “The reason why he came is clear: the powerful defeat of the Ukrainian army in Kursk region.”

Pro-Kremlin commentators praise Putin's bravery for visiting 'front line'published at 08:59 Greenwich Mean Time 13 March

08:59 GMT 13 March

Ben Tavener
Moscow producer

“Putin in military uniform demands remnants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kursk region be annihilated.”

That’s how the ultra-Kremlin-friendly Komsomolskaya Pravda online headline read this morning about Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the Russian border region which Ukrainian troops entered the territory last summer.

Pro-Kremlin commentators highlighted the Russian leader’s pluckiness for visiting the “front line”, although the Kremlin didn’t say exactly where the visit took place – the city of Kursk, for example, is relatively far from any frontline action.

Russian state media pointed to the president’s fiery rhetoric on Ukrainian and foreign troops caught on Russian territory, whom he said should be considered terrorists. Putin said, pointedly, that foreign mercenaries did not fall under the Geneva Convention that governs how prisoners of war must be held, although insisted captives should be treated humanely.

“Putin identified the final defeat of the enemy in Kursk region, in the shortest possible time, as a key goal for the Russian Armed Forces,” wrote the state-owned Argumenty i Fakty.

But it was the army fatigues that stole the show for most when the Kremlin unexpectedly published footage of the visit, which it said was to one of the Kursk military command centres.

Putin's military fatigues not a message of peace to Ukrainepublished at 08:40 Greenwich Mean Time 13 March

08:40 GMT 13 March

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Vladimir Putin looked and sounded belligerent during his reported visit to the Kursk region yesterday.

For the first time in years, he was dressed in military fatigues, and he ordered his troops to “completely destroy the enemy” in the region.

As everyone is looking for signs of whether he will accept the offer of a ceasefire in Ukraine, this was hardly the look and words of someone keen to send a message of peace to Kyiv.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets says there has been another instance of Russian forces executing captured unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war.

He says he has sent letters to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross after a video emerged showing the bodies of five Ukrainian soldiers apparently executed after capture by the Russians.

Other sources suggest the incident allegedly happened in Russia’s Kursk region.

On 3 February, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine expressed alarm at a sharp rise in reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian armed forces.

Since the end of August 2023, the mission recorded 79 such executions in 24 separate incidents.

Ukraine's air force says it shot down 74 of 117 drones that attacked overnight.

The report also suggests a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile was fired from the Kursk region.

The affected areas include Sumy, Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyiv.

The governor of Dnipropetrovsk says three people were injured in the city of Dnipro after a Russian drone attack.

Earlier, he said air defences had destroyed drones in the region but also reported damage to high-rise buildings.

Russia's defence ministry says its air defences intercepted 77 Ukrainian drones overnight.

According to the statement, that includes six shot down over the Kursk region, where Russia says it's in the final stage of an operation to push out Ukrainian forces.

Drones were also destroyed over Belgorod, Rostov and Bryansk, among other areas.

Another key event today is the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Quebec, Canada – the first since Donald Trump returned to power in January.

There will be several discussions throughout the day, but the war in Ukraine is the main focus. A session on global peace and Ukraine is scheduled for the afternoon.

In the last G7 statement in November, nearly two of its eight pages were dedicated to Ukraine, with much of it criticising Russia.

As the world waits for Russia's response to the proposed 30-day ceasefire, the ministers are likely to have plenty to say again.

Image source, Reuters

Nato chief Mark Rutte will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House today.

It comes as Trump threatens a major shift in policy towards the alliance, which could have a huge impact.

The Trump administration's decision to align itself with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine has cast doubt on America's long-term commitment to both European security and Nato itself.

Trump has also called on European countries who are part of Nato to spend much more on their defence than the target of 2% that Nato calls for.

If Rutte has concerns about Trump's actions, he's not saying so publicly.

Rather, he’s been urging Ukraine’s President Zelensky to rebuild ties with Trump after a tense meeting between the two in February.

Speaking to the BBC the next day, Rutte said he had told Zelensky “we have to respect” what Trump has done for Ukraine so far.

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Kyiv

The White House says the US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has spoken to his Russian counterpart, as has the CIA director.

President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected in Moscow shortly.

But for all the private discussion, there's still no public response from the Kremlin to the plans agreed by Ukraine and the US for an interim 30-day ceasefire.

Trump said he was hopeful but positive messages meant nothing and he could do things that would be financially “very bad” and “devastating” for Russia if it did not agree a deal.

President Zelensky said that could involve more sanctions and what he called “a strengthened Ukraine”.

For his part, President Putin donned military garb to visit the Kursk region in western Russia, claiming territory seized by Ukraine in August would soon be “fully liberated” by advancing Russian forces.

Ukraine’s military commander, Oleksandr Syrsky, said his troops were manoeuvring to more favourable positions to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's latest post on X was yesterday evening.

He wrote about the ceasefire, saying Ukraine is "determined" to work "as quickly as possible" with its partners.

"The key factor is our partners’ ability to ensure Russia’s readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war. Because right now, Russian strikes have not stopped," he said.

He claimed there are "around a hundred" Shahed drone - a type of drone that is destroyed during the attack - attacks every night, with some civilian infrastructure hit.

"We must move toward peace, toward security guarantees, and we need to free our people."

Image source, Kremlin

Yesterday, Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since Ukraine's incursion over the border.

In this rare move, images released by the Kremlin show Putin in combat gear, shaking hands as he tours a command centre.

Russia's Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, says more than 1,100 sq km of territory taken by Ukraine in the region has now been recaptured.

Russian media report that Putin ordered his troops to "fully liberate" the Kursk region during his visit.

As we've been reporting, Russia says it's in the final stages of an operation to regain control of Kursk.

Ukraine's incursion into the region in August 2024 forced thousands to evacuate.

Fighting flared up again in January when Ukraine launched a counter-attack. Moscow said it responded with artillery and air power.

At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the operation in Kursk had created a buffer zone, stopping Russian forces from being deployed to key areas in eastern Ukraine.

But recently, it's reported that Russia has been reclaiming territory.

Yesterday, Ukraine has indicated that some of its troops are withdrawing from Kursk.

For more on this, check out the clip from BBC Verify in our earlier post.

US threw gauntlet down for Putin - his Kursk visit may be his responsepublished at 06:29 Greenwich Mean Time 13 March

06:29 GMT 13 March

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Was this Russia’s answer to the gauntlet thrown down by the US Secretary of State, who said after a ceasefire deal was thrashed out in Jeddah that the ball was now "in Russia’s court"?

If so, it has certainly caught the world’s attention. An ageing 72-year-old Vladimir Putin, dressed in a spotlessly clean military uniform, finally visiting a command post in the embattled Kursk region of Russia – seven months after Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into that district.

Putin is no old soldier. He was a career spy, first with the KGB, then later with its successor, the FSB.

But his visit to Kursk is well-timed and conveniently distracts attention from Ukraine’s PR success in apparently getting itself back into favour with the White House.

Ukraine has lost at least 90% of the territory it seized in Russia’s Kursk region last August, its forces driven back by superior numbers of Russian and North Korean infantry, backed by large numbers of explosive-laden drones.

Kyiv always said it had no intention of hanging on to the territory, that it only wanted to use it to win back some of its own, currently under Russian occupation.

But now, as the world waits to hear if Russia will accept the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire, that bargaining chip looks poised to disappear altogether.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Ukraine conflict.

Russian state news agency TASS is reporting that Russia’s operation to push Ukrainian forces out of Kursk has entered its final stage.

It comes after Putin visited the region yesterday – his first trip there since Ukraine crossed the border in August last year.

Images released by the Kremlin showed him in military clothing, greeting officials. He also ordered his military to retake the area in full and said any captured Ukrainian soldiers should be treated as "terrorists".

Elsewhere, all eyes are on the Kremlin to see how Putin responds to a 30-day ceasefire proposal agreed by US and Ukrainian officials.

Donald Trump has threatened consequences if Russia rejects the deal, while the White House has again opened its vast store of military aid and intelligence to Kyiv.

US officials are heading to Moscow later today after Monday’s meeting with Ukraine.

We’ll bring you updates throughout the day.