Image source, Reuters

While Ukraine is a crucial topic at today's meeting, today's summit is also a big day for Kaja Kallas, former prime minister of Estonia and vice-president of the European Commission.

EU leaders will also address what Estonia - which borders Russia - can do to boost its own security as well as reaching an agreement on Ukraine.

Addressing the press, Kallas says "all options are on the table" when it comes to financing Estonia's defence, from grants to the change of fiscal rules. "We really need to invest more in defence," she says.

On Ukraine, she says Europe's strength and economic power should not be underestimated.

Image source, Reuters

As EU leaders head into meetings at the European Council's security summit, let's take a quick look back at some of the news lines we've been following this morning.

• President Zelensky's home town of Kryvyi Rih was targeted in an overnight Russian missile strike that has killed four and wounded more than 30. US and British volunteers had only just checked in to the hotel before the attack, Zelensky said

• Two other people were killed in attacks in the Donetsk region and in Sumy while the Ukrainian southern port city of Odesa suffered further damage after a drone attack
• Elsewhere, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for an emergency summit after French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe is at a "turning point of history"
• Also this morning, France has offered to share intelligence with Ukraine as the US temporarily pulled away from doing so
• In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has accused Macron, and France, of "thinking about war more, about continuing the war" after the French president suggested European troops could be deployed to Ukraine to protect a potential peace deal
• More recently, we've been watching the leaders as they arrive at the summit. Zelensky has used the opportunity to thank European leaders for their "strong support" since the start of the war

Image source, Getty Images

Before heading into today's summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that the 'ReArm Europe' plan will be among the top issues discussed.

The proposal, announced on Monday, is an unprecedented defence package which von der Leyen says could free up a total of €800bn ($860bn; £670bn) in defence expenditure.

The plan includes:

• Allowing countries to increase national deficit levels to give room for more defence spending
• €150bn (£125bn) in loans for defence investment to benefit the defence of the EU as a whole - for example, air and missile defence, anti-drone systems, and military mobility. This is to help pool demand, and joint procurement would reduce costs
• Allowing countries to redirect funds earmarked for cohesion policy programmes (i.e. policies aimed at levelling the differences between more and less advantaged regions) to defence spending

Image source, Reuters

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola firmly tells reporters that she will "be a little bit more blunt than usual" today as she says "it's about damn time" this summit takes place.

She says Europe needs to show it's "capable of standing up on its own two feet" and "put, finally, our money where our mouth is".

Ukraine is in the same situation as it was three years ago, Metsola says, and Europe needs to be there alongside Ukraine.

To do that, more needs to be done on security, defence as well as funding, she explains, and the summit must plan how to do this.

Image source, Reuters

After arriving at the summit, Ukraine's Zelensky thanks European leaders for the "strong support" they've shown Ukraine.

"During all this period, and last week, you stayed with us," he says.

"We are not alone, and these are not just words, we feel it.

"You made a strong signal to [the] Ukrainian people," he says, and they "appreciate" it.

Myroslava Petsa
Reporting from Brussels

Image source, Reuters

Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the European Council security summit in Brussels.

The Ukrainian leader stood for some time on the red carpet chatting to the European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before walking down to the press pen where I’m standing.

They are about to answer shouted questions from the crowds of international media straining over the barriers.

There has been no shortage of high-stakes talks packing President Zelensky’s schedule over the past few weeks – including, of course, his clash with Donald Trump in the White House.

There had been conversations prior to the meeting about whether he might join via video link from Kyiv.

But after a gruelling week, the decision to travel here in person reflects his sense that now is the time to act urgently.

We're now hearing from Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

She says extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, thanking António Costa for putting the meeting together.

"This is a watershed moment for Europe, and Ukraine is part of that family," she tells the press.

She says Europe has to put Ukraine in a position to protect itself, and push for a lasting and just peace.

Image source, European Council

Standing next to Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa calls today a "very important moment" to build on European security.

Referencing a previous meeting last month which was focussed on "brainstorming" - today they will "take decisions and deliver", Costa says.

We are about to hear from President Zelensky, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

We will bring you the key lines, stay tuned.

Image source, Reuters

Speaking to reporters ahead of the summit, Lithuania's president proposes to set a provisional date for Ukraine to join the EU.

Gitanas Nausėda suggests 31 January 2030.

It won't be a legal definition, he says, but it will be a political commitment to "set the path and to send very clear guidelines" to Ukraine.

Image source, European Council

Ukraine's President Zelensky has walked into the EU emergency summit and embraces European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

We'll bring you lines from him if, and when, we get them.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Some more now from Lavrov's news conference at the foreign ministry in Moscow, where he has been speaking about the possibility of European troops being deployed to Ukraine.

“Such things, if you call them a peacekeeping force, they must be discussed and agreed to by [all] sides. This is something which neither Macron or Starmer or other advocates of deploying troops to Ukraine have not even mentioned," Lavrov says.

He adds: "We will see the presence of such troops on Ukrainian territory the same way as we saw a potential Nato presence in Ukraine... this would mean not supposedly hybrid, but direct, official and unconcealed involvement by Nato countries in a war against the Russian Federation.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived at the EU summit, to the flash of many cameras.

He's a key player in the continent's efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, and supporting Kyiv with aid and most recently intelligence sharing.

European leaders are gathering in Brussels, and so far we've spotted Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz.

He's expected to speak at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron later today. We'll be keeping an eye on who else arrives and what they have to say, so stay with us.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, Getty Images

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Official news agency Tass is quoting Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as saying:

• An EU military contingent in Ukraine will mean "direct war" by European countries against Russia
• Russia will see the presence of an EU peacekeeping force in Russia the same as a Nato presence
• Macron’s nuclear rhetoric is a threat against Russia
• Macron is aggressively continuing Napoleon’s cause, masking his true intentions

As a reminder, France's President Macron says European troops could "perhaps" be deployed to Ukraine after a peace deal - while the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he's willing to put "boots on the ground" after a ceasefire

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has just criticised French President Emmanuel Macron for the remarks he made yesterday.

In his speech, Macron warned Europe "can no longer believe the words" of Russia's leaders, saying they violated previous ceasefires. He added that the "deployment of European forces" to Ukraine could be included among potential security guarantees to protect a peace deal.

“The address is extremely confrontational. It can hardly be seen as the address of a head of state who is thinking about peace," says Peskov.

"Based on what was said, it can rather be concluded that France is thinking about war more, about continuing the war. With all respect to [Macron], it can be said that it contained numerous inaccuracies, diplomatically speaking," he adds.

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The precise significance of US intelligence to Ukraine's war effort has, for obvious reasons, never been spelled out in detail.

But any prolonged interruption in the supply of US intelligence could have a catastrophic impact on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, particularly as the Trump administration has already decided to suspend vital military assistance.

Most analysts agree that it performs two important functions: helping Ukraine to plan offensive operations against Russian forces, and giving Kyiv vital advance warning of threats posed by incoming Russian drones and missiles.

Satellite information and signal intercepts give Ukrainian forces on the frontline a sense of where Russian forces are, their movements and likely intentions.

Without US intelligence, Ukraine will not be able to make such effective use of long-range Western weaponry, like the US-made Himars launchers or Stormshadow missiles supplied by Britain and France.

• Continue reading about how pausing US intelligence impacts Ukraine's military operation

Second time Kryvyi Rih hotel struck in five monthspublished at 09:49 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

09:49 GMT 6 March

By Benedict Garman and Richard Irvine-Brown

As soon as reports emerged of a strike on a hotel in Kryvyi Rih, home city of President Volodymyr Zelensky, BBC Verify began analysing imagery from the scene.

The target of the strike - the Central Hotel, a 54-room, five-storey hotel - was determined by matching the distinctive building facade to photos of the hotel on Google Maps.

As well as verified imagery showing direct damage to the building in the aftermath of the strike - much of it provided by the emergency services themselves - we've also verified video showing a fiery explosion at the moment of impact, filmed at a spot 300m away to the north.

It's not the first time the hotel has been the target of Russian strikes. On 20 October last year, video emerged showing a huge crater just in front of the building, and damage to neighbouring buildings.

Image source, Central Hotel Facebook page

Image source, Social media

Image source, Serhiy Lysak / Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration

At least eight people have been killed in a series of overnight Russian attacks across Ukraine. Here's what we know so far:

• Four people were killed after a Russian missile struck a hotel in Kryvyi Rih, President Zelensky's home town in central Ukraine. Zelensky says US and British aid volunteers had checked in shortly before the strike, adding they had managed to escape
• Civilian and engineering infrastructure in the southern port city of Odesa was "massively attacked" and two people were injured, according to the region's governor
• One civilian was killed and three more people injured the Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian officials
• In Ukraine's north-eastern city of Sumy, another civilian died after a Russian strike
• The governor of Kharkiv says Russian shelling set fire to a house and a car, killing a man
• Meanwhile, in Kherson, one person has died in the past 24 hours following a Russian attack

Altogether, the Ukraine Air Force say they shot down 68 of 112 Russian night-time drone attacks.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Reuters

In a further sign of improving relations with Washington, Vladimir Putin has appointed Alexander Darchiev as Russia’s ambassador to the US.

The post had been vacant since October 2024, when long-time Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov returned to Moscow.

Restoring diplomatic relations was the subject of recent US-Russian talks in Riyadh and then Istanbul.

• Darchiev previously served as Russia's ambassador to Canada