Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you some lines from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is hosting a meeting of the "coalition of the willing" later today.

He says leaders are working "at pace" as they prepare plans for a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

"We don’t know if there will be a deal, I certainly hope there will be, but if there is a deal, it’s really important that we are able to react straight away," he tells reporters.

He says the group's plans focus on "keeping the sky safe, the sea safe and the border safe and secure in Ukraine".

Earlier, we reported that a state of emergency was declared in Russia's Engels district after explosions.

This footage shows a plume of smoke near the Engels military airbase, which houses Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers.

Ukraine says it struck the Engels military airbase earlier today.

Ben Tavener
Moscow producer

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The next round of US-Russian talks will be held on Monday 24 March in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov is quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying.

Russia will reportedly be represented by Senator Grigory Karasin, who heads the Russian Senate’s International Affairs Committee, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of Russia’s FSB domestic security service. The two men will lead a team of Russian experts, the Kremlin aide reportedly says.

TASS news agency says Karasin has confirmed the information. Ushakov reportedly says the US team has also been agreed but that he would leave that announcement to the Americans.

When Vladimir Putin sent up to 200,000 soldiers into Ukraine in 2022, he aimed to seize the capital, Kyiv, within days.

Launching the biggest European invasion since World War Two, he said his goal was to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine.

He wanted to overthrow the pro-Western government and bring Ukraine back under Russia's influence.

Putin had already taken control of Crimea in 2014, after a revolution ousted Ukraine's pro-Russian leader and brought in a more pro-Western government.

During the 2022 invasion, he accused Nato of trying to gain a foothold in Ukraine to bring troops closer to Russia’s borders. He insisted Ukraine should remain neutral.

For years, he had called Nato’s expansion a security threat and saw any chance of Ukraine joining as a red line.

He has also long wanted to remove Volodymyr Zelensky, with Russian troops twice trying to storm the presidential compound, according to Zelensky's adviser.

• Read more from our Europe digital editor, Paul Kirby

Jenna Moon
Live editor

Image source, EPA

Two sets of high-level talks are under way in Europe, focusing on future peace in Ukraine.

EU leaders in Brussels are deciding their defence strategy and bolstering security measures for Ukraine. Zelensky has been addressing the summit via video link from Oslo, though we don't know what he said yet.

Meanwhile, in London, a closed-door meeting between the defence chiefs of the “coalition of the willing” is taking place in just over an hour. The so-called coalition is an informal group organised by the UK and France that hopes to offer peacekeeping to Ukraine if any ceasefire deal is reached.

Elsewhere:

• At least two people have been killed and 10 injured in Ukraine from Russian overnight strikes, while Russia has declared a state of emergency in Engels due to a “massive” drone strike on an air field - see the dramatic pictures
• Ukraine has reportedly lost ground in the Russian region of Kursk but is not "encircled", news agency Reuters reports, citing officials familiar with US intelligence reports. It runs contrary to Trump's previous claim that Ukrainian troops were surrounded
• Zelensky has called Putin’s recent statements suggesting he’s ready for peace “propaganda”, adding that Russian air strikes “show the world their true attitude towards peace”

Image source, Reuters

We've just been sent a series of images showing Ukraine's President Zelensky being greeted by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo.

The pair are expected to address reporters later today.

While European leaders are meeting in Brussels for peace talks on Ukraine, EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis is visiting Kyiv, where he's stopped at a memorial for Ukrainian soldiers.

The bloc has today given Ukraine a second payment of 1bn euros (£837m) as part of a G7 loan.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Dangerous and often impossible to establish death tolls from warpublished at 12:14 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March

12:14 GMT 20 March

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Establishing the exact number of casualties in a war zone is very difficult.

Counting the dead as fighting continues is dangerous and often impossible, and governments are reluctant to reveal their losses so as not to help the enemy.

But there are ways of coming up with an estimate. By analysing the names of Russian soldiers which have appeared in official reports, newspapers, on social media, new memorials and graves, the BBC has confirmed the identities of more than 95,000 members of the Russian military who have died in the war. The real death toll is believed to be much higher.

At the other end of the scale are reports published daily by the Ukrainian military. The latest such report claims that almost 900,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded so far, but this figure cannot be independently confirmed.

As regards Ukrainian losses, in February 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and about 380,000 wounded. He added, however, that this was not an exact number because tens of thousands were missing in action or possibly dead.

Image source, Russian Defence Ministry

Ukrainian forces have lost ground in Kursk region but are not "encircled" by Russian forces, Reuters is reporting.

The report, which cites three US and European officials familiar with intelligence assessments, runs contrary to recent comments by US President Trump and Russian President Putin.

Trump has claimed that Ukrainian troops are surrounded in the region, while Putin has said Ukraine's military was cut off and would need to surrender.

Zelensky called Putin's comments about the region "disinformation" in a social media post yesterday.

Last week, Putin claimed Russia was in control of Kursk, while Ukraine hinted that its troops were pulling back.

• For context: Russian forces have been steadily gaining territory in the Kursk region, the area of west Russia Ukraine attacked in a surprise incursion in August 2024

Do Russians believe that their country can strike a deal with the US in light of warming relations between Washington and Moscow?

Our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg looks at how Russians are reacting to recent diplomacy between the two nations - and whether they trust US President Donald Trump.

Danny Aeberhard
Europe regional editor, BBC World Service

The EU has a lot on its plate, as reflected in the summit's agenda: Ukraine, defence, economic competitiveness, migration, multilateralism, crises in the Middle East and more.

Small wonder that the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed that Europe was facing “decisive days".

There's talk of unity. But there are divisions, including Hungary's long- standing rejection of military aid for Ukraine; and strains - not least over how to respond to US tariffs on steel and aluminium.

That said, there's a focus too, catalysed by Donald Trump's second presidency.

Strategic autonomy - whether that's taking more responsibility for Europe's own defence or on industrial policy - really matters.

Image source, EPA

We can bring you a bit more now from outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke to reporters ahead of today's summit in Brussels.

It is "crucial" for Ukraine to have a strong army of its own, even after a peace agreement is reached, Scholz says.

He adds says it is also important for the country to remain "independent, sovereign and democratic" as it continues "its path towards [joining] the European Union".

Ongoing talks must end in a ceasefire that holds and fulfils these conditions, Scholz adds.

Ben Tavener
Moscow producer

Ten people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Saratov region overnight, the regional health minister has told local TV - none of them seriously.

They are being treated in Saratov and Engels hospitals. Ukraine said it had hit the region’s Engels military airbase, which is known to host Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers.

A state of emergency was ordered on the Engels district earlier today, as explosions were reported on social media.

Some local residents were reported to have been evacuated from sites near the airbase.

Image source, PA Media

Alongside the EU summit today, the UK is hosting its own meeting of senior military officers from the "coalition of the willing".

Ahead of those closed door talks, the former Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, who was the chair of the Defence Select Committee and served in the British Army, tells the BBC's 5 Live Breakfast programme about the need "to take control".

He says: "We have to dare to imagine a world where America hasn't got our backs for the moment."

Ellwood adds: "We're confronting with a resurgent Russia, and we need to advance our defence posture", continuing that he believes "we're starting to form a force which can actually support Ukraine".

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Ukraine has confirmed the overnight attack on the Engels airfield in Russia’s Saratov region.

In a statement, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says: "The military facility is used by the occupiers’ aviation, particularly to carry out missile strikes against Ukrainian territory and terrorist attacks against its peaceful population."

"A fire, explosions and secondary detonation of ammunition have been recorded in the vicinity of the airfield," the statement adds.

A little earlier, Russian state media reported that a state of emergency had been declared in the area.

Image source, EPA

A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived a little earlier at Oslo Gardermoen Airport in Norway.

The Ukrainian president is due to speak to EU members gathered at the summit via video link shortly - stick with us and we'll bring you the latest updates.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

More now from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

He confirms the upcoming talks with US representatives in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia are going ahead.

Peskov says the meeting will take place in the next few days, possibly early next week. According to him, Ukraine will be on the agenda, including the safety of shipping in the Black Sea.

He declines to confirm who will be representing Russia.

Image source, Reuters

A few moments ago we heard from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who says Europe must continue to support Ukraine "with a clear position" that a just peace is paramount for Ukraine.

The outgoing German chancellor says Kyiv should be in a position of strength and any ceasefire should be sustained.

"That means that Ukraine can defend its independence and sovereignty," he adds, saying it is important for the country to be able to decide its own path and choose its own leaders.

Image source, Reuters

While we wait to hear more from Brussels, let's have a recap on what's been happening this morning.

• EU leaders are arriving at a summit in Brussels for talks on peace in Ukraine
• The UK will host its own talks with a closed meeting of senior military officers to start planning what a peacekeeping force in Ukraine could look like
• In more overnight raids, explosions and a fire at a key airfield in Engels, Saratov region were caused by a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack, Russian authorities say - at least two people were injured and a state of emergency has been declared, state media reports
• A Ukrainian man has been killed and two others injured in Russian strikes in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk, according to the regional governor

• The White House has said that US ownership of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was discussed during yesterday's Trump-Zelensky phone call. The plant is currently under Russian occupation, you can read more about it

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

As EU leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky are arriving for a summit in Brussels, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has yet again accused Europe of failing to support Russian and US efforts to bring about what he called “peaceful settlement” in Ukraine.

“Europe has embarked on militarising itself and turned into a party of war,” he told a daily press briefing.

“Plans to militarise Europe which are obviously at odds with the Russian and US presidents’ intentions to look for ways to start the process of peaceful settlement.”