The big question of the day has been what security guarantees for Ukraine could look like in a possible peace deal with Russia.

Following a meeting earlier today, members of the "coalition of the willing" commented on the issue, noting that guarantees must deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again in the future.

Some countries have said they are ready to contribute with boots on the ground, however President Donald Trump said the US will not be doing that.

Trump said the US was willing to help with aspects of security, for instance, possibly through air support, but stressed that joining Nato can't be the key form of security Ukraine relies on.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had expressed willingness to engage directly for talks, with US officials helping to arrange the meeting.

However, she did not give further details on where or when such talks could take place. BBC's US partner, CBS News, has reported Budapest could be a potential location.

Nato military leaders are expected to meet virtually tomorrow to continue discussions on diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Ukraine.

We're bringing our live coverage to a close for now, but you can read more on some of the issues here:

• Why Oval Office map has played crucial role in Trump's view of Ukraine war
• Ukrainian refugees react to Trump-Zelensky meeting

The capital of Hungary is among the locations being considered for a potential meeting between Putin and Zelensky, the BBC's US partner, CBS News, reports.

A source with knowledge of the planning tells CBS that Hungary has "expressed its openness and willingness to host the talks", along with and a handful of other countries.

CBS also reports that in his phone call with Trump, Putin agreed to attend a meeting with Zelensky.

Asked if the US could host such a meeting, the source told CBS that was always a possibility but it was not under serious consideration at this time.

In 1994, Budapest was the location where Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances from Russia, the US, UK and others.

Tom Joyner
Live reporter

As world leaders try to hammer out the details of high-level meetings, peace deals and security guarantees the war continues in eastern Ukraine.

From her hometown of Kramatorsk in Donetsk, about 25 kilometres from the Russian front line, Krystina has had many opportunities to leave.

Several times a week, government messages flash up on her phone screen warning her to evacuate. But she ignores them.

Instead, her days have become a wartime routine focused on work, sleep, grocery shopping, and the gym. No more walks through the city like she used to take. There's little time for friends.

"Sometimes it's scary, our (air raid) sirens don't have time to warn us of an attack," she tells me.

As a vet at the last functioning animal clinic in the city, her customers and their pets rely on her. It's not just cats and dogs, but cows and goats too.

Krystina stopped following closely news of peace talks in earlier this year, when her hope for an end to the war began to evaporate.

"I believe that we need to hold a referendum" to vote on any plan to end the war, she says.

"We the people have to decide whether we agree to peace under such conditions or not."

Image source, Getty Images

A meeting between Putin and Zelensky likely won't go ahead despite Donald Trump's suggestion, says a former head of Nato.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who led the alliance from 2009 to 2014, says Putin is just playing for time and has no real intention on ending the war.

"President Putin is not interested in peace," he tells the Ukrainecast podcast. "That's why he convinced President Trump not to let a ceasefire be the first point in the peace process, but go directly to peace negotiations.”

He also says he's “disappointed” about what he describes as how “slowly” the Coalition of the Willing is moving ahead with security guarantees for Ukraine.

"Europe must take its destiny in its own hands," he says. "And I think the first important step in that direction would be to deploy a reassurance force to Ukraine.”

You can listen to more on the latest episode of Ukrainecast

A web of complex issues remain as peace talks continuepublished at 19:43 British Summer Time 19 August

19:43 BST 19 August

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Kyiv’s European allies are keen to capitalise on yesterday’s sense of momentum, engaging with the Trump administration while they feel they have the president’s attention.

Hence the urgent dispatch to Washington of the UK's Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. And today’s virtual meeting of the more than 30 members of the so-called “coalition of the willing”, at which Donald Trump’s apparent change of heart on security guarantees for Ukraine was discussed.

Trump says he’s willing to help the coalition, hinting this morning that this might include air support, but definitely not American boots on the ground.

But the Anglo-French coalition, first discussed back in March, still lacks a clearly defined mission. The former UK Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace says Ukraine’s allies have to know what they’re doing.

The other looming question is land. Trump clearly believes that Ukraine is going to have to give up part of what Kyiv regards as sovereign Ukrainian territory.

Interviewed on Fox News this morning, Trump said that most of the eastern Donbas region was already in Russian hands. Ukraine, he said, was going to “get a lot of land” by making peace but didn’t elaborate.

Ukraine knows that painful territorial sacrifices are almost certainly looming, but Yuriy Sak, a Ukrainian government official, says this is not about legal recognition.

Security guarantees and land - a tangled web of complex issues still to be thrashed out in order to bring this conflict to a close.

Trump has, belatedly, recognised that it’s not simple. He believes the force of his personality can end it. It’s going to take a lot more than that.

Image source, EPA

We have just heard from the White House, where Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Donald Trump "expects" a bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymr Zelensky, but offered few details on when, where or how such a meeting might take place.

Here's a snapshot of the key takeaways:

• Leavitt says Putin and Zelensky have expressed willingness to engage directly for talks, with US officials helping to arrange the meeting.
• No location has been decided for a potential Zelensky-Putin meeting and Leavitt wouldn't say whether Moscow and Budapest have been suggested as possible venues
• While Trump has said there will be no US soldiers on the ground as part of security guarantees, the possibility that US pilots will patrol Ukrainian skies has not been ruled out, with more discussions set to occur
• To end the conflict, the US believes "both sides are going to have to walk away a little bit unhappy", Leavitt says

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

And with that, the briefing has wrapped up, after Leavitt again declines to offer further details on security guarantees.

Many of the questions at today's press briefing revolved around the confusion of the meetings that President Trump and the administration promised would come next.

For one, Leavitt has provided no firm details on what, exactly, leads the White House to believe that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky is possible - although she repeatedly said that it is.

It's also unclear what role Trump will play himself. The White House's position now is that a bilateral meeting between the warring leaders is a prerequisite for any subsequent trilateral meeting involving the US.

Leavitt explains the lack of clarity by pointing to the "sensitive" nature of the details and negotiations taking place behind the scenes.

But until there is concrete details on where, when and in what format those meetings will take place, it will be very difficult for much of the world to imagine that peace in Ukraine is within striking distance.

For many, talk of security guarantees, US air and logistical support and Nato deployments will be premature until those initial steps become more tangible.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Leavitt is asked whose idea was it to next have a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky, rather than a trilateral meeting including Trump - a plan Trump outlined on social media yesterday.

She says that decision evolved through conversations with Putin and Zelenksy and the European leaders on Monday.

They all agreed it would be a good thing if these two leaders sit down together and "the president expects that to happen."

She is asked about the Kremlin indicating that Putin has not agreed to a bilateral meeting with just Zelensky on the phone.

She assures the reporter that the Trump administration is working to get that meeting to happen.

She is also asked why Trump had a private conversation with Putin, during his meeting with the European leaders.

She says the other leaders were grateful that Trump had a call with Putin, and again declines to be drawn on meeting location possibilities.

Leavitt will not be drawn on reports that Putin suggested Moscow as a venue for bilateral talks with Zelensky.

She is asked if such an offer would suggest Putin is not serious, because Zelensky is very unlikely to do so.

Leavitt says she is not going to litigate private conversations between Trump and Putin, but adds "there are many options that are being discussed by our national security team right now with both parties".

Asked to give locations for any potential meeting of the leaders, she says they will provide details as soon as they can.

For context: An adviser to Zelensky earlier told BBC News that Ukraine "immediately rejected" a suggestion from Putin that the two leaders should meet in Moscow.

Image source, Reuters

Though Trump has clearly stated he won't deploy American troops on the ground Ukraine, Leavitt says support from the air is "an option and a possibility" as part of security guarantees.

"I can tell you he's definitively ruled out boots on the ground," she said, but adds that Trump may still explore other military support options.

Leavitt says that both Zelensky and Putin have expressed willingness to sit down together and Trump hopes the pair can "engage in direct diplomacy". The US national security team is helping to facilitate that bilateral meeting between Ukraine and Russia.

In a follow-up, Leavitt is asked what indications Putin has shown he wants a meeting. It came from direct conversation from Putin yesterday, she says.

Leavitt is next asked why Trump believes he can get a deal with Putin.

She says the president has "learned a lot", which was part of the reason why he opened up talks with Putin.

Leavitt goes on to blame the previous administration for refusing to talk to Russia, adding through "several conversations" by phone with Putin and "dozens of meetings with Zelensky" Trump now "understands what both sides want and what both sides will have to give up".

Both sides will have to "walk away a little bit unhappy" with a peace deal to end the war, she says.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Leavitt is asked: What is the status of the proposed security guarantees for Ukraine?

Leavitt reiterates that Trump has definitively stated there will be no US boots on the ground as part of any peace plans. The US can help with coordination and other means of support, she says.

The president has directed his national security team to coordinate with European allies, and to discuss this with Ukraine and Russia, she says.

She is asked if the Russians have responded to the point about security guarantees for Ukraine from Europe and the US..

Trump is still speaking to Russia about security arrangements, Leavitt says.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The White House clearly sees yesterday's negotiations as something of a victory - even as fighting continues in Ukraine and questions remain unanswered about the implementation of any peace process.

In Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's words, Donald Trump has "restored American status as the undisputed leader of the free world".

"It should not be lost on anyone in this room that world leaders are coming right here to Washington DC for help," she adds.

But despite Leavitt's optimistic and triumphant tone, many questions remain about the next steps, and what role the US will play.

The first question - from largely Trump-supportive influencer Jack Posobiec - was about security guarantees.

The answer left little clarity - other than to say that US boots will not be on the ground but that the US would help with "coordination".

What that coordination means, exactly, remains to be seen.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt begins her briefing by framing the Alaska summit with Putin as a success for Trump.

She says what Trump has achieved in the last few days is "remarkable", and reiterates the administration's position that former US President Joe Biden allowed the "killing to start in the first place" when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Before Trump was elected, the US status quo in dealing with the Ukraine war was to "endlessly force" taxpayers to fund Kyiv, Leavitt says, and that under Trump there is "finally movement" after years of gridlock.

She then reminds the gathered journalists that Putin said on Friday he agrees with a claim Trump has repeated many times - that war would never have begun if Trump had been president during the Biden years.

She again confirms that Trump spoke to Putin on the phone yesterday and that the Russian leader "agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process", which she says is a meeting with Zelenzky, which would then be followed "if necessary" by a trilateral meeting with both leaders and Trump.

We're about to hear from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during her routine press briefing.

We're expecting the briefing to be dominated by questions about Ukraine and will bring you the key lines here.

You can also follow along by pressing watch live at the top of this page.

Ukraine was never going to accept a Moscow summit invitationpublished at 17:57 British Summer Time 19 August

17:57 BST 19 August

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

Vladimir Putin's proposal of a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in Moscow, which Zelensky's office says was made on Monday, would have been an offer the Ukrainian president was never going to accept.

Travelling to the capital of a country whose army has been killing your people for years would look so wrong on so many levels - and that's in addition to obvious security concerns.

Even though the Ukrainian president has said repeatedly that a face-to-meeting with Putin is the way forward, that meeting would have to take place in a neutral country.

By proposing Moscow as a venue, the Russian president may be saying no to the talks without saying no, and possibly trying to make Zelensky look like an obstructionist in Donald Trump's eyes.

Image source, Reuters

The European Union's foreign policy chief says security guarantees for Ukraine in any deal to end the war must be "strong and credible enough to deter Russia from re-grouping and re-attacking".

"Putin cannot be trusted to honour any promise or commitment," Kaja Kallas writes in a post on X.

The EU will contribute to security guarantees, "notably by the training of Ukrainian soldiers and strengthening Ukraine’s armed forces and defence industry", she says.

She adds that the EU will "continue targeting Russia's war economy" and that the next sanction package against Moscow "should be ready by next month".

Vicky Riddell
Reporting from Kyiv

An adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky has told BBC News that Ukraine "immediately rejected" Vladimir Putin's suggestion that the two leaders should meet in Moscow.

AFP news agency reported earlier that Putin had proposed meeting Zelensky in the Russian capital when he spoke to Donald Trump on Monday.

The US president made an unscheduled call to Putin while Zelensky's visit to the White House was still ongoing, during which the prospect of a meeting between the warring leaders was discussed.

Asked about the report that Putin had suggested a Moscow summit, Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told the BBC: "What kind of reaction do you expect from us?

"He said it, everyone immediately rejected it, and yesterday we already drove past it."

The defence chiefs of all 32 Nato countries will meet virtually tomorrow to discuss the diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Ukraine.

They will be briefed by US Air Force Lt Gen Alexus Grynkewich - who also oversees all Nato operations in Europe - on the results of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's Alaska meeting last week.

"As diplomatic efforts to secure peace in Ukraine progress,​ looking forward to his update on the current security environment," Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chairman of Nato's military committee, posts on X.