James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Labour are to ask ministers in the House of Commons this morning about the government’s plans to make it easier to impose tough sanctions on Russian individuals or entities which are close to Kremlin.

Liz Truss promised the legislation would be on the statute book by today - but there has been no sign of it so far.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office says the new rules will be laid before parliament "shortly" - but MPs are about to go on recess for a couple of weeks.

The director of Russia's foreign intelligence service says Russia has "no aggressive plans towards Ukraine".

Sergei Naryshkin tells the BBC's Moscow correspondent Carrie Davies there are "lies in western capitals".

"We’ve seen and we know these are dangerous lies from the other side of the Atlantic," he says.

The intelligence chief adds: "We will insist that our demands [for security guarantees] are based on the fundamental norms of European agreements - European security cannot be divided.

"Security of one state can’t be implemented while the security of another state is vulnerable."

He says Russia will continue to have a dialogue with the US, and all Nato countries.

Watch the BBC's Ros Atkins on the short and long-term causes behind the crisis on the Ukrainian border.

We should be hearing from both Liz Truss and Sergei Lavrov shortly - but here is what Lavrov has already said before that news conference.

Russia's foreign minister said the UK and Russia need to "normalise our relations" but said this was supposed to be on a "mutually respectful dialogue".

"As for ideological approaches, ultimatums, threats - this is the road to nowhere," he said - adding that some of his western colleagues are "carried away by this in their public statements".

He added that - if the UK did want to improve relations - then Russia would reciprocate, because "we cannot be satisfied by the poor state of our relations", which he said were at the lowest they had been for many years.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been hearing, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has been holding talks with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

BBC Russian’s Petr Kozlov says Lavrov is an experienced diplomat who’s been in his position since 2004.

He previously served as Russian ambassador to the UN.

Lavrov is a close ally for President Putin and is understood to be tough in trying to deliver policy.

He speaks three foreign languages - English, French, and the predominantly Sri Lankan language, Sinhala.

Stay with us for full coverage of the pair's news conference which is due to happen soon.

Russia and Belarus are starting 10 days of joint military drills as concerns rise over the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine's borders.

Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine - despite amassing more than 100,000 troops at the border.

The joint exercises are called United Resolve and involve an estimated 30,000 Russian troops.

The Kremlin says it's going to be larger than expected because of what it describes as a serious situation in the region.

It's understood they'll practise scenarios like strengthening the border against militants as well as post conflict settlement.

Meanwhile Ukraine is holding its own military exercises in the north of the country today.

Truss unsmiling as she delivers warningspublished at 09:01 Greenwich Mean Time 10 February 2022

09:01 GMT 10 February 2022

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

It was fascinating to watch the body language between Liz Truss and Sergei Lavrov.

Russia’s foreign minister has been in post for 18 years during which he has seen nine different British foreign secretaries come and go.

He appeared self-possessed, almost matter of fact, as he read out his prepared statement for the cameras.

Ms Truss, in contrast, appeared stiff and unsmiling as she issued her warnings about invading Ukraine.

It is a big moment for her. It is the first time a British foreign secretary has visited Moscow for four years.

And here's more from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, following her meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

She has called on him to abandon "Cold War rhetoric" and follow a diplomatic path to ease the Ukraine crisis.

Ms Truss says security can be strengthened for all if Russia engages in "meaningful discussions".

"Russia could enhance its stature as a P5 member [of the UN Security Council] by abandoning Cold War rhetoric, and instead engaging in meaningful discussions with Nato to improve European security.

"These discussions must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as Russia freely signed up to in the 1994 Budapest memorandum.

"If these principles are respected, I believe that, in today's talks, we can make progress to strengthen security for all."

Image source, Reuters

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that a war in Ukraine would be "disastrous".

At a meeting in Moscow she told him: "The reality is we cannot ignore the build-up of over 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and the attempts to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"Fundamentally, a war in Ukraine would be disastrous for the Russian and Ukrainian people, and for European security."

She added that Nato had made it clear that any incursion would have "massive consequences and carry severe costs".

Truss and Lavrov are due to give a joint news conference shortly.

The prime minister has tweeted...

Image source, PA Media

The leader of the opposition Labour Party in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer, is also expected to meet Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg later.

In an interview with The Times, he argues Boris Johnson's standing on the world stage has been weakened by the scandals in No 10 - saying "his authority has been diminished because of the various activities over the last few months".

“I’m struck by the fact that almost every time he does a press conference abroad, among the first questions are about his authority in his own country, his authority on the world stage,” he says.

Here's a rundown of some of the reasons Mr Johnson is under pressure in the UK.

And here's another line from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's morning round of interviews: he says Russia could use a false flag operation - where another country is blamed for an operation - as a pretext for invasion.

Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme as to whether the UK has any evidence for the claim, Wallace says he has seen intelligence that Russia "has engaged and is engaging in plans for those type of activities".

He says it is part of the Russian playbook of "sub-threshold warfare", which also includes things like cyber attacks and political division.

He also adds that sanctions against Russia if it does invade Ukraine are likely to be set out "pretty soon".

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Western assessments of Russian troop numbers around Ukraine are growing.

Officials now say they number about 130,000 - that's up from recent estimates of 100,000.

And as we just heard from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace - the UK believes Russia has deployed “half its combat troops” near the border or in Belarus.

Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - is the world's most powerful regional defence alliance.

Its 30 members - which include the UK, US and three former Soviet republics - agree to come to another's aid in the event of an armed attack.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato. But, it is a "partner country" and may be allowed to join the alliance sometime in the future.

Russia sees this as a direct threat to its security, arguing that Nato's expansion eastward breaks a promise made by the US in 1990, though interpretations differ over exactly what was said.

Find out more here.

Here's more from UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who has been speaking to the BBC this morning.

"They have amassed over half now of Russia's ground combat capability....on the borders of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people will fight," he says.

"These are people who quite rightly take the sovereignty of their country very seriously."

The defence secretary says that there would be a "human cost" to an invasion and it is important the Russian people understand that.

"This [a possible invasion] is not a cost-free exercise," he says.

Analysis: Britain's turn in Moscowpublished at 08:08 Greenwich Mean Time 10 February 2022

08:08 GMT 10 February 2022

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

If it is Thursday, it must be Britain.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have seen a steady flow of western politicians in recent days. Today it is Britain's turn.

In Russia, the foreign and the defence secretaries will be repeating a message with which the Kremlin must now be familiar, one of deterrence and diplomacy: any Russian military action against Ukraine will be met by massive economic sanctions, but the West remains open to dialogue about Russia's security concerns once it has de-escalated its threat against Ukraine.

The prime minister, meanwhile, is off to Brussels to discuss with Nato chiefs what more the UK could do to bolster the military alliance's eastern flank. Mr Johnson will then head to Poland, which would be on the front line if conflict were to escalate in Ukraine.

The key aim of all this diplomacy is to maintain pressure on Russia while reassuring allies in Nato, retaining Western unity and keeping the door open to a non-military solution.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is in Moscow for talks with her Russia counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

These pictures have just come in of Ms Truss taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow.

Image source, Reuters

The prime minister has boarded his flight to Brussels for his meeting with Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.

Boris Johnson is then scheduled to fly to Warsaw in Poland for talks with the country's leaders and to meet British troops stationed there.

Public statements must be taken with a pinch of saltpublished at 07:54 Greenwich Mean Time 10 February 2022

07:54 GMT 10 February 2022

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

Do you find yourself anxious about war, but confused as to what's REALLY going on?

You're not alone. To start with, terminology in the Russia-Ukraine crisis can be dizzying: Minsk Agreements, Nord Stream 2, the Warsaw Pact and the Normandy format… what are they, and how significant are they?

And how can you be clear about what's going on, if even key political players seem unsure. Does Vladimir Putin plan to invade Ukraine? Or is he serious about dialogue? We're familiar with his security demands from Nato, but what is he willing to accept?

Frustratingly, we can't even get clarity from the umpteen news conferences held by prominent international politicians, zooming around the region, hoping to de-escalate the crisis.

And why? Because this is a massive geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West. No-one wants to reveal their negotiating hand. Public statements, then, need to be taken with a decent-sized pinch of salt.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is due to travel to Moscow today but first he is on the BBC Breakfast sofa.

He says Britain stands "side-by-side" to the Nato position and will not let threats "push us around".

Wallace says that the UK will offer to Nato "a range of forces" to provide reinforcements on the Ukraine border should Russia invade.

"At a very short notice we could deploy troops potentially to anywhere in Nato, to deal with a whole range of consequences," he says.

The UK has offered Nato 1,000 troops on stand-by, extra Typhoon aircraft to police airspace around Romania and Bulgaria, and more naval vessels around the Black Sea and Mediterranean should they be needed, Wallace says.

He adds the UK is already deploying up to 350 troops to Poland to carry out training exercises alongside the Poles.

But the defence secretary says all of these deployments would be "defensive not offensive".