Stoltenberg says Nato allies are co-ordinating efforts when it comes to energy security.

This includes diversifying sources of supply and reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas.

Asked about China, he says Nato's message is they should join the rest of the world in condemning the "brutal war against Ukraine" and not support Russia with economic or military support.

Stoltenberg spells out what Nato has agreed to do further to help Ukraine.

He says there is a "new security reality".

On land, there will be substantially more forces in the Eastern part of the alliance at a higher state of readiness. In the air, more jets will be deployed, and at sea, there will be carrier strike groups, submarines and combat ships on a persistent basis.

And as well as more military supplies, cyber defences are being strengthened too and Nato will also help Ukraine defend itself against nuclear and biological threats.

Leaders of the Western military alliance Nato have agreed to strengthen their defences in the east in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We have activated Nato's defence plans, deployed elements of the Nato Response Force, and placed 40,000 troops on our eastern flank," they announced in a joint statement, external following talks in Brussels.

Alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg earlier said four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

Image source, Nato

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg begins his news conference, saying the Russian invasion is the biggest threat to security in generation.

People of Ukraine have shown courage and determination fighting for their freedom and future.

"We stand with them," he says.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg's news conference is now under way.

Stay with us for all the latest updates.

President of the European Council Charles Michel has been speaking in Brussels, where Nato heads have been meeting.

He says Putin "must be defeated" and in order for that to happen, "we need to support Ukraine as much as possible" - including by implementing sanctions.

Nato, G7 countries and EU members are working together and are "rock solid, united", because "this war must stop" so that international law and diplomatic principles are protected, he adds.

We're expecting to hear from Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg this lunchtime.

Will Vernon
BBC News, Moscow

Image source, Reuters

Russian TV has shown (mute) pictures apparently showing President Putin holding a Security Council meeting today with top officials, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Shoigu had not been seen in public since 11 March, and there were rumours that the minister was sick or had even been arrested.

Earlier, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Putin would be holding a Security Council meeting today, and was also asked about the whereabouts of Shoigu.

He said the minister "has a lot of things to take care of, there is a military operation. No time for media activity".

What does President Biden want?published at 12:43 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2022

12:43 GMT 24 March 2022

Sarah Smith
North America Editor

Image source, Reuters

Travelling to Brussels on Air Force One, I asked the president’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan what he wanted to hear from UK, Nato and EU leaders.

“I think what we would like to hear is that the resolve and unity that we've seen for the past month will endure for as long as it takes," he told me. "That's at a topline.”

Saying that means following through on commitments to military aid for Ukraine, enforcing economic sanctions against Russia and stepping up to address the humanitarian crisis.

And crucially, he said: “That Nato, as an alliance, puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to actually defending every inch of Nato territory.”

This war will fundamentally reshape Nato as the defensive alliance turns east to face the threat from Russia, with more troops in eastern Europe as well as more money and additional forces coming from Nato member countries. This is something the US had been pressing for long before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Further sanctions against Russia are on the table today too. But they will only work if Europe can wean itself off dependency on Russian oil and gas.

Expect to hear promises of shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) coming from the US to help in the short term. That’s what President Biden can deliver. But in return he wants to know that European countries have a long term plan to get energy supplies from elsewhere.

The Kremlin has said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the most active anti-Russian leader, but that London's approach would lead to a dead end.

"As for Mr Johnson, we see him as the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian," RIA news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

"It will lead to a foreign policy dead end."

Earlier today, the UK announced sanctions on 65 more groups and individuals, including a private military firm and a major Russian bank.

The latest timings we have is that the Nato news conference is expected in the next half hour. We'll bring you live coverage when it starts.

While we wait for the Nato news conference, here's a reminder of how the military alliance works.

The organisation was originally formed in 1949 by 12 countries but has grown to a club of 30 – including former communist countries in eastern Europe.

The key element of the alliance is that members agree to come to one another's aid in the event of an armed attack on individual member state.

Nato originally offered Ukraine a path towards membership in 2008 – but this hasn't happened, mainly because of Russia's opposition.

In fact, one of Moscow's demands before the invasion was that Ukraine should never be allowed to join.

As Ukraine isn't a Nato member, the alliance is not obliged to come to the country's defence. Members don't want to send troops to Ukraine, but have sent arms to the country – and are also planning to bolster forces in eastern Europe.

Read more here.

We're expecting to hear from Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg shortly, as the military alliance gathers in Brussels for a summit in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Stoltenberg has said that Nato leaders need to discuss a "security reset", with the alliance ready to approve a major increase in forces in eastern Europe.

Four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania to shore up the alliance's eastern flank.

Stay with us for full coverage of the news conference.

Image source, Ukrainian Navy

If you're just joining us, here are some of the latest developments as we reach one month into Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

• Leaders of the Western military alliance Nato are meeting for emergency talks on the next steps in responding to Moscow's war. The summit in Brussels has been described as one of the most important in the alliance's history
• The meeting will approve the deployment of thousands more troops to eastern Europe - to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania - in an effort to bolster Nato's eastern flank
• Addressing the summit, Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky praised the bravery of Ukrainians but repeated calls "to help shield our sky" from Russian strikes
• He also said, without providing evidence, that Russia had used phosphorus bombs. He did not specify where in the country
• Meanwhile, Ukraine's navy says it has destroyed a Russian ship in the occupied Ukrainian port city of Berdyansk
• The UK has announced new sanctions against 65 more Russian individuals and organisations, including the Wagner Group of mercenaries

Nick Beake
BBC News, Brussels

Image source, Reuters

The Stars and Stripes are flying at half mast at Nato headquarters in tribute to Madeleine Albright, the former US secretary of state from 1997 - 2001.

Inside, we saw America’s current foreign policy chief Anthony Blinken walking the corridors of power, off to talks with allies.

Today is all about projecting a picture of a strong, united Western military alliance which is standing up to President Putin.

But what impact will this carefully choreographed day of meetings in Brussels have? Can it change the course of this war and the fate of the Ukrainian people who have now suffered a month of brutal Russian attack?

Hugo Bachega
BBC News, Lviv

A month into the war, there's destruction and suffering almost everywhere in this country. But no place has seen the horrors of Russia's unprovoked aggression like Mariupol.

The invading troops have surrounded the city and attacked it with no mercy, from air, land and, in recent days, also from the sea.

Almost nothing seems to have been left untouched. Street after street, building after building, the city lies in ruins.

And amid those ruins, 100,000 people are still trapped, subjected to a medieval-like siege.

There is no electricity, no gas, no running water. Some have melted snow to drink. Reports say children have died from dehydration.

Bodies are being left in the streets, as it's too dangerous for people to go out and get them. When they're finally collected, some end up buried in mass graves.

Ukrainian forces are fighting hard to keep this city in their hands. The fear, in Mariupol and elsewhere, is that if the Russians can't have it, they will do everything to destroy it.

More now on reports from Ukrainian officials that a Russian landing ship has been destroyed and two other boats damaged in the occupied Ukrainian port city of Berdyansk.

Video posted by the navy and on social media showed explosions and a big ship on fire at the port, about 70km (44 miles) west of Mariupol, at 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Thursday.

The Ukrainian military said its forces had struck a Russian vessel called the Orsk.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar later told Ukrainian TV that the military had hit a "huge target", capable of carrying 20 tanks, 45 armoured vehicles and 400 troops.

The BBC cannot independently verify the claim.

Russian army TV hailed the arrival of the Orsk in Berdyansk last week as an "epic event" as it was the first Russian warship to dock in Berdyansk.

Drone footage filmed by a Russian state TV reporter last week showed an armoured personnel carrier being offloaded from the Orsk in the port. The armoured vehicles were to be used to reinforce Russian troops, the TV report added.

Read more on this story here.

President Zelensky also asked members of the alliance if they were confident that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty would work if Russia attacked Nato. Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an attack on a Nato member country is an attack on all of Nato.

And he called on the alliance not to declare to Ukraine that its army does not meet Nato standards:

Zelensky accuses Russia of using phosphorus bombs this morning. "Again, children were dying, people were dying," he told Nato.

He did not provide any evidence or say where the attack took place.

Zelensky says he has been asking for air support "to help shield our sky" from the very beginning as Ukraine has no powerful anti-aircraft defences.

He said Russia was using weapons of mass destruction and the consequences were clear to see.

"We are on unequal terms for over a month," he said, calling for military support without limitation in order to save Ukraine's people and towns.

He says Russia is using all its arsenal with no limits - targeting residential towns, hospitals and bridges.

So far Ukraine has not received a single plane, says the president. He also says he has been appealing for tanks - "give them to us, sell them to us" - but is yet to get a clear answer about these from Nato members.

"Ukraine doesn't want to wage wars for years and years," he says. "We simply want to survive, to save our people."

But he says he is not blaming Nato. It's not their missiles destroying cities, he adds. The alliance can still help avoid further deaths by providing Ukraine with more munitions, says Zelensky.

It is a matter of life and death, he says.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been addressing the Nato summit via videolink.

He says he feels his country is caught in "some grey zone between the West and Russia" as it is not a part of the alliance yet but is "defending our joint values".

It has been a month of "heroic defence" and "a terrible dark month of destruction".

He says Ukraine has been holding on bravely - but at the cost of "thousands of lives, ruined cities, and almost 10 million relocated people".