Sir Keir Starmer says "there must be a US backstop" for a lasting peace agreement in Ukraine, after European leaders met in Paris for an emergency summit on Ukraine
The UK prime minister says "this is a once in a generation moment for the collective security of Europe"
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Europe and the US must work together on security, and Polish PM Donald Tusk says there should be no decisions about Ukraine without its involvement
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says there's no role for Europe in any peace talks, speaking before heading to Saudi Arabia for talks on Ukraine with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Ukraine's President Zelensky is also in Saudi this week, but says he's not involved in the US-Russia talks
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – Zelensky says at least 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed defending the country
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Watch: There must be a US backstop to deter Russia – Starmer
Edited by Emily McGarvey and James Harness, with Liza Fokht reporting from Paris
We're wrapping up our live coverage for now.
But before we go here's a reminder of what happened today, as European leaders met in Paris for an emergency summit on Ukraine, ahead of US-Russia talks:
Further reading: Starmer says US 'backstop' needed for Ukraine peace deal
We'll be back tomorrow to bring you the latest from the US talks with Russia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Join us then.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is prepared to send UK peacekeeping troops to Ukraine if there is a lasting peace deal but he refused to talk specifics when asked a little earlier.
Fortunately for us, we've got the next best thing – Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko were joined by Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, to discuss this question on Ukrainecast.
Joe Pike
Political correspondent
Today’s meeting in Paris overran by 90 minutes. We have not been told why.
President Macron decided the summit should be ‘leaders only’ throughout – no diplomats or advisers were allowed in the room.
I’m told Sir Keir Starmer offered to host a follow up meeting of European leaders. This is expected after he travels to Washington next week to meet US President Trump.
The UK prime minister is keen to play a leadership role in Europe’s response to Ukraine.
His advisers say he is perfectly placed to act as a bridge between the US and EU. It is unclear what Donald Trump thinks of that proposal.
Marianna and Sarah join Matt Chorley to talk about the changing relationship between the US and NATO under the new Trump administration.
WE also talk to 5 Live listeners about Project 2025, the state of the US media, and how the Democrats are resisting Trump this time around.
BBC Visual Journalism Team
Europe has relied on billions of dollars of US aid to help Ukraine.
When measured as a share of total wealth, however, the sum of US aid to Ukraine is comparatively low compared to many allies.
Washington’s contributions account for 0.5% of its GDP.
Some of Ukraine’s smaller allies including Denmark and Baltic states bordering Russia – Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia – in contrast are committing more than 1% of GDP to the war – a far bigger proportion of their overall wealth.
The UK and Germany have also contributed up to 0.5% of their GDP to support Ukraine, and countries like Spain and Italy allocated only 0.1% of their wealth.
This could prove a defining week for the war in Ukraine, with two sets of hastily arranged talks taking place in Paris and Riyadh.
European leaders gathered in France on Monday as they scramble for a response to Donald Trump's plan to open negotiations with Vladimir Putin for an end to the conflict.
On Tuesday Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet in the Saudi capital.
Ukraine is not attending either set of talks.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls more than a fifth of its territory, mainly in the south and east.
Donald Tusk speaks to reporters after an emergency summit in Paris
European leaders have been speaking after their meeting today in Paris over the future of Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says there should be no decisions made without Ukraine and Europe, and described it as a new stage of transatlantic relations.
The war in Ukraine must not spread to other countries, the Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen says.
She warns that a fast ceasefire could give Russia the chance to remobilise and attack Ukraine or another European country.
The EU's President Ursula von der Leyen says the talks "reaffirmed that Ukraine deserves peace through strength".
"Europe carries its full share of the military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time we need a surge in defence in Europe," she says. Liza Fokht
BBC Russian service, reporting from Paris
European Council President Antonio Costa (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) were among leaders at the summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris
European leaders gathered in Paris today to present a united front and prove to both Washington and Moscow that they deserve a seat at the table in negotiations over the future of Ukraine and their own continent.
We don’t know what was discussed behind closed doors, but early reports suggest that Europe remains divided on key security guarantees for Ukraine – including the possibility of sending peacekeepers if a ceasefire is reached.
This only strengthens Russia’s position, as it is clearly determined to negotiate Ukraine’s fate without any involvement from European capitals.
If European leaders want to convince Russia's Vladimir Putin that they deserve to be equal participants in discussions about the war in Ukraine, they are going to have to show they won’t abandon Kyiv, whatever the US decides.
It's evening now in Paris, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine, three of the places that have been key in today's development's on the war in Ukraine.
Starmer is also asked about his remarks that he would be willing to send UK peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, including if there had been any planning on how many troops would be needed and what their role would be.
"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here," Starmer says, saying discussions haven't even started yet and goes on to speak about the need for a lasting peace.
Following his statement, Starmer is taking questions from the media.
The prime minister is asked if the US has undermined the UK, Europe and Ukraine by unilaterally starting talks with Russia.
Starmer says the US wants lasting peace, which is what the UK, European allies and Ukraine want.
He adds it is important that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position if talks begin or if fighting continues. He also reiterates the need for a "US backstop".
Starmer says security guarantees "must be part of a package with US backing because otherwise I don't think they will operate effectively as guarantees because they won't be an effective deterrence".
Asked what the US backstop means, Starmer says the discussions are in the very early stages and goes on to speak about the principle of "peace through strength".
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'Europe must have a secure future' – Starmer
We can now bring you further comments from Keir Starmer who says there must be a "US backstop" after peace is secured in Ukraine.
Starmer says this is because a "US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again".
Starmer says he will go to Washington next week to meet Trump and discuss "what we see as the key elements of a lasting peace".
He says "we envisage a further meeting with European colleagues when I return from the US", and he will speak to Zelensky in the coming days.
"We have to recognise the new era that we are in, not cling hopelessly to the comforts of the past. It's time for us to take responsibility for our security, for our continent," he says, adding he's made it clear Britain will take a "leading responsibility".
On Ukraine "we're at the very early stage of the process", he says, adding "Europe must play its role", reiterating he's willing to consider committing UK forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been speaking to broadcasters after European leaders attended an emergency summit about Ukraine in Paris.
He says "at stake is not just the future of Ukraine, it is an existential question for Europe as a whole" and so vital for Britain's national interest.
This is a once in a generation moment for the collective security of Europe, he says, adding only a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty will deter Putin from further aggression in the future.
Recent statements by the US administration should not come as a surprise, he says, adding President Trump has long expressed the wish for Europe to step up and meet the demands of its own security and that he wants to get a lasting peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
Today's meeting was a "vital first step in responding to that challenge", Starmer says.
We can now bring you the latest images from Paris as European leaders leave the emergency summit on the war in Ukraine at the Elysee Palace.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni leaves following a meeting with European leaders on Ukraine
Earlier the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send troops to Ukraine as a "security guarantee"
French President Emmanuel Macron (right) walks with Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as she leaves the summit in ParisVitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor
Russian state TV is overjoyed with how things are going.
"Zelensky is down, Europe is out,” says the presenter of the flagship weekly news review programme on Rossiya 1, as the caption next to Zelensky’s photo says: “He’s toxic”.
Over on the 60 Minutes talk show, commentator Nikolai Starikov admits his wildest dreams have been surpassed: “Things are moving so fast that yesterday’s biggest optimists now look like pessimists now.”
By Richard Irvine-Brown
Following the damage seen in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Sunday,videos appearing overnight into Monday morning have shown destruction in the Krasnodar region of Russia.
Two videos we have verified show the premises of a construction company on fire on the E97 road into Dzhugba, 115km up the coast from Sochi, Russia.
There are further reports, across Ukrainian and Russian media, that the oil refinery at Il’skii and the pumping station near Kropotkin, both in Krasnodar, have been struck.
We are reviewing images of both and the potential disruption to the Caspian oil pipeline. At present, one video filmed over the rooftops on the outskirts of Il'skii certainly shows an explosion in the centre of the town and not the refinery about 4km to the east.
Construction company premises on fire, Dzhugba, Krasnodar, Russia, overnight
One of two explosions at a Mykolaiv power plant, shown in overnight drone footage
By Richard Irvine-Brown
On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said damage from a strike by a Russian Shahed drone would leave 100,000 people in the city of Mykolaiv without heating.
Footage shared by Radio Liberty – a US government-funded organisation which broadcasts news in areas of the world where free press may be restricted – showed extensive damage to many shops and apartments.
We have verified that it was filmed along Mykolaiv‘s Central Avenue and first published yesterday.
Meanwhile, night-vision drone footage shared on Russian Telegram showed explosions and fires which we have pinpointed to the Mykolaiv Central Heating and Power Plant.
However, a post by the former deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine regarding the incident included an image of a damaged industrial interior, which was first used 10 months ago by several news outlets and taken at an undisclosed location.
Kumar Malhotra
BBC Verify
The US accounts for nearly 43% of all aid allocated to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, external. This amounts to about $120bn and includes all humanitarian, financial and military aid.
Europe as a whole has sent more aid to Ukraine than the US.
Funding through EU institutions accounted for just over 18%, with the largest amounts of additional bilateral aid provided by Germany (6.5%) and the UK (5.5%) up to the end of 2024.
Looking at just military support for Ukraine, the US once again dominates funding, providing 49.4% of all spending since January 2022.
Germany provided nearly 10% and the UK has given nearly 8% up to the end of December 2024.
Danny Aeberhard
Europe regional editor, BBC World Service
Ursula von der Leyen wants an immediate shift in both mindset and defence preparedness from European powers – but, even that might be too slow.
Europe expected a more aggressive, America-first stance from the Trump administration. But it's struggling to catch up with the extent of this, and Washington's apparent willingness to reach compromises with Russia about Ukraine, regardless of the impact on Europe's security.
Affronted, European nations might like to push back. Not doing so may pose a risk of having to swallow an indigestible – possibly unsustainable – peace that they then might have to enforce.
Pushing back too hard, though, risks turning fissures in the transatlantic alliance into a wider rupture.
And Europe's leverage is limited, with relatively constrained military capacity, after decades of relying on America's security umbrella.
We can now bring you footage from earlier today when European leaders convened in Paris to discuss the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who called for the emergency summit, welcomed the leaders at the Elysee Palace as US and Russian officials are set to meet in Riyadh on Tuesday.
It appears the meeting has now ended and we'll bring you the latest comments from European leaders as soon as we get them.
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Watch: European leaders arrive at Elysee Palace for Ukraine summit
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