Closing summary
We are now closing the Ukraine rolling coverage. Here is a summary of events:
Talks between the US and Ukraine are due to take place in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, before similar discussions between the US and Russia tomorrow.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday he expected “some real progress” at the talks in Saudi Arabia, “particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries, and from that you’ll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire”.
Bloomberg is reporting that the Trump administration is aiming to secure a broad truce agreement between Russia and Ukraine by April 20.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said “difficult negotiations” lie ahead and that “we are only at the beginning of this path”.
Russia launched a barrage of drones across Ukraine overnight, striking Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa and the Donetsk regions, as well as the capital Kyiv, according to officials.
Three people, including a 5-year-old child, were killed and 10 others were injured in a drone attack on Kyiv, the city’s military administration said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian attacks across his country continue to be a “daily reality” despite the partial ceasefire agreed to last week. “New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to bring an end to these strikes and this war,” he wrote in a post on X.
Russian troops reportedly seized the small village of Sribne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, while Ukraine’s army said its troops had recaptured a small village called Nadia in the eastern Luhansk region.
This blog is closing now. Thanks for following along. You can read all our Ukraine coverage here.
British prime minister Keir Starmer and the Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof spoke today about Ukraine over the phone, Downing Street has said.
Downing Street said in a press release:
The prime minister reflected on his attendance at the UK permanent joint headquarters on Thursday, noting the impressive military co-ordination taking place and looking ahead to further planning meetings this week.
Both also agreed that continued political momentum and action, driven by the members of the Coalition of the Willing, is vital to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for a secure and lasting peace.
Moving on to discuss wider European defence and security, the leaders agreed that all countries must step up to meet the mounting threats we face.
They added that much closer co-operation on our defensive capabilities will be vitally important in the coming decades in order to protect Europe and secure its future.
The so-called “coalition of the willing”, led by the UK and France, could see troops from some European and Nato countries deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers to deter future Russian aggression.
Starmer’s spokesperson said on Friday that Britain will accelerate plans next week for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
The UK’s prime minister has said that, in order to deter Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine again, there must be a security “backstop” from a reluctant Washington, whose forces, weaponry and logistics are the backbone of the Nato alliance.
Updated
US believes Ukraine war ceasefire could be agreed by Easter - report
Bloomberg is reporting that the Trump administration is aiming to secure a broad truce agreement between Russia and Ukraine by Easter.
The outlet reports that the White House is aiming for a truce agreement by 20 April - Easter in both the western and orthodox churches this year.
But the White House is said to acknowledge that this timeline is ambitious given the large gaps between Ukraine and Russia in the ceasefire negotiations.
Here is an extract from the Bloomberg report, the contents of which we have not yet verified:
Russia has set out maximalist demands for any agreement, including an end to arms supplies for Ukraine, a position that Kyiv and its allies have rejected.
The White House, which briefly halted the vital weapons deliveries earlier this month to put pressure on Ukraine, hasn’t agreed to any limits so far, the people (sources) said.
Updated
Rowena Mason is the Guardian’s Whitehall editor
The UK is to “accelerate the pace and scale” of its military planning to be ready to support Ukraine, with No 10 saying all options, including troops on the ground, are possible.
Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said last week thousands of troops would be needed to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire and agreement to end the war with Russia, whether by “sea, on land or in the air”.
“We will continue to accelerate the pace and scale of operational planning with further meetings at our Northwood headquarters as we look closer at the detail and structure of any future force,” he said on Friday.
“As we look at force structures, we need to consider the best capabilities to meet the specific threats that Ukraine faces. Not all the countries in the coalition will have capabilities for Ukraine but might have the capability for other deployments which would free up other nations to deploy to Ukraine.”
The intensive UK planning across three days next week is likely to consider whether British troops could be moved from current deployments to support Ukraine, with troops from other nations backfilling the existing UK deployments.
You can read the full story here:
Ukraine army says it has recaptured a village in Luhansk region
Ukraine’s army has said its troops have recaptured a small village called Nadia in the eastern Luhansk region, in a rare battlefield success for Kyiv’s forces in an area that Russia has almost fully captured since invading in 2022.
Ukraine’s land forces said it had “liberated the village of Nadia in Lugansk region” in a 30-hour operation that saw it retake three square kilometres of territory. We have not been able to independently verify this information yet.
The village is situated about three kilometers from the border of the Kharkiv region; it was captured by Russia in March 2022, a month after the full-scale invasion was launched, then recaptured by Ukraine in October 2022 before being occupied a second time.
“The capture of Nadia cost the enemy two months of effort and two wiped out mechanized regiments - the 752nd and 254th 20th Russian Army,” Andriy Biletsky, commander of the third army corps, said on Sunday.
Summary of the day so far...
As the time approaches 4pm in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, here’s a roundup of today’s news.
Talks between the US and Ukraine are due to take place in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, before similar discussions between the US and Russia tomorrow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said “difficult negotiations” lie ahead and that “we are only at the beginning of this path”.
The US’ special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said Vladimir Putin did not “want to take all of Europe”, as he dismissed comparisons with the second world war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said “new pressure” was needed to halt daily Russian attacks on Ukraine, as an overnight drone attack killed three people in Kyiv.
Shelling killed three people on Saturday in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk.
Meanwhile Russian troops seized the small village of Sribne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
Six people injured in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia on Saturday night remain in hospital.
Russia launched 147 drones overnight across Ukraine and the country’s air defence shot down 97 drones, Ukraine’s air force has reported.
Updated
Donald Trump has told US sports website Outkick that the war in Ukraine is “somewhat under control”, and that he has a good relationship with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to the website aboard Air Force One, Trump said he was worried the conflict could lead to “World War Three”.
He said: “I’d like to see if we could stop the soldiers being killed – even though they’re not American soldiers – although it could – a thing like that, could lead to World War III.
“I think it’s somewhat under control. I have a good relationship with President Putin and, actually, a good relationship with President Zelenskyy too.
“It’d be a great thing to be able to stop it. And I will say this, nobody else would have been able to.”
Trump said he’d had “rational discussions” with Putin, and that only the US President could stop him.
He said: “I don’t think there’s anybody in the world that going to stop [Putin], except me, and I think I’m going to be able to stop him.
“We’ve had some very rational discussions, and I just want to see the people stop getting killed. They’re losing 2,500 young kids a week, and they’re Russian and they’re Ukrainian.”
Updated
The US’ special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said the situation facing Europe is different to the second world war, and Vladimir Putin does not want to expand across the continent.
In comments reported by Reuters, Witkoff said he expected “a lot more progress” in the talks due to take place this evening in Saudi Arabia.
He said Putin did not want to “take all of Europe”, and said it was a “much different situation” to the second world war.
Witkoff told US broadcaster Tucker Carlson on Saturday night that the plan by Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders for an international force to support a ceasefire was a “posture and pose”.
“I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy,” he said. “He’s super smart.”
A meeting between US and Ukrainian officials on Sunday evening will take place before a similar meeting between the US and Russia on Monday.
The Ukrainian delegation at Sunday’s meeting will be led by defence minister Rustem Umerov, Reuters reports. The talks are expected to be “purely technical”.
Updated
A woman was killed in the Russian border village of Novostroyevka-Pervaya in the Belgorod region when a Ukrainian drone hit a car in which she was travelling, officials said.
The driver, the woman’s daughter, was also seriously injured in the attack, said local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Updated
“On Monday we mainly intend to discuss President Putin’s agreement to resume the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be ready to discuss the nuances around this problem,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV.
Russia pulled out of the Turkish-brokered deal, which had enabled Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, in July 2023, accusing the west of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia’s own exports of agricultural products and fertilisers.
It meant Moscow stopped granting safe passage to cargo ships going to and from Ukraine, and the country’s grain exports subsequently slumped.
You can read more about the deal and its economic significance in this explainer.
Kremlin says 'difficult negotiations' lay ahead in Ukraine-Russia ceasefire talks
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has been speaking to Russian state TV ahead of the US’s separate ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia with Ukraine and Russia at meetings over Sunday and Monday.
He was quoted as saying “we are only at the beginning of this path”, adding that negotiations with Washington tomorrow would be “difficult” and that Moscow’s “main” focus would be on a possible resumption of a deal to ensure safe navigation for commercial vessels in the Black Sea.
Following the Trump-Putin call last week, the White House said the two leaders agreed that “the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire”, followed by negotiations over a “maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace”.
A fast US brokered ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely for many reasons. Putin has said any talks must address what he frames as “the root causes” of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, primarily his concerns around an expanding Nato alliance. Ukraine has made membership of the alliance a key strategic aim that it says would help protect the country in the event of future Russian aggression.
Putin also said during his call with Trump that any long-term deal would require an ending of intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv from its allies. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the call that Ukraine’s allies would never agree to such a move, adding that he hopes supplies will continue.
Updated
What can we expect to be discussed during the ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia?
My colleagues Pjotr Sauer, Shaun Walker and Andrew Roth have filed this report on what we can expect when delegations from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday for further so-called peace talks. Here is an extract from their story:
Ukraine will have a delegation in Riyadh on the same day the US is holding ceasefire talks there with a Russian negotiating team led by a secretive former FSB chief who played a key role in planning Vladimir Putin’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the delegation would meet with US representatives on Monday and supply a list of energy infrastructure that would be off-limits for strikes by the Russian military. The US representatives would then meet the Russian negotiating team, Zelenskyy said on Thursday.
The Ukrainian announcement indicates the US could shuttle between the two sides to try to achieve Donald Trump’s goal of a quick ceasefire. But both Russia and Ukraine have already disputed the White House’s accounts of their earlier talks with the US president, indicating Trump may have misrepresented the progress of the talks – and his chances of striking a quick deal to halt the war.
Moscow announced on Thursday that Sergei Beseda, the former head of the FSB spy agency’s fifth directorate – who oversaw intelligence operations in Ukraine and orchestrated the recruitment of collaborators before the full-scale invasion – would travel to Riyadh for Monday’s talks with the US.
Both sides said the talks in Saudi Arabia were aimed at finalising a limited ceasefire deal agreed this week, and initiating negotiations on a maritime ceasefire…
Zelenskyy has accused Russia of making “unnecessary demands” that will drag out the war, and said Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure had not stopped despite Putin’s claims about his readiness to halt them.
Moscow doubled down on Thursday on its insistence that a requirement for serious peace talks would be the complete cessation of both foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence to Kyiv.
Six people injured in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia on Saturday night remain in hospital, the head of the southern city’s regional military administration Ivan Fedorov wrote in a Telegram post.
“Among them is a nine-month-old boy. Doctors assess the condition of the victims as moderate. All are receiving the necessary medical care,” he said.
Fedorov had previously said Russian drone attacks launched on Zaporizhzhia on Friday evening had killed three people, including a 17-year-old girl.
Updated
As well as Kyiv, the overnight Russian attacks were reported to have struck the Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa and Donetsk regions.
Zelenskyy urges allies to put 'new pressure' on Russia to bring an end to 'daily reality' of attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russian attacks across his country continue to be a “daily reality” despite the partial ceasefire agreed to last week. He referenced the overnight drone attack on Kyiv, in which at least 3 people were killed, and a Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia which reportedly killed a family of three late on Friday evening.
Zelenskyy, paying his condolences to the victims of the attacks ahead of the ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia, wrote in a post on X:
These attacks are a daily reality. This week alone, over 1,580 guided aerial bombs, nearly 1,100 strike drones, and 15 missiles of various types were used against our people.
All of this weaponry contains at least 102,000 foreign components. That’s why sanctions against Russian terrorists must be more effective. Every loophole that allows them to bypass the sanctions regime must be eliminated.
New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to bring an end to these strikes and this war. We must strengthen Ukraine and our army – with more air defense systems and real support. I thank all partners who understand this and continue to support Ukraine.
Russian forces capture settlement in eastern Ukraine - report
Russian troops seized the small village of Sribne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing the defence ministry.
Sribne is located southwest of Pokrovsk, the industrial city which, if taken by Russia, will deprive the Ukrainian military of a vital supply and transport hub.
Russian shelling kills three people in Pokrovsk - governor
Russian shelling killed three people on Saturday in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, the regional governor confirmed in a Telegram post this morning.
Pokrovsk has been under attack for months as the former mining city in the eastern Donetsk region is seen as a strategically important logistics hub.
But Ukraine’s military has reported success in recent weeks in holding back Russian forces in the area.
On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where he met commanders of drone units near Pokrovsk.
“I visited the command post of the Tactical Group Pokrovsk and met with the commanders of the Drone Line, which united the finest unmanned systems units of the armed forces of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.
“I received a report on the defense of the Pokrovsk direction, the operational situation, and the progress of the missions. I honored our warriors with state awards.”
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming out of the Kyiv following the deadly Russian drone attacks launched overnight:
Russia’s ministry of defence said earlier today it had shot down 59 Ukrainian drones across a number of regions in the south, and in Crimea, which is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, despite Russia’s illegal annexation of it in 2014.
Russian forces launched 147 drones overnight across Ukraine and the country’s air defence shot down 97 drones, Ukraine’s air force has reported. The previous day, the air defence shot down 100 drones launched by Moscow, and 114 drones the day before that.
The Kremlin said last week it had agreed to a US-proposed partial ceasefire, with Vladimir Putin agreeing to halt strikes on Ukrainian energy targets for 30 days, after a lengthy phone call with US President Donald Trump.
Despite the announcement, which was made as officials work towards a more comprehensive deal, Russian missile and drone attacks against Ukraine have continued.
My colleague Pjotr Sauer has written this useful explainer on when the ceasefire is expected to take effect and what happens if Russia or Ukraine breaks their word.
Russia launches deadly drone attack on Kyiv ahead of ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
At least three people were killed, including a five-year-old child, after Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s Kyiv city military administration gave the casualty figures and said at least 10 other people were injured, with the drones causing several fires throughout the city.
Two residential buildings in the district of Dnipro caught fire due to falling drone debris, while a fire broke out on the top floors of a 9-storey building in the capital, killing one woman, officials said.
“Today, the Russians are once again demonstrating their ‘desire for peace,’” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said.
“In reality, terrorists are simply launching deadly weapons at residential buildings.”
The attack came ahead of scheduled ceasefire talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia later today, which are to be led by Andrew Peek of the national security council and Michael Anton of the state department.
After US officials meet the Ukrainians this evening, they will meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Reuters reports. Ukrainian officials are expected to be at the talks involving US and Russian officials but would not be in the same room as the Russians.
At the talks, the Ukrainian delegation is expected to supply a list of energy infrastructure that would be off-limits for strikes by the Russian military.
Russian and US experts will also discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea, the Kremlin has said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy have already agreed to a partial ceasefire covering energy and civilian infrastructure – but both Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other of violating the agreement.
