Key points
- US secretary of state Marco Rubio flies in for Ukraine talks with Emmanuel Macron
- Michael Clarke: Why Paris meeting is sign of hope
- Adam Parsons: Rubio's visit comes at time of fraught relations
- Child killed in drone attack by Putin's forces
- 'Put pressure on the killers,' Zelenskyy urges allies
- Live reporting by Mark Wyatt
US-France talks begin in Paris
We didn't see him on the tarmac alongside Marco Rubio earlier (see 9.05am post), but US special envoy Steve Witkoff is indeed in Paris for talks with European officials.
We've just seen him sitting opposite Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, as well as several other officials.
A little earlier and just a stone's throw away on the steps of the Elysee Palace, more European officials posed for a picture.
Bonne appeared alongside Ukraine's presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and defence minister Rustem Umerov.
Jonathan Powell, the UK national security adviser, and his German counterpart Jens Plotner were also in attendance.
'Put pressure on the killers,' Zelenskyy urges allies
As US and European officials meet in Paris today, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukraine's allies to "put pressure on the killers" after further Russian attacks overnight left three people dead.
Posting on Telegram, Ukraine's president mourned the loss of the three people who were killed in Dnipro after Russia's drone strike there.
He said that every defence package for Ukraine was "literally protecting lives" as "Russia uses every day and every night to kill".
"We must put pressure on the killers and help life to end this war and guarantee a reliable peace," he said.
"I want to thank all partners who use their capabilities in this way. Wars are stopped by force - force against the aggressor, force in the defence of life."
Rubio's European visit comes at time of fraught relations
Today's talks between US and Europe officials in Paris will no doubt be fraught with ill-feeling.
AsEurope correspondent Adam Parsonsexplains, relations between the US and Europe are "pretty lousy" at the moment as "a lot of European leaders don't trust the White House".
He says Donald Trump's recent sweeping tariff announcements have added to the souring relationship, as have his attempts to negotiate with Russia without Europe without any results.
"There is a feeling that he is a capricious president, making decisions off the cuff and excluding European leaders," Parsons says.
He adds that French President Emmanuel Macron will want to seek clarity from US secretary of state Marco Rubio over where America's loyalties are at.
"They're very worried that the US is cosying up to Russia and there's evidence of that."
Russian and Belarusian ambassadors not invited to German VE Day event
Germany has chosen not to invite the ambassadors of Russia and its close ally Belarus to a special sitting of parliament marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Representatives of other embassies will join German politicians in the Bundestag on 8 May to commemorate the end of the war and of Nazi Germany's campaign of violence and genocide in Europe.
Germany's decision highlights the discomfort Berlin faces over how to acknowledge the role Russia played in liberating Europe while addressing Vladimir Putin's continued attempts to draw on the legacy of the Second World War to justify his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin has often characterised Russia's war in Ukraine as a battle against nationalists and Nazis - who he says are leading the Kyiv government.
In pictures: Putin meets freed Gaza hostage
Vladimir Putin met Alexander Troufanov, a former Hamas hostage, at the Kremlin yesterday.
The Russian-Israeli spent 498 days in captivity in Gaza after being taken hostage during the 7 October attacks alongside his mother and fiancee, both of whom were released in an earlier deal.
In a video circulated in Russian state media, Putin presents flowers to Yelena and Sapir and shakes Sasha's hand.
Marco Rubio lands in Paris
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has just landed in Paris ahead of talks with Emmanuel Macron on ending the war in Ukraine.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff is also expected to join Rubio for those talks but was not seen on the tarmac.
Analysis: Why Paris meeting could be sign of hope
As we're reporting, two of Donald Trump's top national security aides are in Paris today for talks with Emmanuel Macron.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to hear European concerns about the war in Ukraine as America attempts to negotiate a peace deal.
Security and defence analyst Professor Michael Clarke says the fact that US officials are bringing their European counterparts into the fold after Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin last week could be a sign there is "something more specific, something more hopeful" for them to discuss.
Watch Clarke's full analysis here:
Russia launched five missiles and 75 drones in overnight attack, Ukraine says
Ukraine's air force says Vladimir Putin's forces launched five missiles and 75 drones at the country overnight.
It added that 25 drones were shot down and another 30 failed to reach their targets, likely due to Ukraine's use of electronic warfare to misdirect them.
It did not specify what happened to the remaining 20 drones, or the missiles.
Earlier, we reported on a Russian drone attack that the regional governor of Dnipro said killed three people and injured at least 30 (see 6.35am post).
In pictures: Firefighters tackle blazes after Russian drone attack
Pictures show the destruction wrought by Russian drones on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, where at least three people have been killed and 30 injured.
Firefighters were photographed tackling blazes trigged by the blasts in buildings and cars.
Moscow plans to use seized US-owned company to feed Russian army, letter shows
Russia plans to use an American-owned company seized by the Kremlin to supply food to the Russian army, according to a letter from the firm to Russia's prosecutor general.
The correspondence, seen by Reuters, said the canned food maker Glavprodukt was taken under state control in October to ensure future supplies to the national guard and defence ministry.
Glavprodukt was seized from Los Angeles-based Leonid Smirnov, who Russian prosecutors have accused Smirnov of moving about 1.38 billion roubles ($17m) out of Russia from 2022 to 2024, the RBC daily reported in March.
A hearing is scheduled for 18 April. Smirnov denies wrongdoing and says the lawsuit is a "Russian-style corporate raid" to steal his company.
The letter said the Russian state hasappointed Glavprodukt's new director general at the request of food producer Druzhba Narodov,the sole supplier to Russia's national guard for 2019-20.
A person familiar with the matter said that Glavprodukt never previously supplied Russia's army.
