European leaders have said they will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Those travelling include UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

It comes after Trump failed to reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

The US president has since said he wants to bypass securing a ceasefire in Ukraine in favour of a permanent peace agreement.

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine had been one of Trump's core demands before meeting Putin, but afterwards posted on social media that they "often times do not hold up" and that it would be better "to go directly to a peace agreement".

European leaders have reacted with caution to the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting, seeking not to criticise the change of direction despite their long-held support for a ceasefire.

Putin reportedly presented Trump with a peace offer that would require Ukraine withdrawing from the Donetsk region of the Donbas, in return for Russia freezing the front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Russia claims the Donbas as Russian territory, controlling most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk. It also illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The BBC's US partner CBS has reported, citing diplomatic sources, that European officials were concerned Trump may try to pressure Zelensky into agreeing to the possible terms discussed in Alaska when they meet on Monday.

Ukraine's president has previously ruled out ceding control of the Donbas - composed of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - saying it could be used as a springboard for future Russian attacks.

Von der Leyen, who is meeting Zelensky in Brussels on Sunday, wrote on X that she would join Zelensky at the White House at the Ukrainian president's request.

Macron, Rutte, Sir Keir, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni all followed in quick succession.

Downing Street said in a statement that it "follows the Prime Minister commending President Trump's efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, reasserting his position that the path to peace cannot be decided without President Zelensky".

Monday's White House meeting will be Zelensky's first since an acrimonious public exchange in the Oval Office in February, when Trump told him to be more "thankful" for US support and accused him of "gambling with World War Three" in front of the world's media.

In unprecedented scenes, Zelensky was told to leave the White House, but European leaders have since worked to repair the relationship.

The two leaders appeared to reconcile in April, in what the White House described as a "very productive" 15-minute meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral.

Ukraine has also signed a minerals deal that gave the US a financial stake in the country, and Kyiv made it clear they were willing to pay for US arms.

But there will have been concern in Kyiv and other European capitals following the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday.

The Russian president, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, stepped off his jet and onto a red carpet to be warmly received by Trump, who later said they had a "fantastic relationship".

Ukraine's ket demand has been a quick ceasefire so that talks on a longer-term settlement do not take place on the backdrop of continued fighting.

Zelensky said following the Alaska summit that a "real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions".

European leaders have managed to maintain good relations with Trump since his return to the White House, with Sir Keir building an especially warm relationship with the US president.

European leaders have said they will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Those travelling include UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

It comes after Trump failed to reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

The US president has since said he wants to bypass securing a ceasefire in Ukraine in favour of a permanent peace agreement.

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine had been one of Trump's core demands before meeting Putin, but afterwards posted on social media that they "often times do not hold up" and that it would be better "to go directly to a peace agreement".

European leaders have reacted with caution to the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting, seeking not to criticise the change of direction despite their long-held support for a ceasefire.

Putin reportedly presented Trump with a peace offer that would require Ukraine withdrawing from the Donetsk region of the Donbas, in return for Russia freezing the front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Russia claims the Donbas as Russian territory, controlling most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk. It also illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The BBC's US partner CBS has reported, citing diplomatic sources, that European officials were concerned Trump may try to pressure Zelensky into agreeing to the possible terms discussed in Alaska when they meet on Monday.

Ukraine's president has previously ruled out ceding control of the Donbas - composed of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - saying it could be used as a springboard for future Russian attacks.

Von der Leyen, who is meeting Zelensky in Brussels on Sunday, wrote on X that she would join Zelensky at the White House at the Ukrainian president's request.

Macron, Rutte, Sir Keir, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni all followed in quick succession.

Downing Street said in a statement that it "follows the Prime Minister commending President Trump's efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, reasserting his position that the path to peace cannot be decided without President Zelensky".

Monday's White House meeting will be Zelensky's first since an acrimonious public exchange in the Oval Office in February, when Trump told him to be more "thankful" for US support and accused him of "gambling with World War Three" in front of the world's media.

In unprecedented scenes, Zelensky was told to leave the White House, but European leaders have since worked to repair the relationship.

The two leaders appeared to reconcile in April, in what the White House described as a "very productive" 15-minute meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral.

Ukraine has also signed a minerals deal that gave the US a financial stake in the country, and Kyiv made it clear they were willing to pay for US arms.

But there will have been concern in Kyiv and other European capitals following the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday.

The Russian president, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, stepped off his jet and onto a red carpet to be warmly received by Trump, who later said they had a "fantastic relationship".

Ukraine's ket demand has been a quick ceasefire so that talks on a longer-term settlement do not take place on the backdrop of continued fighting.

Zelensky said following the Alaska summit that a "real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions".

European leaders have managed to maintain good relations with Trump since his return to the White House, with Sir Keir building an especially warm relationship with the US president.

Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Israel to call for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The largest crowd was seen in Tel Aviv's "Hostages Square" on Sunday, with the organisers saying the government's plans to seize control of Gaza City risked the lives of around 20 hostages still being held by Hamas.

A one-day national strike - part of wider protests - closed roads, offices and universities in some areas. Nearly 40 people were arrested during the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the protests, saying they would "harden Hamas's stance" and would only slow down the release of the hostages.

Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich also denounced the protests, describing them as a "harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas".

The national strike was demanded by the families of hostages and others opposed to the expansion of the war.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan and a leading figure in the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, said the group demanded "a comprehensive and achievable agreement and an end to the war".

"We demand what is rightfully ours - our children," she told the crowd in Tel Aviv. "The Israeli government has transformed a just war into a pointless war."

She was speaking after a video was released of her son.

"My heart burns with longing. My whole heart is scorched because of my Matan. Matan, I, an entire nation, we are doing everything we can for you, for all the hostages," she said.

The protests came a week after Israel's war cabinet voted to occupy Gaza City, the territory's largest city, and displace its population, in a move condemned by the UN Security Council.

Thousands of residents have since fled Gaza City's southern Zeitoun neighbourhood, where days of continuous Israeli bombardment have created a "catastrophic" situation, the city's Hamas-run municipality told the BBC.

At least 40 people were killed by Israeli attacks across the territory on Saturday, Gaza's civil defence agency said.

Hamas said in a statement that Israeli forces had been carrying out a "sustained offensive in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, particularly in Zeitoun".

The Israeli military said it would begin allowing tents to be brought into Gaza by aid agencies again.

"As part of the preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume," the Israeli military body Cogat said.

Israel plans to forcibly displace a million people from Gaza City to camps in the south but it has not provided an exact timetable of when its forces would enter Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to want the entire city under Israeli occupation from 7 October.

At least 1.9 million people in Gaza – or about 90% of the population – have already been displaced, according to the UN.

The international body has indicated there is widespread malnutrition in Gaza, with experts backed by the organisation warning last month in a report that the "worst-case scenario" of famine is playing out in the Strip.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

Three Republican-led US states will send members of their National Guard forces to Washington, DC to bolster the roughly 800 troops President Donald Trump has already deployed to the city.

West Virginia Governor Parick Morrisey said he would send 300-400 of the state's National Guard troops at Trump's request. South Carolina will send 200 troops, and Ohio will send 150 military police from their National Guard, their governors said.

Trump declared a "public safety emergency" on Monday, claiming the nation's capitol was gripped by "complete and total lawlessness."

Washington DC's elected officials have objected these claims, and hundreds of DC residents marched in protest on Saturday.

Agents from several federal law enforcement agencies have spent the week patrolling Washington's most populous and touristed areas alongside the National Guard troops.

Many in Washington DC, where 92% of residents voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, have expressed frustration with Trump's enforcement policy.

Residents have taken to filming federal officers as they patrol and over the weekend, the frustration expanded into peaceful protests against the administration.

Marchers congregated in Dupont Circle, a central hub in the city, and marched through the streets chanting "Free DC!" Some banged drums and rang bells as they marched.

Residents in Washington, DC have expressed concerns about crime in surveys, and a former employee of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was attacked and beaten in the city recently.

Trump has painted a portrait of the nation's capital as beset by "violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals."

But Mayor Muriel Bowser has rejected Trump's claims about rampant crime in the city. She acknowledged there had been a spike in crime in 2023 that has since dropped off.

Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) data shows homicides dropped by 32% between 2023 and 2024 and reached their lowest level since 2019.

Preliminary data shows violent crime overall is down 26% so far in 2025, compared to the same point in 2024, according to MPD data. Robbery is down 28%, BBC Verify reports.

The Trump administration initially tried to take command of the city's Metropolitan Police Department using the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, but rescinded the order after city officials took them to court.

However, Judge Ana Reyes said that Mayor Bowser was required to follow White House directives.

European leaders have said they will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Those travelling include UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

It comes after Trump failed to reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

The US president has since said he wants to bypass securing a ceasefire in Ukraine in favour of a permanent peace agreement.

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine had been one of Trump's core demands before meeting Putin, but afterwards posted on social media that they "often times do not hold up" and that it would be better "to go directly to a peace agreement".

European leaders have reacted with caution to the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting, seeking not to criticise the change of direction despite their long-held support for a ceasefire.

Putin reportedly presented Trump with a peace offer that would require Ukraine withdrawing from the Donetsk region of the Donbas, in return for Russia freezing the front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Russia claims the Donbas as Russian territory, controlling most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk. It also illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The BBC's US partner CBS has reported, citing diplomatic sources, that European officials were concerned Trump may try to pressure Zelensky into agreeing to the possible terms discussed in Alaska when they meet on Monday.

Ukraine's president has previously ruled out ceding control of the Donbas - composed of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - saying it could be used as a springboard for future Russian attacks.

Von der Leyen, who is meeting Zelensky in Brussels on Sunday, wrote on X that she would join Zelensky at the White House at the Ukrainian president's request.

Macron, Rutte, Sir Keir, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni all followed in quick succession.

Downing Street said in a statement that it "follows the Prime Minister commending President Trump's efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, reasserting his position that the path to peace cannot be decided without President Zelensky".

Monday's White House meeting will be Zelensky's first since an acrimonious public exchange in the Oval Office in February, when Trump told him to be more "thankful" for US support and accused him of "gambling with World War Three" in front of the world's media.

In unprecedented scenes, Zelensky was told to leave the White House, but European leaders have since worked to repair the relationship.

The two leaders appeared to reconcile in April, in what the White House described as a "very productive" 15-minute meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral.

Ukraine has also signed a minerals deal that gave the US a financial stake in the country, and Kyiv made it clear they were willing to pay for US arms.

But there will have been concern in Kyiv and other European capitals following the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday.

The Russian president, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, stepped off his jet and onto a red carpet to be warmly received by Trump, who later said they had a "fantastic relationship".

Ukraine's ket demand has been a quick ceasefire so that talks on a longer-term settlement do not take place on the backdrop of continued fighting.

Zelensky said following the Alaska summit that a "real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions".

European leaders have managed to maintain good relations with Trump since his return to the White House, with Sir Keir building an especially warm relationship with the US president.

Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Israel to call for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The largest crowd was seen in Tel Aviv's "Hostages Square" on Sunday, with the organisers saying the government's plans to seize control of Gaza City risked the lives of around 20 hostages still being held by Hamas.

A one-day national strike - part of wider protests - closed roads, offices and universities in some areas. Nearly 40 people were arrested during the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the protests, saying they would "harden Hamas's stance" and would only slow down the release of the hostages.

Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich also denounced the protests, describing them as a "harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas".

The national strike was demanded by the families of hostages and others opposed to the expansion of the war.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan and a leading figure in the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, said the group demanded "a comprehensive and achievable agreement and an end to the war".

"We demand what is rightfully ours - our children," she told the crowd in Tel Aviv. "The Israeli government has transformed a just war into a pointless war."

She was speaking after a video was released of her son.

"My heart burns with longing. My whole heart is scorched because of my Matan. Matan, I, an entire nation, we are doing everything we can for you, for all the hostages," she said.

The protests came a week after Israel's war cabinet voted to occupy Gaza City, the territory's largest city, and displace its population, in a move condemned by the UN Security Council.

Thousands of residents have since fled Gaza City's southern Zeitoun neighbourhood, where days of continuous Israeli bombardment have created a "catastrophic" situation, the city's Hamas-run municipality told the BBC.

At least 40 people were killed by Israeli attacks across the territory on Saturday, Gaza's civil defence agency said.

Hamas said in a statement that Israeli forces had been carrying out a "sustained offensive in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, particularly in Zeitoun".

The Israeli military said it would begin allowing tents to be brought into Gaza by aid agencies again.

"As part of the preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume," the Israeli military body Cogat said.

Israel plans to forcibly displace a million people from Gaza City to camps in the south but it has not provided an exact timetable of when its forces would enter Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to want the entire city under Israeli occupation from 7 October.

At least 1.9 million people in Gaza – or about 90% of the population – have already been displaced, according to the UN.

The international body has indicated there is widespread malnutrition in Gaza, with experts backed by the organisation warning last month in a report that the "worst-case scenario" of famine is playing out in the Strip.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

European leaders have said they will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Those travelling include UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

It comes after Trump failed to reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

The US president has since said he wants to bypass securing a ceasefire in Ukraine in favour of a permanent peace agreement.

Securing a ceasefire in Ukraine had been one of Trump's core demands before meeting Putin, but afterwards posted on social media that they "often times do not hold up" and that it would be better "to go directly to a peace agreement".

European leaders have reacted with caution to the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting, seeking not to criticise the change of direction despite their long-held support for a ceasefire.

Putin reportedly presented Trump with a peace offer that would require Ukraine withdrawing from the Donetsk region of the Donbas, in return for Russia freezing the front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Russia claims the Donbas as Russian territory, controlling most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk. It also illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The BBC's US partner CBS has reported, citing diplomatic sources, that European officials were concerned Trump may try to pressure Zelensky into agreeing to the possible terms discussed in Alaska when they meet on Monday.

Ukraine's president has previously ruled out ceding control of the Donbas - composed of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - saying it could be used as a springboard for future Russian attacks.

Von der Leyen, who is meeting Zelensky in Brussels on Sunday, wrote on X that she would join Zelensky at the White House at the Ukrainian president's request.

Macron, Rutte, Sir Keir, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni all followed in quick succession.

Downing Street said in a statement that it "follows the Prime Minister commending President Trump's efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, reasserting his position that the path to peace cannot be decided without President Zelensky".

Monday's White House meeting will be Zelensky's first since an acrimonious public exchange in the Oval Office in February, when Trump told him to be more "thankful" for US support and accused him of "gambling with World War Three" in front of the world's media.

In unprecedented scenes, Zelensky was told to leave the White House, but European leaders have since worked to repair the relationship.

The two leaders appeared to reconcile in April, in what the White House described as a "very productive" 15-minute meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral.

Ukraine has also signed a minerals deal that gave the US a financial stake in the country, and Kyiv made it clear they were willing to pay for US arms.

But there will have been concern in Kyiv and other European capitals following the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday.

The Russian president, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, stepped off his jet and onto a red carpet to be warmly received by Trump, who later said they had a "fantastic relationship".

Ukraine's ket demand has been a quick ceasefire so that talks on a longer-term settlement do not take place on the backdrop of continued fighting.

Zelensky said following the Alaska summit that a "real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions".

European leaders have managed to maintain good relations with Trump since his return to the White House, with Sir Keir building an especially warm relationship with the US president.

Days before meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Donald Trump referred to what he called "land swaps" as a condition for peace.

For Ukrainians, it was a confusing turn of phrase. What land was to be swapped? Was Ukraine to be offered part of Russia, in exchange for the land Russia had taken by force?

As Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to travel to Washington on Monday to meet Trump, there is likely no "swap" element to the US president's thinking.

Instead, he is reportedly planning to press Zelensky to surrender the entirety of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in return for Russia freezing the rest of the front line – a proposal put forward by Putin in Alaska.

Luhansk is already almost entirely under Russian control. But Ukraine is estimated to have held onto about 30% of Donetsk, including several key cities and fortifications, at a cost of tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives.

Both regions – known together as Donbas – are rich in minerals and industry. To surrender them to Russia now would be a "tragedy", said the Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak.

• In maps: The war-ravaged Ukrainian territories at the heart of the Trump-Putin summit
• Analysis: Trump's ceasefire pivot will cause dismay in Kyiv and Europe

"This is Ukrainian territory," Mr Hrytsak said. "And the people of these regions – particularly the miners – played a huge role in the strengthening of the Ukrainian identity."

The region had also produced "famous politicians, poets and dissidents", he said. "And now refugees who will not be able to return home if it becomes Russian."

At least 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled the Donbas since Russian aggression began in 2014. More than three million are estimated to be living under Russian occupation. A further 300,000 are estimated to be in the parts where Ukraine still has control.

In areas closest to the front line, life is already a dangerous struggle. Andriy Borylo, a 55-year-old military chaplain in the badly hit city of Sloviansk, said in a phone interview that shells had landed next to his house over the weekend.

"It is a very difficult situation here," he said. "There is a feeling of resignation and abandonment. I don't know how much we have the strength to endure. Someone has to protect us. But who?"

Mr Borylo had been following the news from Alaska, he said. "I put this on Trump, not Zelensky. But they are taking everything from me, and it is a betrayal."

Zelensky has consistently said Ukraine would not hand over the Donbas in exchange for peace. And confidence in Russia to abide by any such arrangement – rather than simply use the annexed land for future attacks – is low.

For that and other reasons, about 75% of Ukrainians object to any formal cessation of land to Russia, according to polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

But Ukraine is also deeply fatigued by war. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and wounded since the full-scale invasion began. People are craving an end to suffering, particularly in the Donbas.

"You ask about the surrender of the Donetsk region, well, I measure this war not in kilometres but in human lives," said Yevhen Tkachov, 56, an emergency rescue worker in the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk.

"I'm not ready to give tens of thousands of lives for several thousand square kilometres," he said. "Life is more important than territory."

For some, this is what it comes down to in the end. Land versus life. It leaves President Zelensky "at a crossroads with no good route in front of him", said Volodmyr Ariev, a Ukrainian MP from the opposition European Solidarity party.

"We don't have enough forces to continue the war for an unlimited time," Ariev said. "But if Zelensky were to concede this land it would be not only a breakdown of our constitution, it could have the hallmarks of treason."

And yet, it is not clear in Ukraine by what mechanism such an agreement could even be reached. Any formal handover of the nation's territory requires the approval of the parliament and a referendum of the people.

More likely would be a de-facto surrender of control, with no formal recognition of the territory as Russian. But even in that event, the process is not well understood, said Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun.

"There is no real understanding as to what the procedure should be," she said. "Does the president simply sign the agreement? Does it have to be the government? The parliament? There is no legal procedure set up because, you know, the constitution writers didn't think about this."

Things may become more clear after Zelensky speaks with Trump in Washington on Monday – the Ukrainian leader's first visit to the White House since a disastrous clash in the Oval Office in February. Amid the unhappiness left by the Alaska summit, there was one possible glimmer of good news for Ukraine.

Trump appeared to reverse his position on security guarantees after the summit, suggesting he was ready to join Europe in offering Ukraine military protection from future Russian attacks.

For Ukrainians, polling shows security guarantees are an absolutely vital part of any potential agreement on territory or anything else.

"People in Ukraine will accept various forms of security guarantees," said Anton Grushchetsky, the director of Kyiv's International Institute for Sociology, "but they require them."

For Yevhen Tkachov, the emergency worker in Kramatorsk, exchange of territory could only be considered with "real guarantees, not just written promises".

"Only then, more or less, I am in favour of giving Donbas to Russia," he said. "If the British Royal Navy is stationed in the port of Odesa, then I agree."

As various paths to peace are floated and discussed, sometimes in the deal-making style preferred by President Trump, there is a risk of losing sight of the real people involved – people who have already lived through a decade of war and who may stand to lose even more now in exchange for peace.

Donbas was a place full of Ukrainians from all different walks of life, said Vitalii Dribnytsia, a Ukrainian historian. "We are not just talking about culture, about politics, about demographics, we are talking about people," he said.

Donetsk might not have the cultural reputation of somewhere like Odesa, Mr Drinytsia said. But it was Ukraine. "And any corner of Ukraine, regardless of whether it has some great cultural significance or not, is Ukraine," he said.

The Metropolitan Police has said it is investigating allegations of drug use on Strictly Come Dancing.

In a statement, the Met said it had "received an allegation about drug related offences".

"Police are assessing the information and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed," it said.

The BBC said it had "clear protocols and policies in place" for dealing with any serious complaints raised with it.

The Met's involvement comes after the the BBC launched an investigation earlier this month into alleged drug use by two stars of the show, who have not been named.

It followed a report in the Sun on Sunday, which said the alleged drug use by the stars was widely talked about on the show.

BBC News understands the corporation has hired a law firm to help it carry out the probe.

On Sunday, the Sun reported that the BBC had referred the matter to police.

A Met spokesperson later confirmed that the force had "received an allegation about drug related offences" on Tuesday 12 August.

The BBC said it would not comment on any police investigation.

But it highlighted a previous statement which read: "We have clear protocols and policies in place for dealing with any serious complaint raised with us.

"We would always encourage people to speak to us if they have concerns. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further."

Strictly, which has been airing since 2004, has faced multiple controversies over the past few years relating to the behaviour of some of its professionals and celebrity guests.

It is believed, however, that this is the first time the BBC has been in contact with the police over allegations linked to the show.