Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Rome after a busy day of diplomacy yesterday that saw him meet European leaders in London and Brussels.

Ukraine’s president will meet Pope Leo in the town of Castel Gandolfo just outside of Rome.

It will be the first meeting between the pair since they previously held talks in July on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome.

Zelenskyy will then go on to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is part of the coalition of the willing.

She took part in a video call with Zelenskyy and European leaders yesterday to discuss the peace plan.

Ukraine will share an updated proposal to the US today..

Russian military plane crashes

A Russian military plane has crashed with seven crew members on board, according to Russian state TV channel Vesti.

The report states that the AN-22 military aircraft has crashed in the country’s Ivanovo region.

We’ll bring you more updates as we get them.

Russia captures frontline Ukrainian village – state news agency

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, quoting the defence ministry in Moscow, is reporting that its forces have captured the village of Ostapivske in Ukraine’s eastern Dnipro region. 

The settlement lies around 62miles (100km) east of the city of Zaporizhzhia.

It comes after Russia’s top general claimed further gains on the battlefield, saying Kyiv’s troops had been surrounded in the frontline town of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region.

Merz: Europe must become less dependent on US

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been speaking about the new US national security strategy, which was published earlier this week.

He says that Europe needs to become less dependent on the US, adding that when it comes to safeguarding democracy in Europe, European nations will take responsibility themselves.

“I see no need for Americans to want to save democracy in Europe. If it was necessary to save it, we would manage it on our own,” Merz says.

Merz was in London yesterday for key talks with Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the updated peace proposal for Ukraine.

Ahead of their meeting, he said he was “sceptical” about some of the details in documents coming from the US.