Nato secretary general Mark Rutte says European countries should come up with concrete plans for Ukraine if they want to have a say in a peace deal for the country.

He was speaking on the side of the Munich Security Conference, where US president Donald Trump’s announcement of the start of talks to end the war in Ukraine has dominated the agenda.

“I really believe that what my Europeans friends need to do is to come up with concrete plans (…) and then they’ll be part of the conversation,” Mr Rutte said.

Earlier, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky addressed reporters ahead of his meeting with US vice-president JD Vance.

He was asked what intelligence he had on Russian president Vladimir Putin’s plans.

He said: “I think that he preparing the war against Nato countries next year. I think so, but I don’t know, I don’t have 100 per cent. God bless, we will stop this crazy guy.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia could send up to 3,000 more North Korean troops to the front in its Kursk region, in comments at a press conference at the Munich Security Conference today.

Zelensky said he had discussed North Korea in a conversation with US president Donald Trump earlier this week.

As we’ve previously reported, Kim Jong Un’s forces suffered severe losses after being dispatched to the Kursk region in January, according to Ukrainian and American officials.

German defence secretary Boris Pistorius has told reporters it was a mistake to take Nato membership off the table and make territorial concessions amid talks to end the Ukraine war.

As we’re reported, US secretary for defence, Pete Hegseth, said it was an unrealistic objective for Ukaine to become a Nato member, and return to its pre-2014 borders.

His comments came after Donald Trump announced he had spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war.

At another press conference at the Munich Security Conference today, Mr Pistorius told reporters that Mr Hegseth’s comments were a mistake.

He also said more money needed to be invested in defence by Nato countries, and that Europe needed help from US in next few years.

As we’ve been reporting, Ukraine has accused Russia of launching a drone attack on Chernobyl after an explosion occurred on a shelter of one of the plant’s reactors.

The Kremlin has dismissed the allegation.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency did not attribute blame, saying only its team stationed at the site heard an explosion and were informed that a drone had struck the shell.

The three-year Russia-Ukraine war has brought repeated warnings of dangers to Ukraine’s four nuclear plants, especially at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

IAEA chief Rafael Rossi said on X that the Chernobyl strike and the recent increase in military activity near the Zaporizhzhia plant “underline persistent nuclear safety risks,” adding that the IAEA remains “on high alert.

“The IAEA said its personnel at the site responded within minutes of the strike, adding there were no casualties.

“Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable,” the IAEA said on X.

We’re now hearing from US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who is talking about his country’s relationship with Poland, where thousands of US troops are currently based.

He says: We want to achieve peace through defence together”

Poland is geographically located next to Ukraine, sharing a 330-mile border.

The Ukrainian president says now was an important moment for Trump’s team, and that “they have to be on the side of us”.

He says: “We need to meet [US] and have big support… if the policy of the US changes, will shift to Russia… I think there are alot of voices, some of them respectable, some of them not too much… but I think United States not in the middle.

“I think this is a very important moment for the new team, it’s their decision but I think US not in the middle.

“I think US is in the top, and in this case they have to be on the side of us because they [Russia] attacked us and occupied us. So we are right, they are not, no compromises.”

The Ukrainian president is asked what he hopes to hear from US vice-president JD Vance at today’s meeting, and what will convince him the US will work with Ukraine and Europe on peace talks.

“I’m very open for this meeting,” he says. He says he has questions on the vice-president’s stance having already met Donald Trump.

He wants discuss topics like economy and resources.

The Ukrainian president is talking to reporters at the Munich Security Conference.

He says he does not think the US has a plan for peace yet.

Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump announced he was starting peace talks after speaking to Russian president Vladimir Putin

Foreign secretary David Lammy will meet the widow of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny at a major security summit as Britain announces further sanctions on people with links to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

The foreign secretary will have talks with Yulia Navalnaya and reflect on her husband’s enduring legacy at the Munich Security Conference nearly a year on from his death.

Mr Lammy said in a statement: “Nearly a year on from the death of Alexei Navalny, I am honoured to meet with Yulia Navalnaya and make clear our commitment to weaken Putin’s attempts to stifle political opposition and crack down on the Kremlin’s corrupt dealings globally.

“We are calling on our friends and allies to continue to step up in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.