Kyivs's mayor, who made headlines this morning suggesting Ukraine may have to give up territory, albeit temporarily, to secure peace, says he "did not say anything new".

"It is very regrettable that, as we can see, this scenario is quite possible. A lot of world politicians and media are talking about it today," Vitali Klitschko says on Telegram.

"In the interview, I stressed that the Ukrainian people will not accept Russian occupation of their country."

He says territorial concessions contradict Ukraine's national interests, and Ukraine must fight against them "until the very end".

Klitschko says this will require "extraordinary efforts" from Ukraine and European partners, but doesn't mention the US.

Image source, Reuters

A resident in a nearby building says she heard "a large bang" when a car bomb, which killed one of Russia's most senior generals, Yaroslav Moskalik, detonated in Moscow.

The witness named Maria says: "First of all, there was a loud bang. I went to the kitchen to look out of the window, the car was already on fire.

"Everything was cordoned off, then firefighters and police arrived. Also I saw the emergency staff working at scene."

More now on the Moscow car bomb attack in which a high-ranking Russian officer was killed.

BBC Russia's senior reporter Olga Ivshina has been telling us more about General Yaroslav Moskalik - he was quite well known and senior enough to be trusted to represent Russia during the so-called Minsk agreements in 2014/2015.

"Within the Russian government and military infrastructure, he was respected and considered as a general with a strong analytical mind," she says.

He is the 10th Russian general killed after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she adds. Russia has lost generals on the battlefield, close to the fighting, but Ukraine has changed tactics to reach them within the country, she says.

She adds that this is a "fast developing scenario and that investigations have begun".

Image source, Reuters

In Ukraine, spokesperson for State Emergency Services in Kyiv, Pavlo Petrov, says search operations following yesterday's strikes on the capital have ended.

Russian strikes in Kyiv yesterday killed 12 people, and Petrov adds "fortunately we did not find more dead under the rubble".

He adds the emergency services will now start "reconstruction works".

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Ukraine has yet again rejected suggestions that for the sake of peace with Russia, it may relinquish some of its territory, give up its ambition of joining Nato and stop receiving military aid from the West.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhy Tykhy says that Ukrainian representatives reconfirmed the following three points during their talks with UK, US and EU representatives held in London last Monday:

"First, Ukraine will never recognise any of its parts as belonging to Russia. Second, Ukraine will never agree to any restrictions on its armed forces, defence capability defence industry or military assistance from its partners. And third, no third country has the right to veto Ukraine's choices of alliances and unions."

Tykhy's remarks at a news conference in Kyiv come after Donald Trump said in an interview that "Crimea will stay with Russia".

This, and the end to Ukraine's Nato aspirations and military aid from the West, are among the key conditions put forward by Moscow.

Image source, PA Media

In the UK, a Downing Street spokesperson says all options remain "on the table" in terms of support for Ukraine.

They add that the "advanced coalition of the willing planning is developing at pace". The coalition of the willing involves the UK, France and other countries stepping up their efforts to bring peace in Ukraine.

The No 10 spokesperson points to training of Ukraine troops, as part of Operation Interflex, as one of the ways the country is being supported.

They add that UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has committed to working closely with the US, but that Downing Street won't be giving a "running commentary" on the peace talks.

Hopes fade for realistic peace dealpublished at 12:57 British Summer Time 25 April

12:57 BST 25 April

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

As Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff sits down for his fourth meeting with Vladimir Putin it has become increasingly clear that Europe - and Ukraine itself – have been effectively sidelined.

The Kremlin and the White House believe they can work this one out between them. Russia may have failed, on a catastrophic scale, to achieve its original aim of seizing Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and replacing the pro-Western government with a pliant pro-Moscow one, similar to that of Belarus.

But three years on, Russia has a Plan B and it is working, thanks to the new man in the White House.

Take advantage of a weakened transatlantic alliance: tick. String along 'peace negotiations' enough to paint Ukraine as the obstacle: tick. Dangle the prospect of revived US business in Russia as a reward for a peace deal: tick.

It is worth remembering that on 11 March Ukraine agreed to Washington’s comprehensive 30-day ceasefire plan. No preconditions, no 'nuances', no add-ons. Russia did not. But instead, the dial has shifted beyond talk of ceasefires to a full-on 'peace deal' that is largely, though not entirely, in Moscow’s favour.

Given how far apart Presidents Trump and Zelensky are now, it might be just as well if they do not meet at tomorrow’s papal funeral in Rome.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is now meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As soon as we hear the outcome of the talks, so will you.

Image source, The Kremlin

Vladimir Putin is meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin, Russian media reports, citing spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Traffic was halted as a convoy of cars arrived in central Moscow earlier.

Witkoff's plane from Florida landed at Vnukovo International Airport in the Russian capital this morning on his fourth trip to Russia since the start of the year.

Putin is expected to continue Ukraine peace talks with Witkoff, who as our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg writes, is no traditional diplomat.

Image source, EPA

As divergent peace plans emerge, Donald Trump has said "Crimea will stay with Russia", in an interview with Time.

Yesterday, Trump said that he has "nothing to do with Crimea" after meeting Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Instead, he said the contentious issue was "given" to him by former US President Barack Obama.

As a reminder, Crimea is a southern peninsula of Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine's President Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea of recognising the region as Russian.

This week, Trump hit out at Zelensky, saying "if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago?"

In the same interview, external the US president put blame on Kyiv for starting the war with Russia, saying: “I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining Nato."

• Why Zelensky can't and won't give up Crimea

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

We now have a better sense of the plans for halting Russia's war in Ukraine.

Reuters news agency has just revealed US proposals handed to European officials last week, six days after Steve Witkoff's trip to Russia on 11 April - and the European/Ukrainian response to those proposals handed to the Americans on Wednesday in London.

There are key differences in the proposals.

The US plan is for the UK-France-led "coalition of the willing" to guarantee security in Ukraine without the US - while the Europeans want the US and others to give "robust" guarantees in the form of a cast-iron Nato-style commitment to come to Ukraine's aid if it comes under attack.

The counter-proposals do not accept a US promise to bar Ukraine from Nato, preferring to fudge the issue, and do not accept any attempt to restrict European boots on the ground in Ukraine.

Significantly, the Europeans and Ukrainians will only discuss what happens to occupied Ukrainian territory after a ceasefire has come into effect. The US deal offers American legal acceptance of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and de facto recognition of Russian control of other occupied areas, including all of Luhansk.

Another big difference is the US offer to return the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to Ukraine but under US control, while giving electricity to Russia as well as Ukraine. The counter-plan makes no mention of providing power to Russia.

The US proposal from 17 April commits to halting 11 years of sanctions on Russia, while the counter-plan suggests a gradual easing after a sustainable peace.

There is no obvious mention in the Witkoff plan of Ukrainian children held in Russia, but it is central to the European-Ukrainian response.

Image source, Getty Images

The Reuters news agency is reporting it has seen documents outlining two separate peace proposals to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The first is from the US, and was presented to European and Ukrainian officials by White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Paris on 17 April.

The second is drafted by Europe and Ukraine, and was presented to US officials during talks in London this week.

We'll bring you more detail on both shortly.

US envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting with the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev in Moscow, Russian news agency Interfax reports.

The RDIF is s Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011.

We will bring you the latest developments from Witkoff's visit to Moscow as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

The assassination by car bomb of a Russian general in Moscow is the second attack on a top military officer in four months.

Investigators are at the scene and a criminal case has been opened by Russia's national investigating authority, says spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko.

She also confirms the explosion of a homemade device rigged with shrapnel placed in General Yaroslav Moskalik's Volkswagen Golf in Balashikha, just outside Moscow.

In December last year, Ukraine's security agency acknowledged it was behind the assassination of Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, when a bomb concealed on an electric scooter exploded outside his apartment on his way to work.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, here's what's been happening today.

• One of Russia's most senior generals Yaroslav Moskalik dies in a car bomb attack in Moscow
• Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko tells the BBC Ukraine must be prepared to give up territory if it means securing a peace deal
• One of Volodymyr Zelensky's advisers describes comments made by Klitschko as "counterproductive"
• US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet Vladimir Putin later today, the fourth such meeting between the pair this year
• Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insists the Kremlin is ready to reach a deal with the US on Ukraine
• Attacks on Ukraine continue despite diplomatic efforts - with three killed in overnight drone strikes
• UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says it's up to Ukraine to decide the terms of any peace deal with Russia

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Telegram

General Yaroslav Moskalik is the latest Russian military commander or pro-Kremlin figure believed to have been targeted by Ukrainians inside Russia.

On 17 December 2024, Gen Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection troops, died as a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off outside his apartment block in Moscow.

Just a few days before that, a leading Russian missile scientist, Mikhail Shatsky, was shot dead in a forest near Moscow.

In December 2023, Illya Kyva, formerly a Ukrainian MP with pro-Russian views, was shot dead in a park outside Moscow.

In April 2023, pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb hidden in a statue given to him during an event at a cafe in St Petersburg.

As a matter of policy, Ukrainian security services do not officially confirm their involvement in such assassinations, but there is no doubt they would be interested in them.

More now on the Moscow car bomb attack in which Russian General Yaroslav Moskalik, a high-ranking officer, was killed.

It's not the first time Russian military figures have been attacked since the start of the war but targeted assassinations in Moscow are rare.

In February this year, Armen Sargsyan, the leader of a pro-Russian paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine, died in hospital after an explosion in the entrance hall of a residential building in north-west Moscow.

No-one claimed responsibility for that attack.

In December last year Ukraine's SBU security service acknowledged it was behind the killing of a high-ranking general outside a residential block in the capital.

Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Biological and Chemical Defence Forces, was killed when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC Monitoring

Russia's Investigative Committee - the main federal investigating authority in the country - confirms that General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in an explosion in Moscow.

Commenting on the assassination, Russian Investigations Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko says: “A Volkswagen Golf exploded after an improvised explosive device stuffed with pellets went off.”

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, we brought you comments by Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, who says Ukraine must be prepared to give up territory if it means securing a peace deal.

But an advisor in Volodymyr Zelensky's office says that Ukraine's official position has been made clear – that the first step towards peace should be a wider ceasefire, and that talks are continuing towards that.

"It's counterproductive," Serhiy Leshchenko tells the BBC World Service's Newsday programme. "Other politicians should be united around the president, because only he has this mandate from Ukrainian people."

Leshchenko also argues that surrendering territory would have significant legal implications.

"Ukraine is a democracy and politicians can make any statement," he says. "But it is very important for them not to violate the Ukrainian constitution."

Image source, Getty Images

President Zelensky has returned to Ukraine, cutting short an international trip after 12 people were killed and dozens injured in a Russian attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday.

Zelensky had been in South Africa meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, hoping to strengthen once-strained relations between the two nations.

He expected to travel for the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City on Saturday, but changed plans following Russia's attack, Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reports.