Please note, today's podcast was recorded before Putin's official rejection of the ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States.

Putin has claimed to have agreed in principle to a 30-day ceasefire, but not according to the terms put forward.

We assumed this would be the case, and so today's recording you're about to hear is still very much topical.

I'm Francis Dernley, and this is Ukraine, the latest. Today, as Russia looks set to reject a ceasefire,

we discuss the Kremlin's objectives, including in Kursk, and what they mean for the next phase of

talks with the United States. Then we hear from the major defense summit in Paris and what Europe's

plans are for Ukrainian security guarantees. Then we discuss the wider strategic picture as it evolves

at this critical moment in European history.

Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory.

It's the worst carnage that this world has seen since World War II.

Absolutely fascinating. We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years.

We can not, as European, let's gain the Russia in Ukraine.

Nobody's going to break us. We're strong.

Where Ukraine is.

It's Thursday, the 13th of March, three years and 18 days since the full-scale invasion began.

And today I'm joined by our Associate Editor for Defense, Dominic Nichols, just fresh off the train from Paris,

and Phillips O'Brien, professor in strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews.

First, though, I summarised the major military and political developments of the past 24 hours.

At the time of recording, Trump's special envoy, Steve Wickoff, has touched down in Moscow for crunch talks,

though Russia has seemingly rejected the 30-day

ceasefire in Ukraine proposed by the US.

Yuri Ushikov, Putin's foreign policy advisor, says it would be nothing other than a temporary

...