Donald Trump has issued a warning about Moscow’s response to Ukraine’s bomber attacks – which Russia’s UK ambassador has blamed on Britain. Meanwhile, NATO’s chief says the alliance has agreed on new capability targets after US pressure. Catch up on the latest on the Ukraine war here.
Thursday 5 June 2025 22:00, UK
Thanks for following our live updates on the war in Ukraine today.
It’s been a busy day, with NATO defence ministers gathering in Brussels and Donald Trump hosting the German chancellor at the White House.
Here’s a breakdown of all the key events:
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth started the day by doubling down on calls for NATO allies to hike defence spending to 5% of GDP.
“Countries in there are well exceeding 2% and we think are very close, almost near consensus, on a 5% commitment for NATO,” he told reporters ahead of the meeting.
Speaking after those talks, the alliance’s secretary general Mark Rutte said he will propose a 5% defence investment plan to leaders at the NATO summit later this month.
He added that his proposal will include 3.5% for core defence spending and 1.5% in defence and security-related investments.
Watch: Adam Parsons breaks down what was agreed at the NATO talks
Over in Washington, Donald Trump held his first face-to-face meeting with the German chancellor at the White House.
Take a look the bullet point list below for a summary of what they had to say about the war in Ukraine:
Reacting to that interview with the Russian ambassador, our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn has said the path to ending the war has changed direction in the past week.
“I think we’re moving away from where we were a few weeks ago when the direction of travel seemed to be towards some kind of talks and possibly a ceasefire,” he said.
Waghorn explained that despite there being “diplomatic momentum”, things are now going in a different direction.
“I think we’re going to see some kind of retaliatory action by the Russians that will continue that direction away from diplomatic progress,” he added.
“What they [Ukraine] did against this airbase… it makes it clear they do have cards to play.
“They could win this war with enough support from the European allies, and they’ve got to keep the Europeans believing in that possibility.”
Russia’s ambassador to the UK has also been asked about a US-led push for NATO countries to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP.
“It is fantastic and I like it,” Andrei Kelin told Yalda Hakim.
“Your defence secretary [Healey] has said that they have a daily threat from Russia from the land, sea and air… I would very much like to see these threats,” he said.
“What does he mean?”
Krelin goes on to say it is all part of a story that’s “as old as the world”.
“When the government is not capable of its internal economics and cannot provide for its population, it is trying to find and outside threat,” he added.
“If Europeans decide to spend more money on its military, it is up to them, you shouldn’t ask us about it.
“We’ve stated many times we do not represent any threat to Britain at all, neither on land, sea or in the air.”
More to bring you from that interview with Russia’s ambassador to the UK now.
Andrei Kelin has been asked by Yalda Hakim about how Russia plans to respond to Ukraine’s attack on multiple airbases deep inside the country over the weekend.
“Putin said [there will be a response], he also said this also to president Trump, but it is up to the Ministry of Defence to decide when and how it is going to happen,” he said.
But when asked whether everything is on the table, including a nuclear attack, Kelin responded by saying “I don’t think so”.
“We have different means, but it is not up to me. I have no idea,” he added, reiterating that the matter is up to the Ministry of Defence.
Many analysts labelled Ukraine’s weekend airfield attacks as being a humiliation for Russia, but Kelin insists that is not the case.
“There are some people saying that there should be more precautions taken on the airfields, and that is correct,” he added.
Watch the interview in the video below.
Yalda Hakim’s full interview with Russia’s UK ambassador is playing out on the Sky News channel now – as a reminder, here’s the full story we published earlier on their conversation…
The World with Yalda Hakim is live on Sky News now.
During the programme you’ll be able to watch Yalda’s interview with Russia’s ambassador to the UK.
You can watch live in the stream at the top of this page. We’ll also bring you any other key lines from the interview right here.
After Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke again on the phone yesterday, US correspondent Mark Stone and Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett discussed their relationship in the latest episode of the Trump 100 podcast.
Stone said Trump’s strategy of building a cordial relationship with Putin in order to win him over doesn’t seem to be working.
The two leaders have a “fascinating relationship”, Bennett added.
He said: “It appears to be a turbulent relationship that flits between cordial and frustrated, then flirtatious, then tense – mostly because of Donald Trump’s fluctuations.”
Watch Stone and Bennett’s discussion below – or follow Trump 100 wherever you get your podcasts to listen to the full episode.
Some reaction to bring you now from Friedrich Merz, who has been speaking about his meeting with Donald Trump at the White House.
The German chancellor said he was “extremely satisfied” with the talks, adding that they laid the foundation for good conversations at upcoming G7 and NATO summits.
“I’m returning with the feeling that I’ve found in the American president someone I can speak with very well on a personal level,” he said.
“We have a lot in common, even in the different career paths we’ve taken between politics. That creates a certain bond.”
By Adam Parsons, Europe correspondent in Brussels
Everyone at NATO knows about battles. Sometimes you come out on top and sometimes you have to know when you’re beaten. And here, it’s the Americans who are wearing the biggest smiles.
It has long been a mantra of Donald Trump that European nations should spend a lot more money on defence. During his first term, when he seemed to be deriding NATO on a regular basis, he amplified a debate that had long rumbled; now it feels like it’s coming to a resolution.
Certainly there was a bounce in the step of US defence secretary Pete Hegseth when we spoke.
“We all need increased capabilities and we all need to spend more,” he said. “Thank you to president Trump for reviving this alliance. It was an alliance that was sleepwalking to irrelevance and president Trump, in his first term, said you need to step up and spend more. And he has in this term done the same.
“What I saw in there” – he motioned to the meeting rooms where all the ministers had met – “were countries prepared to step up to push the limits of what they can do. That’s a good thing. That’s friends helping friends.”
Watch: Hegseth says US is ‘not here to discuss’ leaving NATO
Hegseth came into this meeting with one big demand – for NATO allies to bump up their defence spending to a total of 5% of GDP – more than any of them are spending at the moment.
Of that, he believes that at least 3.5% should be going towards core defence spending – soldiers, planes, guns and so on – while a further 1.5% could be spent on other “defence related” elements – infrastructure, espionage, civil defence.
Pot one is clear. Pot two is vague – nobody seems quite sure what counts as “defence related”. Climate change resilience, for instance, has been suggested by some countries. That one will need clearing up.
But even the 3.5% demand is a huge one. According to the latest data I’ve seen, only one NATO member presently spends above that target – and no, that isn’t America. It’s Poland, which has ramped up military spending ever since neighbouring Ukraine was invaded. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have all done the same, nervously looking towards Russia.
The United States sits at 3.4% of GDP. But that’s 3.4% of a very big number, so it equates to an awful lot of spending.
So to put that in context, more than a third of worldwide spending on defence is carried out by America. Look at the top ten nations in the world for defence spending, and America is top by a mile. It spends more than the other nine countries in that list put together.
What’s more, the vast majority of that money goes to American companies, and a great deal of it is shared among a relatively small number of those companies.
Increased military spending may well be good for global security but, until such time as Europe expands its own defence industry, it’s also excellent news for the American economy.
Mark Rutte, the NATO Secretary General, admitted that it was a huge challenge, but said that he would not accept countries simply kicking the financial can down the street. Countries will be monitored constantly to ensure they are making annual progress towards the 5% target.
A finishing line hasn’t been established yet, but it’s probably going to be 10 years from now. Still, Rutte said he didn’t want “hockey sticks” – the statistical model where things stay flat for a long time, and the big rise only comes at the end.
Just catching up with our updates this evening?
Here’s a summary of everything Donald Trump and Friedrich Merz had to say about the war in Ukraine during their Oval Office meeting:
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