Donald Trump says he has had a phone call with Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, the US president’s NATO ambassador has told the UK and other allies that they must agree to increase defence spending by 5% “starting now”. Follow the latest on the Ukraine war.
Wednesday 4 June 2025 17:55, UK
We’ve just heard from Donald Trump on Truth Social, who says he has just finished a phone call with Vladimir Putin that an hour and 15 minutes.
He said the pair discussed Ukraine’s attack on multiple airbases deep inside Russia over the weekend and revealed that Putin said he would have to respond to the attack.
Trump referred to the call as a “good conversation” but said it was not one that will lead to “immediate peace”…
It is the first time the US president has spoken to his Russian counterpart in just over two weeks, with their last call held on 19 May.
That conversation lasted two hours, and Trump described it at the time as being “excellent”.
The defence ministers have been asked about defence spending after the US demanded the UK and its NATO allies spend 5% of GDP on defence “starting now”.
Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius labelled the move as “really unrealistic”.
“What we are talking about is to increase the percentage in the years to come – this is possible and certainly needed,” he says.
“We will discuss that topic at the summit but it’s not about disappointing anybody, it’s about negotiating about what is necessary and what is possible.”
Meanwhile, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said it’s something that will be discussed at the next NATO summit.
“The commitments that we make are valuated as capabilities to this coalition,” he said.
“We are the only nation with a nuclear deterrent that commits it in full to the NATO alliance.
“Yesterday, I confirmed that we will double the amount of investment in this Parliament on drone and autonomy technology that will transform our forces, making our commitment to NATO stronger.”
Rustem Umerov said it’s something Kyiv would consider if it’s invited to the summit.
Back to UK Defence Secretary John Healey now, who is asked for his response to Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web, which saw attacks at multiple airbases deep in Russia.
“Hats off to Ukraine for Spider’s Web,” Healey says, adding that it remind us “Ukraine can inflict deep damage on the Russian military”.
“It is quite clear that this war must end at the negotiating table and not on the battlefield,” he says.
“It’s why President Trump’s ceasefire initiative is so important. Putin has talked about peace, but he’s shown he’s unwilling to negotiate.
“More pressure must be brought on Moscow to come to the negotiating table to negotiate seriously, because Ukraine has demonstrated it stands willing for peace.”
We’re now hearing from Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov.
He says today’s meeting “marked a new stage in our joint efforts”.
“Ukraine’s military needs are the most important factor for us, I always stress this in our conversations with partners,” he says.
“Our partners came to me and asked if Ukrainian companies could build factories for producing cutting edge products in their countries… our partners said that they are willing to fully pay for all the production.”
Umerov tells the group that “together, we are not only defending freedom, we are shaping the future of Rammstein defence”.
He adds: “I’m grateful to my very good friends, peace in Ukraine must be lasting and protected by international unity.”
UK Defence Secretary John Healey is up first, and starts by warning of a “significant shift” in Russia’s recent strikes on Ukraine.
“Russia is routinely firing more than 300 drones a day into Ukraine… cities hit, homes destroyed and civilians killed,” he says.
“The United States and all of us here are calling for a ceasefire. Putin continues the war.”
Healey tells the Ukraine Defence Contact Group “we must step up, we must never step back”.
“President Zelenskyy and minister Umerov leave this meeting knowing that we stand with them, knowing that we will stand with them for as long as it takes,” he adds.
“Peace through strength is what President Trump calls for… we send a message today also to Moscow that Ukraine is strong, it has many friends that stand with them.”
Back to the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels, where the defence ministers of the UK, Germany and Ukraine are holding a joint press conference.
You can follow along in the live stream at the top of this page. We’ll also be providing text updates.
The comments we’ve been bringing you out of Russia this afternoon are an indication that it is “still seething” after Ukraine’s series of recent attacks, our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett said.
But the key question now turns to where this leaves peace negotiations, after the most recent round of talks between Russia and Ukraine was held on Monday.
“Not much has been achieved yet after two rounds of face-to-face talks in Istanbul, only the promise of a second prisoner swap and now the exchange of dead soldiers,” he said.
“But judging by Vladimir Putin’s comments today and Sergei Ryabkov (see previous post), it feels like a ceasefire and a peace deal just got that much further away.”
Speaking about his question to Ryabkov – which you can watch in our previous post – Bennett said “all options are on the table” when it comes to a response from Russia.
He added that Moscow has sought to downplay the impact of Ukraine’s attack on multiple Russian airbases over the weekend.
“It is, of course, an embarrassing breach of their air defences,” he said.
“There’s been very little coverage of the attack here in the media, and it took the Kremlin nearly 48 hours to respond.”
Watch his full analysis in the video below.
We’ve had the first on-camera comments from Moscow responding to the series of Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia.
“Those outrageous criminal acts of the Kyiv regime definitely point to further escalation,” Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett.
Watch his full reaction in the video below.
While Volodymyr Zelenskyy remotely addressed the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels, his chief of staff has been with the US secretary of state.
Andriy Yermak has taken to social media site X to post pictures of him greeting Marco Rubio in Washington.
“We discussed the situation on the front lines and the urgent need to strengthen support for Ukraine’s air defence,” he wrote.
“We also exchanged views on the meetings with the Russians in Istanbul, the further course of negotiations, the upcoming prisoner exchange, and the importance of bringing back all hostages and children abducted by Russia.”
He said that he emphasised during talks that Ukraine has done “everything possible to achieve peace” and is ready for a ceasefire, but Russia “refuses”.
“That is why additional sanctions are necessary,” he added.
We’re hearing more out of Russia now, with more detailed comments from Vladimir Putin.
He has labelled the explosions at bridges in the Bryansk and Kursk regions (see 15.03 post) as terror attacks aimed at wrecking peace negotiations.
“They [Ukraine] are asking for a summit meeting,” Putin said.
But he went on to ask how such meetings can be held “in these conditions” after Ukraine’s latest attacks.
“What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?” he added.
Ukraine would no doubt reply that Putin did not mention the fact his forces continue to launch air strikes and drone attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities – which would also suggest the Russian side aren’t ready for serious peace talks.
At least seven people were killed and 122 were injured after two rail bridges in regions bordering Ukraine collapsed late on Saturday, the chair of the Investigative Committee of Russia has said.
He also said five improvised explosives were detonated at the Kerch Bridge in the annexed Crimea region.
Ukraine also launched a surprise attack on multiple Russian airbases on Sunday, hitting more than 40 bombers deep inside the country.
It said the attack was targeting military aircraft responsible for carrying out strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities, with Russia recently ramping up its strikes.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free