Russia is advancing on a key city in northeast Ukraine. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s NATO ambassador has told the UK and other allies that they must agree to increase defence spending significantly. Follow the latest below and watch below as defence ministers meet at NATO HQ in Brussels.
Wednesday 4 June 2025 14:47, UK
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Before Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Ukraine Defence Contact Group moments ago (see 14.22 post), he spoke at a briefing in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president put forward the idea of a ceasefire until a meeting between him and Vladimir Putin takes place.
“My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we propose to Russians a ceasefire until the leaders meet,” he said.
It comes after the second meeting between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Istanbul, which was held on Monday.
Zelenskyy has been calling for a longer ceasefire between the two sides. But while the meeting ended in another agreement on a prisoner exchange, little progress appears to have been made on a ceasefire.
We’re now hearing from the UK’s Defence Secretary John Healey, who tells the group “we meet in the shadow of the worst Russian drone attacks against Ukraine since the start of Putin’s full-scale invasion”.
Healey says Putin “continues to prove he’s not for peace” and that “he remains set on death, destruction and destabilisation”.
He accuses Russia of continuing to “frustrate” ceasefire talks, while praising Ukraine for fighting with “such huge determination and courage”.
“They want this war to end, they want to get back to living without fear, without Putin’s terror,” he says.
“All of us here are calling for that ceasefire and are working for that peace.”
Directly addressing the group, Healey adds “we must step up, we must not step back”.
“As Putin’s brutality continues, so must our resolve.
“We must ensure that Ukraine’s forces have what they need, when they need it to continue their fight.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy starts his address by painting the current picture of the battleground.
“The Russian army has turned our cities and villages in the Donetsk region and beyond into ruins, and this is exactly what we are fighting to stop,” he says.
“We are fighting against death, the death that Russia is bringing to our land.”
Zelenskyy calls for a moment of silence to honour the Ukrainians whose lives have been taken by the war.
“We have no doubt that we can push Russia towards peace,” he adds.
Zelenskyy also pleads with the countries in attendance to keep strengthening Ukraine “air shield”.
“The stronger our air defence is, the less Putin succeeds in attacking our cities and villages.”
We’re now hearing from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is remotely addressing the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting.
He’s speaking as defence ministers gather in Brussels.
You can watch along in the live stream at the top of this page, and we’ll also be providing text updates.
By Katy Scholes, security and defence producer in Brussels
The United States says the UK and all other NATO allies must agree to spend at least 5% of national income on defence and security “starting now”.
Matthew Whitaker, Donald Trump’s ambassador to the NATO alliance, said: “Let me cut to the core of our message: 5%.”
He continued: “Peace through strength means nothing less and it demands it equally from all allies. This is not going to be just a pledge. This is going to be a commitment. Every ally must commit to investing at least 5% of GDP in defence and security, starting now.”
The warning comes after Sky News revealed yesterday that Sir Keir Starmer would be forced to agree to lift pure defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and spend a further 1.5% on defence-related areas by the 2030s as part of a NATO push to rearm and to keep the US on side.
Yet as late as Monday, the prime minister was still talking merely about an “ambition” to increase investment in his armed forces to 3% from 2.3% by 2034 – even as he launched a major review of defence.
The position caused bemusement inside the Ministry of Defence where officials believe it is inevitable that the UK position will change.
The US ambassador was speaking to journalists ahead of two days of meetings of defence ministers at NATO HQ in Brussels, the last before NATO leaders meet at a summit in The Hague later this month.
“The Hague summit will be a moment to lock these commitments in,” he said.
The 5% defence spending commitment is central to US plans for the summit, with European leaders hoping also to secure support for Ukraine and a reinforces posture towards Russia in summit conclusions.
Underlining the weight of expectation of the US administration, the ambassador said: “This is not a suggestion. It’s a baseline for deterrence.”
Russia’s top security official has taken a trip to North Korea for talks with the country’s leader on Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the Russian Tass news agency has reported.
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are expected to discuss details on the strategic partnership agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang which Kim and Vladimir Putin signed in June last year.
The talks will also touch on “issues on the international agenda, including the situation around Ukraine,” Russian media reported, citing the Security Council’s press team.
For context: Earlier this year the Kremlin confirmed North Korean troops are fighting alongside Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian attack into Russia’s Kursk border region.
At the time Putin praised Pyongyang’s soldiers, saying “shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters, [they] defended our Motherland as their own.”
In January Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had captured two North Korean soldiers.
Our weekly Ukraine war Q&A with security and defence analyst Michael Clarke is starting now.
Head to this page to watch live and send in your questions…
Ukraine’s attack on the Kerch Bridge left no damage, the Kremlin has claimed.
Kyiv’s SBU security service said yesterday that it hit the road and rail bridge linking Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula below the water level with explosives and shared video footage of the attack.
“There was an explosion,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Nothing was damaged. The bridge is working. The Kyiv regime continues its attempts to attack civilian infrastructure.”
He said Russia was taking precautionary measures after the attack.
These pictures show firefighters working at the site of a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv, as well as a police bomb squad inspecting a Russian kamikaze drone.
NATO fully supports Donald Trump’s efforts to “stop the bloodshed with a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, its secretary general has said.
Speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group later today, Mark Rutte said the group will “focus on continued support for Ukraine as it fights back against Russian aggression”.
The former Dutch prime minister added: “NATO’s support for Ukraine is not about prolonging the war, it is about ensuring Ukraine can defend itself now and prevent any future aggression.”
Ukraine invited to NATO summit
Rutte also said Ukraine is invited to a NATO summit in The Hague in three weeks, which he said will focus on a “huge increase” in defence spending and where the Ukraine war will be discussed.
Trump has been pushing for an end to the war, with Ukraine accepting a US-proposed ceasefire the Kremlin has effectively rejected. Vladimir Putin has made it clear any peace settlement must be on his terms.
NATO response to Russian attack would be ‘devastating’
Rutte said NATO’s reaction would be “devastating” if Putin attacked the alliance.
“We are always prepared for every eventuality, and Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin should know if he will try, that our reaction would be devastating. And he knows,” he said.
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