Overview

• Kaja Kallas warned that Russia faces no realistic prospect of success if NATO members maintain solidarity and labelled Moscow a direct threat to the European Union.
• Vladimir Putin asserted that NATO’s push to boost defence spending poses no danger to Russia because of its self-sufficient security capabilities.
• NATO has called on its 32 member states to increase security budgets in response to the ongoing Ukraine conflict as leaders prepare to meet in The Hague.
• The Russian military reported daily advances along the front and carried out missile strikes on Kyiv that killed at least 28 people in one of the capital’s deadliest attacks since 2022.
• Peace negotiations remain deadlocked after Russia rejected Ukraine’s demand for an unconditional ceasefire and Putin said he would only meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as the final stage of talks.