Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has been speaking in Brussels, addressing some of the key issues ahead of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting.
Asked about US defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s absence today, he insisted the US remained “completely committed” to Nato and helping Ukraine and that it would be represented at another level.
He added that Hegseth would join Nato talks tomorrow.
Rutte also confirmed that Ukraine has been invited to the Nato summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, later this month, and promised to reveal more details in due course.
The former Dutch prime minister also spoke about the need for the alliance to adopt more ambitious targets to prepare for new, emerging threats.
“These targets set out what forces and concrete capabilities every ally needs to provide to strengthen our deterrence and defence. Air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations are among our top priorities,” he said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed implementing a ceasefire until such time as a meeting can be arranged with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.
“My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we propose to Russians a ceasefire until the leaders meet,” he told a briefing in Kyiv.
2 June peace talks with Russia in Istanbul made little progress toward ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine, apart from an exchange of proposals and a plan for a major swap of prisoners of war, which Zelenskyy said would take place this weekend.
Separately, he suggested that Russia is only holding talks on ending the war to try to convince US president Donald Trump to delay fresh sanctions over its invasion, AFP reported.
“They did it to demonstrate to the United States of America that they are constructive,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv. “Why? To have a delay, which depends on President Trump personally: whether or not to postpone the imposition of sanctions,” Zelenskyy said.
The latest to arrive, Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans opts to speak in English as he seeks to reassure reporters that despite the ongoing political crisis, the Dutch government will continue to support Ukraine with new investments in maritime security, among others.
He says:
“We in the Netherlands have a new political situation since yesterday, but regarding international security, regarding defence, our support to Ukraine, the position of the Dutch government will remain the same.
Our efforts will remain the same.
So basically, we will continue business as usual you could say, because, of course, the international threats are still the same.
And in order to protect ourselves and to strengthen both the military and our alliance, we need to continue the important work we do.”
Lithuanian defence minister Dovilė Šakalienė expressed approval of Ukraine’s recent strike on a Russian airbase over the weekend, noting the timing coincided with her birthday.
“Well, it was my birthday actually, on 1 June, so it was very good news,” she said, beaming.
Šakalienė also said that 2032 would be way too late as the target date for Nato members to increase spending, saying that she wouldn’t be satisfied even with 2030 and more needs to be done earlier.
“Is it really that difficult to understand that it doesn’t really matter how much you invest if it is too late?
For, I don’t know, a cancer patient, it’s not really important if he will get treatment in two years, or in three years if he’s going to be dead (by then). He has to get better treatment right now.”
She also stressed the need to continue supporting Ukraine, explaining that:
If we fail with support to Ukraine, then Russia and China’s coordinated action globally will actually sow such level of chaos and discord that we won’t be able to restore our world order ever.
Arriving in Brussels, German defence minister Boris Pistorius criticised Russia for continuing “massive” attacks on Ukraine intended to “undermine the morale of the Ukrainian population and break their will to resist.”
He said that it was increasingly clear that Russia could not achieve its aims through this aggression as he stressed the need to continue supporting Ukraine, including finding more air defences for Ukraine.
Pistorius was also asked about the decision of US defense secretary Pete Hegseth not to attend, and he said that European countries – in particular Germany and the UK – will take over the leading role in the group and “structure it a little differently.”
But he stressed that Hegseth will still be here tomorrow, for Nato meeting, and there is a US representation at a different level, too.
Opening, Nato’s Rutte reiterates the aim of achieving a “durable and lasting peace” in Ukraine as he praises president Trump’s “effort to get there.”
“Let’s pray that we will get there as soon as possible, but in the meantime, [it’s about] making sure that you have what you need to stay in the fight and to make sure that whenever it ends, Putin will know that he should never, ever again, try to attack Ukraine so again,” he said.
Responding, Umerov stresses “Ukraine wants peace” and remains ready for talks, but noted that “at the moment [Russian] ultimatums continue.”
And that’s it, they’re off for further talks behind the closed doors.
Back to Brussels, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and Ukrainain defence minister Rustem Umerov are about to speak to the media ahead of their meeting with UK and German counterparts.
You can watch it live below, but I will bring you the key lines here.
The Polish defence ministry has just confirmed media reports about unguarded containers containing ammunition and weapons which was found near an aero club in the town of Laszki in south-eastern Poland, less than 30km from the Ukrainian border.
It stated that the containers did not belong to the Polish army.
Speaking at a press briefing, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, Jacek Dobrzyński, confirmed the weapons were identified as of anti-aircraft type and were believed to be stored by a private company and intended for transport to Ukraine
The EU gave the green light on Wednesday for Bulgaria to adopt the euro from 1 January 2026, meaning it will become the 21st member of the single currency area, AFP reported.
The European Commission said that Bulgaria had fulfilled the strict criteria “intended to ensure that a country is ready to adopt the euro and that its economy is sufficiently prepared to do so”.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted about it on her social media, saying:
Today, Bulgaria is one step closer to adopting the euro.
This will mean more investment and trade with euro area partners, and more stability and prosperity for the Bulgarian people.
Bulgaria will also take its rightful place in shaping euro area decisions. Congratulations!
More details are available here.
Meanwhile in Cologne, Germany, the biggest evacuation since the second world war is under way after the discovery of three unexploded bombs dropped by allied forces 80 years ago.
About 20,000 people are having to leave their homes and businesses, while hotels, a care home for elderly people and a hospital are being evacuated. Three bridges over the Rhine have been closed and rail traffic has been halted or diverted.
The bombs are due to be defused later today. They are US-produced bombs, two of 1,000kg and one of 500kg. They were discovered on Monday on the right bank of the Rhine during building works near the Deutz shipworks. All three are equipped with impact fuzes intended to cause detonation on contact with a hard surface.
Back to that Ukrainian attack on the that links the annexed Crimean peninsula with Russia: the Russian authorities have insisted the blast caused “no damage.”
Ukraine’s SBU security service said on Tuesday it had detonated a bomb on one of the bridge’s underwater pillars, publishing footage of a blast coming out of the water and debris flying.
“There was indeed an explosion,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Nothing was damaged. The bridge is working,” he said.
Nato’s Rutte was also asked about suggestions that the US could withdraw some of its troops from Europe.
He insisted “there are no plans at the moment for the US to withdraw troops,” and repeated that the US “is completely committed to Nato.”
He said:
“They expect European and Canadian allies to spend much more … so we have to increase spending first of all, because we have to reach all those capability targets and close the gaps we still have to make sure that we can also fight the Russians if they try to attack us in three to five years, but also to equalise with the United States.
And I think that is only fair.”
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has been speaking in Brussels, addressing some of the key issues ahead of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting.
Asked about US defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s absence today, he insisted the US remained “completely committed” to Nato and helping Ukraine and that it would be represented at another level.
He added that Hegseth would join Nato talks tomorrow.
Rutte also confirmed that Ukraine has been invited to the Nato summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, later this month, and promised to reveal more details in due course.
The former Dutch prime minister also spoke about the need for the alliance to adopt more ambitious targets to prepare for new, emerging threats.
“These targets set out what forces and concrete capabilities every ally needs to provide to strengthen our deterrence and defence. Air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations are among our top priorities,” he said.
Britain said it would deliver 100,000 drones to Ukraine in the year from 1 April, a tenfold increase from the previous year, ahead of Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels of the 57 country Ukraine contact group.
It is part of a £350m spend on drones by the UK for Ukraine – but while the step change in production is significant, the figure is still significantly below the 4.5m target that Ukraine has for indigenously manufactured drones in 2025.
The UK said it was supplying one-way attack first person view (FPV) drones, simple bombers that can perform repeat missions, and new wired fibre optic drones which have emerged over the past six months, all everyday battlefield weapons.
Though it has taken over three years of war to get to the 100,000 figure, extra increments of supply will help Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. Russia’s own production target is 3m to 4m drones.
Britain also said it would spend a further £247m on training Ukrainian troops as part of Operation Interflex, and that the UK had delivered 140,000 artillery shells so far in 2025, enough to sustain Kyiv for nearly a month on estimated usage rates.
This year, Ukraine has set it expects to receive 3m shells from allies in total, as well as producing around 2.5m shells and mortars indigenously. That compares favourably with an estimate given in April by Nato’s top military commander, Gen Christopher Cavoli, who said he expected Russia to produce 3m shells this year.
Although the British contribution of basic weapons remains a fraction of Ukraine’s total requirements, by 2025 it is approaching militarily significant levels at a time, particularly alongside EU allies, raising the question of whether Russia can keep up.
A group of 57 countries, including all members of Nato, helping Ukraine meets today in Brussels for the latest round of coordination of how to best help Kyiv in its continuing fight against the Russian invasion.
The meeting comes a day after Ukraine detonated a massive underwater blast that “severely damaged” the base of pylons holding up the illegally built Kerch Bridge, which connects the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula of Ukraine to Russia. The signature project of Vladimir Putin was hit with the equivalent of more than a metric tonne of TNT, said Kyiv’s SBU security service, write Peter Beaumont and Artem Mazhulin.
But, as Reuters noted, in a sign of how far the US has moved in recent months under Donald Trump, officials said US defense secretary Pete Hegseth won’t even attend the the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting today – even though he is still coming for a Nato ministerial tomorrow.
The focus then shifts to Nato and major European allies, including Germany and the UK. I will keep an eye on this and bring you the key lines from their press conferences this afternoon.
I will also bring you key updates from the developing situation in the German city of Cologne, which sees the largest evacuation since the end of the second world war as it deals with the discovery of three wartime bombs in the city centre, and updates on government crises in the Netherlands and Poland.
Let’s see what the day brings us.
It’s Wednesday, 4 June 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
