Russia Ukraine war live: Norway promises F-16 fighter jets as Kyiv on ‘irreversible’ path to Nato membership

Ukrainian forces can now use British missiles for defensive strikes against target inside Russian territory, Keir Starmer told Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit.

New defence secretary in his administration, John Healey, signalled the move but did not share details of the “operational arrangements”. Britain, he said, “will do all we can to help Ukraine in their fight to repel Putin’s invasion”.

“We provide weapons equipment where we can for them to defend themselves, and as we do for ourselves and any other nation in conflict, we require, because it’s international law, that war is conducted within those rules of the Geneva Convention,” Mr Healey told Sky News yesterday.

A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the European Union has reacted to the declaration of the Nato summit in Washington and called it full of “belligerent rhetoric”, and the China-related content has provocations, “lies, incitement and smears”.

The draft communique being developed at the Nato summit in Washington said that China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Europe and to security.

“As we all know, China is not the creator of the crisis in Ukraine,” said a spokesperson in a statement released this morning.

The joint meeting with Mike Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries was likely to largely focus on establishing some of Starmer’s first relationships on Capitol Hill as prime minister while also touching on some policy issues including the most anticipated topic of the week: Ukraine, and the eastern European country’s journey to becoming a Nato member-state.

US officials, alongside their counterparts in the UK and other Nato countries, are set to unveil what the Biden administration has been previewing as a “bridge to Nato membership” for Ukraine this week.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg underlined that Ukraine will not join the alliance’s ranks immediately. But he insisted that must happen after the war is over to ensure that Russia never attacks Ukraine again.

Of the overall Nato assistance, he said, “We are not doing this because we want to prolong a war. We are doing it because we want to end a war as soon as possible.

Mr Stoltenberg also delivered a passionate defence of the military alliance itself last night when reporters asked about the possibility that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a Nato critic, could pull US support for the alliance if he wins in November.”

Yesterday, the alliance welcomed Ukraine’s democratic, economic and security reforms needed to join and said it would get an invitation “when allies agree and conditions are met”.

While Nato leaders stand ready to offer Ukraine the means to defend itself in a war now in its third year, they did not say it should prevail.

Indeed, their statement said that “Nato does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia. We remain willing to maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation”.

A Nato communique floated yesterday has strongly called out China and strengthened past language of calling it a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and saying Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said it was the first time the 32 allies had jointly labeled China a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and called it an important message.

He said Nato was not an organisation that imposes sanctions, but added: “At the end of the day, this will be for individual allies to make decisions, but I think the message we send from Nato from this summit is very clear.”

The communique has called on China to cease material and political support for Russia’s war effort and expressed concern about China’s space capabilities, referenced rapid expansion of its nuclear arsenal, and urged Beijing to engage in strategic risk reduction talks.

Additionally, the communique said the allies intend to provide Ukraine with at least 40bn euros ($43.28bn) in military aid within the next year, but stopped short of the multi-year commitment.

Sunak pledge now comes with the Starmer guarantee of delivery” is how new defence secretary John Healey describes the key deal at this summit, painting Britain as the leading European nation in Nato as questions are raised about future US support for the alliance.

Donald Trump’s brooding presence looms over Nato’s 75th anniversary meeting in Washington, with his possible return to the White House pointing to probabilities ranging from negotiating a peace deal with Vladimir Putin to renewed demands that other member states cough up more money for defence.

Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, stressed to visiting leaders that the former president has “repeatedly stated that a top priority in his second term will be to quickly negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war”. Trump believes that European nations “should be paying more of the cost of the conflict, as the US has paid significantly more, which is not fair to our taxpayers”, Cheung said.

Nato is expected to use the summit this week to launch a new program to provide reliable military aid to Ukraine and help it get ready to join the alliance.

The plan will supplement, but not replace, the two-year-old Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was created by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin after Russia launched its February 2022 invasion into Ukraine. That group, with more than 50 nations from Europe and around the world, coordinates the delivery of much-needed weapons and training to Ukraine.

Some officials have described the new Nato organization as a way to “Trump-proof” alliance support for Ukraine in case former president Donald Trump wins the November election. But that may be a reach.

But now, under the plan approved by Nato defence ministers last month, and scheduled for approval by heads of state today, the alliance will take on a broader role to coordinate training and equipment donations.