Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Putin doesn’t need ceasefire, says Zelensky after 16 killed in drone assault

Since Donald Trump took office, the US has demanded its Nato allies up their defence spending to 5 per cent.

On Friday, Nato’s secretary-general Mark Rutte said allies were committed to spending more, adding that many members have already begun to do so.

Almost a third of allies still do not meet Nato’s target of 2 per cent of their GDP on defence spending.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is not insisting that its allies hit the 5% spending target overnight, but “we think that’s what NATO allies need to be spending for NATO to face the threats that itself has identified and articulated.”

Putin’s drone strikes on Ukraine have surged since peace talks began earlier this year, analysis by The Telegraph has shown.

Data from the Ukrainian Air Force Command updates found that in the 30 days after ceasefire talks began, there were 4,776 drone strikes launched by Russia – over 1,500 more than the 3,148 seen in the 30 days prior.

The ball is in Russia’s court regarding a ceasefire in Ukraine, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said on Friday after meeting Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.

Several European ministers asked for a deadline to be set for Moscow to answer to the US proposal for a ceasefire – but Mr Rutte did not say if he was in favour of that proposal.

He added that the military alliance still believes Russia poses the greatest threat to its security.

For the US president, trade tariffs and sanctions are different things, writes Mary Dejevsky – but focusing on fair(er) trade rather than separating the good and bad guys may yet come back to haunt him.

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With limited numbers of foot soldiers to take on Russia, Ukraine has branched out into a revolutionary new treatment for its traumatised and damaged troops – ketamine, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley from Kyiv.

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A former Russian defence official was convicted on Friday of taking bribes and sentenced to seven years in a penal colony, state news agency TASS said.

Andrei Chekmazov, a reserve colonel, was accused of accepting kickbacks worth more than 16 million roubles ($188,000) from the head of a company which had received contracts from the defence ministry.

While waging a war in Ukraine that is now into its fourth year, president Vladimir Putin has launched a drive to punish corruption in the armed forces, leading to a rash of prosecutions.

More than a dozen people have been arrested in the past 12 months.

The US will know “soon enough” if Putin is “serious about peace”, Marco Rubio said, as Nato leaders call for Moscow to be given a deadline to accept a ceasefire deal.

The US secretary of state told Nato allies that Donald Trump will be able to see Russia’s true intentions in a matter of weeks, amid reports that the US president has grown wary of Vladimir Putin’s stalling on an agreement.

“We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are,” Rubio said after a two-day Nato meeting.

Putin’s drone strikes on Ukraine have surged since peace talks began earlier this year, analysis by The Telegraph has shown.

Data from the Ukrainian Air Force Command updates found that in the 30 days after ceasefire talks began, there were 4,776 drone strikes launched by Russia – over 1,500 more than the 3,148 seen in the 30 days prior.