Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump claims conflict ‘will be settled soon’ and says he considered skipping Nato summit

President Donald Trump has expressed his disappointment with Nato during a press conference ahead of his appearance at the Nato summit on Tuesday.

“I was very disappointed with Nato,” he said as the administration encouraged the alliance to up its spending on defence this week.

“We’ve invested trillions of dollars in Nato. Why? To protect European countries and others… You would think that they’d be very willing to do something to help us, and they really weren’t…

“I’ve long said that we help them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us — and Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down. And that’s okay, but why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them.”

“The United States Military has never been stronger, or more powerful,” the president wrote as he jetted out for a two-day Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey.

“No other Nation can do what we do (It’s not even close!). This year we set even more Historic Recruiting Records, months ahead of schedule. Morale has never been higher. Our Military’s unmatched POWER was on full display during our Celebration of 250 Years of American Independence and, like our Country, the WAR DEPARTMENT has never been ‘HOTTER.’

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine “belongs in Nato” as he thanked allies and expressed pride in the Ukrainian people and their resilience throughout the war.

Europe urgently needs to develop its anti-ballistic missile production, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

“Europe needs its own effective ant-ballistic missiles and systems. This work is already underway. I urge you and all of our partners to give it the attention it deserves,” he said.

Providing an example of Patriot missiles, he also said other versions were available. He said Europe could not wait until 2030 but needs the equipment “today”.

“Please help us get more air defence missiles,” he said. “We are capable of doing everything else ourselves.”

He said that he hopes air defence supplies will be the outcome of the Nato summit.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is explaining the revolutionary nature of drone warfare, describing it as the biggest change in conflict since machine guns were used in World War II.

He has described his country’s war aims as “defending Ukraine from Russian attacks and carrying out our long-range sanctions” as well as medium-range strikes.

Zelensky says that Ukraine is a source of “extraordinary” defensive capability.

Nato chief Mark Rutte is reiterating the importance of the transatlantic alliance, while he emphasises the need for Europe to develop independence from the US.

It is also important “not to see governments as the only stakeholders it but should be combination of contributions, including industry,” says Chairman of the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) Tacan Ildem.

President Donald Trump has arrived at the Nato summit in Ankara on Tuesday.

Russia will closely follow the outcome of Nato’s summit in Turkey, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, adding that “confrontational” statements about Russia had been made in the run-up to the meeting.

Nato leaders plan to unveil arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars in Ankara on Tuesday to show they are heeding US calls to spend more to defend Europe, before joining President Donald Trump for the summit.