Ukraine seeks Western help as latest Russian attacks kill 24 and injure over 200
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Russian drones, missiles and artillery killed at least 24 civilians and injured more than 200 others in Ukraine, officials said yesterday.
It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky sought guarantees at a Nato summit of further Western help for his country's efforts to repel Russia's invasion.
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The Irish Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Threat is MUCH closer than we think, Keir warns as UK prepares for war on home soil & Nato confirms 5% defence boost
SIR Keir Starmer has chillingly warned that threats to national security are closer to home than we think. Speaking at the Nato summit in The Hague, the PM said the UK is "regularly" the victim of cyber attacks by Russia and Iran. 7 Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a media conference at the end of the NATO summit on June 25 Credit: Getty 7 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof (L), welcome British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C) to the World Forum for the NATO Summit in The Hague Credit: EPA 7 Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet with soldiers from the Operation Interflex at Downing Street Credit: EPA Speaking in the wake of the UK's new strategic review, he reiterated: "It is a mistake to think that the only threat we face is external and far off." "They are ever more sophisticated, and we need to have the capability to deal with them. "Equally in relation to energy that has been weaponised quite obviously in the last few years. "There are very many attempts to penetrate our systems having been dealt with by our security and intelligence services, but the fact that they are very good their job shouldn't detract from the fact that that is a real threat to our country, which we have to take seriously." It comes after all Nato members agreed to raising defence and security spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035 to make it "stronger, fairer and more lethal than ever". The UK will also provide "hundreds more defence missiles" to protect Ukraine. These will be paid for with money from frozen Russian assets. Most read in The Sun It follows a chilling new national security blueprint which set out what the UK can expect as Russia, China and ramp up threats. A strategic defence review, unveiled on Tuesday, announced that the UK will perform annual drills to anticipate what war on UK soil may look like. Britain will now hold the yearly drills to prepare for a wide range of enemy attacks. The new national security strategy included plans for the exercises designed to test the country's "whole-of-society preparedness". These will include 7 Royal Navy warships shadow Russian vessels in the English Channel and waters off the Outer Hebrides Credit: Royal Navy 7 Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to British and Albanian troops at Berzite military museum in Tirana, Albania Credit: AP Ministers have committed to the annual drills which will test the response to the Government, Possible drills may include a missile strike by a foreign state, a mass terror attack, cyber attacks or the assassination of a public figure. The first drill will be held this autumn and will be codenamed "Pegasus". It will test how the Government and other public bodies would respond to a new global pandemic - five years after Covid-19 wrecked havoc across the country, triggering multiple lockdowns. A part of these preparedness drills will include mock-ups of Cobra meetings, which are held in an emergency. Tuesday's report also promised "greater vigilance to the public" going forward. This may lead to a return of Cold War-style "protect and survive" information films. They were used between 1974 and 1980 and advised the public on how to survive a nuclear attack. Instructions included how to prepare a fallout room, stockpiling supplies like food and water, and recognising warning signals. The new plan focuses on three key areas - protecting the UK at home, working with allies to strengthen The warning comes after Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, declaring that without a major increase in defence spending, the British 'better learn to speak Russian'. The strategy said threats from other countries are on the rise. It revealed that the UK has been "directly threatened by hostile activities including assassination, intimidation, espionage, sabotage, cyber attacks and other forms of democratic interference". The stark message came as the PM jetted into The Hague for a crunch NATO summit, where leaders confirmed plans for all allies to spend five per cent of GDP on defence and security by 2035. Sir Keir Starmer admitted the country faces 'daily challenges on the home front' when asked about the growing threat after the security strategy's release. The Government's strategy lays bare the scale of the 'For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the The strategy said the UK's enemies are spreading disinformation and using social media to "stoke tensions between generations, genders and ethnic groups". Critical infrastructure such as undersea cables will "continue to be a target", the document added. It comes after The F-35As will be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, which housed Britain's air-launched nuclear weapons until 1998. That was the year then—PM Tony Blair scrapped Britain's air-launched bomb, the WE-177. Read more on the Irish Sun The new B-61 bombs, made by US-firm Lockheed Martin, can take out small areas — unlike Trident 2 missiles on Britain's submarines which can obliterate whole cities. The F-35As can also carry conventional weapons. 7 The Government said the jets would support Nato's nuclear mission 7 Sir Keir Starmer addresses a press conference during the NATO summit in The Hague Credit: AP
Extra.ie
21 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Watch: NATO chief calls Donald Trump 'daddy' in bizarre exchange
The Secretary General of NATO has raised eyebrows after he called US President Donald Trump 'daddy' in a meeting about the Israel-Iran conflict. Mr Trump declared a ceasefire between Israel and Iran following 12 days of exchanges over Iran's reported nuclear progress, which was broken just over an hour later when the two countries began firing missiles at each other again. After Mr Trump said that both countries 'don't know what the f**k they're doing,' the fragile ceasefire has held for now; with him speaking on the conflict at a NATO summit with Secretary General Mark Rutte. 'Sometimes daddy has to use strong language.' Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte referred to US President Donald Trump as 'daddy' when discussing the Israel-Iran conflict at the summit in The Hague. — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 25, 2025 After comparing Israel and Iran to 'two kids in a schoolyard,' Mr Trump said 'they fight like hell, you can't stop em. Let em fight for about two to three minutes, then it's easy to stop them.' However, the exchange took a weird turn when Mr Rutte said 'and then daddy [Mr Trump] has to sometimes use strong language,' referring to Mr Trump swearing on live television. The 'daddy' comment raised eyebrows on Twitter (X), with one person commenting 'Is cringe a new component of NATO offensive capabilities?' The Secretary General of NATO has raised eyebrows after he called US President Donald Trump 'daddy' in a meeting about the Israel-Iran conflict. Pic:'This is genuinely nauseating,' another wrote, while another tweeted ''daddy'?? What the actual HELL is going on!? NATO Chief just called Trump 'daddy' on camera and people are losing it!' Israel began launching fresh missiles at Iran, claiming that the country violated the ceasefire that US President Trump announced on Truth Social in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The ceasefire lasted only a few hours, before the exchanges began again. After telling Israel 'DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS [sic],' on Truth Social, Mr Trump addressed the media, where he said both countries were violating the ceasefire, and telling Israel to 'calm down' — before saying that both countries don't know 'what the f**k they're doing.' US president Donald Trump said that Israel and Iran 'don't know what the f**k they're doing' after an hours old ceasefire was broken. Pic: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images 'There was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard after the time limit and now Israel is going out. These guys [have] got to calm down,' Mr Trump said. 'I didn't like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn't have to unload. 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing.'
Irish Examiner
37 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Trump affirms his commitment to Nato's Article 5 pledge for mutual defence
US President Donald Trump has affirmed his commitment to the Nato alliance's mutual defence guarantee as he attended its summit in the Netherlands. Before landing in the Netherlands on Tuesday, Mr Trump cast doubt on whether the US would abide by Article 5 of the Nato treaty, which calls on all members to defend one another in case of an attack. But on Wednesday, the US president said he stood with that promise. Front row left to right, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a group photo of Nato heads of state and government at the Nato summit in The Hague, Netherlands (Geert Vanden Wi 'That's why I'm here,' Mr Trump said as he met with Dick Schoof, the prime minister of the Netherlands. 'Why would I be here?' Meanwhile, the alliance on Wednesday enacted one of the Republican president's chief priorities: a pledge by Nato member countries to increase, sometimes significantly, how much they spend on their defence. 'I've been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years,' Mr Trump said earlier on Wednesday as he met with Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary general. 'I think that's going to be very big news.' The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying: 'Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.' Spain had already officially announced that it cannot meet the target, and others have voiced reservations, but the investment pledge includes a review of spending in 2029 to monitor progress and reassess the security threat posed by Russia. The boost in spending follows years of Mr Trump's complaints that other countries were not paying their fair share as part of an alliance created as a bulwark against threats from the former Soviet Union. Most Nato countries, with the key exception of Spain, appeared motivated to bolster their own defences not just by Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine but also, perhaps, to placate Mr Trump. 🆕 NATO Allies have agreed to invest 5% of their GDP annually in defence. A substantial commitment in response to significant threats to our security#NATOsummit — NATO (@NATO) June 25, 2025 As a candidate in 2016, Mr Trump suggested that as president he would not necessarily heed the alliance's mutual defence guarantees outlined in Article 5 of the Nato treaty. In March this year, he expressed uncertainty that Nato would come to the United States' defence if needed, though the alliance did just that after the September 11 2001 attacks. On Tuesday, he told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to The Hague for the summit that whether he is committed to Article 5 'depends on your definition'. 'There's numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right?' Mr Trump said. 'But I'm committed to being their friends.' He signalled that he would give a more precise definition of what Article 5 means to him once he was at the summit. New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, who travelled to The Hague and met with several foreign leaders at the summit, said other countries raised 'understandable questions' about the US commitment to the alliance, 'certainly given President Trump's past statements'. 'We were very strong and reassuring everyone that we are committed to Nato, we are committed to Article 5, we are committed to maintaining troops on the Eastern flank,' said Ms Shaheen, who represented the US Senate with Democratic senator Chris Coons of Delaware. From right, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump during a meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte at the Nato summit in The Hague, Netherlands (Piroschka Van De Wouw, Pool Photo via AP) Mr Trump also vented to reporters before leaving Washington about the actions by Israel and Iran after his announced ceasefire – although on Monday, he said the ceasefire was 'very good'. After Mr Trump arrived in the Netherlands, news outlets, including The Associated Press, reported that a US intelligence report suggested in an early assessment that Iran's nuclear programme had been set back only a few months by weekend strikes and was not 'completely and fully obliterated', as Mr Trump had said. But on Wednesday morning, Mr Trump and other senior cabinet officials vigorously pushed back on the assessment, and defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the administration was launching an investigation into who disclosed those findings to reporters. 'That hit ended the war,' Mr Trump said. Drawing comparisons to the atomic bombings from the US during the Second World War, he added: 'I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki. But that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war.' The White House has not said which other world leaders Mr Trump would meet with one on one while in The Hague, but the US president said during his meeting with Mr Rutte that he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later on Wednesday.
