Ukraine allies pledge €21bn in new aid as Kremlin says Trump envoy to meet Putin

Summary

Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius says peace in Ukraine appears "out of reach in the immediate future" given Russia's continued aggression
He was speaking at a meeting in Brussels of Ukraine's allies, during which they pledged €21bn (£18bn, $24bn) in new military support for Kyiv
Earlier, the UK gave details of a £450m package of military support, including money from Norway, with funds for hundreds of thousands of drones
Elsewhere, Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Russia and will hold talks with Vladimir Putin today, the Kremlin says
Dmitry Peskov says Witkoff's visit is an opportunity to convey "Russia's position" to Trump, but adds no-one should expect major "breakthroughs"

UK and Germany chairing meeting of 50 nations at Nato HQpublished at 07:26 British Summer Time 11 April

James Gregory
Live editor

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage. UK Defence Secretary John Healey is in Brussels where he will be co-chairing a meeting of 50 nations with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius to discuss further military aid for Ukraine.

The Ukraine Defence Contact group, comprised of Kyiv’s allies, will be meeting at Nato’s headquarters this morning.

Overnight, the British government announced a further £450m of military support for Kyiv (£350m coming from the UK) to, in the words of Healey, “pile pressure” on Vladimir Putin and force him to end the invasion of his neighbour.

We'll bring you more about that package in our next post.

Elsewhere, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be holding separate talks with the EU on working more closely on defence spending.

Stay with us throughout the course of the day as we bring you the latest lines from Brussels.

Summary

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