Vance's speech came days after President Trump effectively pulled the rug out from Ukraine's negotiating position by conceding, via his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, that restoring Ukraine's territory to where it was before the first Russian invasion in 2014 is simply "not realistic".

The vice president said the NATO alliance needed to step up for Ukraine as the United States faces more challenges in East Asia.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused European leaders on Friday of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration, drawing a sharp rebuke from Germany's defense minister and overshadowing discussions on the war in Ukraine.

The European Commission will propose exempting defence from EU limits on government spending, the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday, amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for Europe to finance its own defence.

EU member states are currently negotiating whether to roll-out a so-called European preference for bloc-level defence spending. View on euronews

The IISS forecast that this year total Russian defence spending — including so-called voluntary payments by regional authorities and companies — would increase 13.7 per cent to reach Rbs15.6tn, equivalent to 7.5 per cent of GDP or almost 40 per cent of Russian federal spending.

NATO members in Europe should bear more of the costs of collective defense, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday, echoing President Donald Trump’s call for allies to spend 5% of their GDP on defense while sidestepping suggestions that the US should hit the same target.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent its defense spending skyrocketing, and is raising fears it will attack NATO next.