Defence Ministers Meet As Ukraine Calls For More Weapons

Summit of NATO defence ministers gets underway in Brussels this morning. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg delivers doorstep comments from 1100CET (0500ET, 1000BST, 1800JST). The main focus of the meeting is the extent to which additional military hardware is provided to Ukraine in the wake of Kyiv's successful offensives into Russian-held oblasts and Moscow's barrage of long-range missiles into central and western Ukraine this week.

• Livestream: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/events_67375.htm
• The Ukraine Defense Contact Group starts its meeting at around 1300CET (0700ET, 1200BST), before which US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III delivers his public opening remarks.
• Speaking to the press yesterday, Stoltenberg stated that any attacks on energy infrastructure of NATO states would be met with a 'united and determined response', while also stating that, ..."we will never give our potential adversaries the privilege of defining exactly where the threshold for Article 5 goes. That will be a decision we make as Allies, taking into account the precise context, the specific situation we will face, if there is a hybrid or cyber attack against a NATO Ally."