With President Donald Trump entering office for the second time, NATO spending is once again under scrutiny as the United States warns European countries must dig deeper into their pockets.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday the US would “no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship” with allies on Ukraine, and warned that other NATO Members needed to spend more on defence.

It comes as Mr Trump announced he had a “highly productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he said would initiate negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

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Ukrainian president Zelensky has warned European leaders that their countries could be next to face a Russian attack.

“If this (Ukraine-Russia) war ends the wrong way, he (Putin) will have a surplus of battle-tested soldiers who know nothing but killing and looting,” he said, citing intelligence reports indicating Russia will dispatch troops to close ally Belarus, another neighbour of Ukraine, this summer.

European nations cooperate militarily primarily within Nato but governments have so far rejected various calls for the creation of a single European army over the years, arguing that defence is a matter of national sovereignty.

Zelensky argued that Europe building up military strength would be good not only for security but also for the continent’s economy. “This isn’t just about stockpiling weapons, it’s about jobs, technological leadership and economic trends for Europe.”

Boris Johnson’s former director of communications Guto Harri has said Donald Trump rings the ex-PM regularly to “discuss Ukraine”.

He told Times Radio the calls happen “quite regularly”. He added: “I know on Ukraine, Boris was very eager to press upon him how important it is for the White House and for Donald Trump that there’s a decent outcome in the Ukraine for Zelensky.

“And I think that’s the best way of making the case at the moment is to appeal not just to the big picture and the superior moral case, as most of us see it, for Ukraine remaining a democratic, independent nation.. but appealing to the selfish, self-interest of Donald Trump.”

China believes all stakeholders in the Russia-Ukraine conflict should participate in the peace talks, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday, underscoring Europe’s role in them after a flurry of U.S. messaging on how to end the war.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Wang said “we hope that all parties and stakeholders directly involved participate in the peace talks in due course”.

“China views all efforts dedicated to peace positively, including any consensus reached by the United States and Russia on peace talks,” China’s foreign ministry readout quoted Wang as saying.

“As the war is taking place on European soil, it is all the more necessary for Europe to play its part for peace, to jointly address the root causes of the crisis, to find a balanced, effective and sustainable security framework, and to achieve long-term peace and stability in Europe.”

Wang also told the European Union that China is ready to step up strategic communication with the bloc, enhance mutual understanding and jointly bring more stability to the world, according to remarks made to the EU policy chief Kaja Kallas.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attention-grabbing overseas debut may have irritated some key Republicans and alienated allies in Europe, where his statements on Ukraine and NATO went down like a lead balloon.

But his forceful comments gained him a nod from one key listener: U.S. President Donald Trump.

And Hegseth – who on Saturday wraps up a week-long trip to Belgium, Germany and Poland – delivered a message at the heart of Trump’s America First agenda.

Speaking at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Hegseth said a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and the Trump administration does not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution to the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Trump broadly backed Hegseth’s remarks on Thursday on NATO membership, saying, “I think probably that’s true,” because, he said, Putin would not allow Ukraine to join the military alliance.

“I thought his comments were good yesterday, and they’re probably good today,” Trump said.

Not everyone was so positive.

“I don’t know who wrote the speech, it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool,” Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican who leads the Pentagon’s main oversight committee in the Senate, told Politico, referring to the conservative media personality who was once a Fox News host.

Europe needs its own plan for Ukraine and for its own security or its future will be decided by other powers, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday.

“Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future. Not necessarily in line with our own interest,” Tusk wrote on social media platform X. “This plan must be prepared now. There’s no time to lose.”

For a man who prides himself on his mastery of the “art of the deal”, Donald Trump has made an unpromising start to his negotiations with Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

According to the US president’s vainglorious business guide, published in 1987: “My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.”

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The Ukrainian leader’s comments came after Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey called on the UK and Europe to “do more” to “share the burden” of regional security in a joint article for the Daily Telegraph.

They also said that a “durable peace” would need a “continuing US commitment to its allies through Nato”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Mr Zelensky that Britain is committed to Ukraine being on an “irreversible path” to joining Nato, after the US appeared to rule out its membership.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Healey and Mr Lammy said that for two decades the Russian leader has been “seeking to recreate the Russian empire and suffocate the countries around its borders”.

“Too often in the past, the West has let him,” they added. “We did too little in 2008 when he invaded Georgia, and in 2014 when he first went into Ukraine.”

Washington has suggested Nato membership for Ukraine is off the table and Mr Zelensky will have to cede territory to Russia, but he said: “Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement.”

Mr Zelensky said he wanted allies to gather in Kyiv or online on February 24 to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale assault.

He added: “This meeting must deliver a clear vision for our next steps on peace, security guarantees and the future of our collective policy.

“And I do not believe in security guarantees without America. Yes, it will be just weak.

“But America will not offer guarantees unless Europe’s own guarantees are strong.

“And I also will not take Nato membership for Ukraine off the table, but right now the most influential member of Nato seems to be Putin because his whims have the power to block Nato decisions.”

Volodymyr Zelensky called for the creation of an “army of Europe”, suggesting the continent could not rely on Donald Trump’s United States for its defence.

The President of Ukraine told the Munich Security Conference: “As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security, we must build the armed forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans, and decisions about Europe are made in Europe.”

He told the gathering in Germany: “Some in Europe may not fully understand what’s happening in Washington right now, but let’s focus on understanding ourselves right here in Europe, we must give strength to Europe first.

“Does America need Europe as a market? Yes. But as an ally? I don’t know.

“For the answer to be yes. Europe needs a single voice, not a dozen different ones.”