President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned "Western elites" against trying to sabotage a potential rapprochement between Russia and the United States, saying Moscow would use its diplomats and intelligence services to thwart such efforts.

Denmark last week said it would ratchet up its investment in the military, with its prime minister urging her Danish defense chief to “buy, buy, buy.” In a speech to parliament, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to accelerate plans to raise military spending from a current 2.

Mr Trump is the guiding force of the talks, the early throes of which have started—without any input or representation from Ukraine and Europe—in Saudi Arabia. If he chooses to include Europe at all,