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Everton v Chelsea in WSL, Championship, Scottish Premiership and more – clockwatch | Football
Key events
WSL: London City are not finished yet as they score an almost identical goal to their third. Grace Geyoro is this time the happy recipient of the cutback and strokes it home for her first Lionesses goal. London City 4-1 Leicester. A first win since February incoming for the home side.
Scottish Premiership: Big, big thank you to Simon for a taste of some the fitba today. Some feels like a disservice for the Dundee derby. Consider yourself previewed people.
He writes, “Just rolled up at a packed Frews bar in Dundee, minutes from Tannadice where the final Dundee derby of the season kicks off at 2pm today. A win for United, for whom Jim Goodwin is now the longest serving manager since Jim McLean, having recently celebrated three years in charge, would see them well placed to finish top of the bottom six, and leave Dundee looking nervously over their shoulders. A fine day in the City of Discovery, match sold out, both sets of fans in fine fettle for now, three points, and bragging rights for the summer, up for grabs … Come on United!!!”
GOAL! Coventry 2-1 Wrexham
Striker! Coventry’s Victor Torp beats Danny Ward with an absolutely beautiful dipping free-kick. Not in the left corner but the keeper can’t handle the pace with which Torp steams it from flying over to cutting just under the bar. Gorgeous goal to take the lead.
Serie A: Fiorentina v Sassuolo finishes 0-0. Boooo. Or maybe wooo for fans of quintessential calcio?
Championship: Wrexham are going for this and bring on Nathan Broadhead and big Kieffer Moore. Perfect timing for a corner. They go back stick and win another corner that is again cleared easily by Coventry.
WSL: Oh dear. Everton fail to clear their lines and the ball bounces around the box until Erin Cuthbert says thank you very much right on the penalty spot and bangs it into the bottom left corner. 4-1 and out of sight.
Championship: Action at the other end now as Sam Smith has a one-on-one but Coventry’s Carl Rushworth makes a solid save. 1-1 but for how much longer?
Championship: Props to the Coventry fans making an absolute din at the Building Society Building. They might be a little proud and excited about Premier League action next season and who could blame them. Ooooh and Wrexham get a big let off after Dan Scarr gifts the ball to Milan van Ewijk in the box put a poor touch takes the ball out of play when he could have had a tap in.
WSL: Reportage from the fine Tom Garry at Goodison Park …
Chelsea are well on course to win this game now, 3-1 up thanks to Ellie Carpenter poking in from close range to add to Sam Kerr’s double. There has been significant controversy, though, as Kerr was denied what should have been a hat-trick as the officials did not see that her header had comfortably crossed the line, before being flicked away by Courtney Brosnan. Replays showed that Kerr’s header hit a post and bounced clearly over the line but it was not given. We do not have goalline technology in the WSL.
WSL: At London City a goal has quickly been disallowed only for the Lionesses to streak forward again and knock in the easiest of goals. Malou Marcetto taps in the cutback to make it 3-1 against Leicester. Tough for the Foxes who started brightly.
WSL: Chelsea open up Everton with ease and bag a third. Alyssa Thompson steams down the right and finds Ellie Carpenter wide open in the box. She strikes and a defender attempts a block but can only deflect the ball into the net. Blues cruise.
WSL: Chelsea strike quickly in the second half to take a 2-1 lead over Everton. Sam Kerr doubles up. Two chances, two goals. Perfect start after the break.
Thanks Will. Here we go then for some second-half WSL action and Coventry and Wrexham duking it out in the Championship. I have to declare some affiliation with the mighty Shrewsbury at this juncture. Zero bias of course just needed to be said. Moving swiftly on Kieffer Moore is warming up and will be keen to come on as Wrexham search for a win that would give them a juicy three point cushion to Hull outside of the playoffs.
Thanks for joining me. Graham Searles is with you for the next few hours. What an absolute treat for the optics.
Coventry and Wrexham are level, too.
Goodwin scores just before half time to put London City Lionesses ahead against Leicester.
Elsewhere …
Everton 1-1 Chelsea
Tottenham 0-0 Man United
It remains goalless at Tottenham v Man United in the WSL, in case you were wondering.
A potentially big goal at the bottom of the WSL as Shannon O’Brien gives bottom-placed club Leicester the lead against London City Lionesses, who then go down the other end and equalise thanks to Lucia Corrales.
Wrexham are level! Ollie Rathbone, one of their shining stars this season, arrives late to finish a Kabore cross.
Tom Garry
Everton stunned Chelsea in December and they’re causing them problems again. Halfway through the first half it’s currently 1-1, thanks to Yuka Momiki’s long-range strike in the 10th minute having cancelled out Sam Kerr’s well-worked, early opener, which saw Kerr score for the fourth game in a row for club and country. Chelsea are on top but the home side are looking stubborn and disciplined at the back since drawing level. Chelsea can ill-afford to drop points here, in the race for European places.
A bit of a blow for Wrexham’s playoff hopes as Brandon Asante-Thomas gives Championship champions Coventry the lead.
It is already 1-1 in Everton v Chelsea in the WSL. Sam Kerr opened the scoring for the visitors before Yuka Momiki equalised for the Toffees.
Never have I experienced such scenes as those at the Crown Oil Arena, as one is supposed to call it. Had to do a good three rewrites in the space of 10 minutes and then the Wi-Fi broke down, so had to file the first bit on my phone. Glory days for all involved.
I was at Spotland for Rochdale v York yesterday, so I am hoping this work experience will be a lot calmer.
Thanks John. Good afternoon, one and all. What a lovely day for a bit of liveblogging and FA Cup buildup.
Time then to pass the reins to the estimable Mr Will Unwin.
Tom Garry
From Goodison Park.
After Manchester City’s defeat yesterday and with Arsenal busy in European action, the attention in the WSL today primarily turns to the battle for Women’s Champions League places and the pressure is on Chelsea this lunchtime. They have arrived here in sunny Merseyside with a two-point advantage over fourth-placed Manchester United, whom they will face on the final day of the season. Chelsea’s opponents today, Everton, were shock winners the last time these two sides met in the WSL in December, when the Toffees ended what was a 34-game unbeaten league run for Chelsea, so Sonia Bompastor’s team must not take them lightly today. Sam Kerr starts up front for the visitors here, as speculation around her future at Chelsea continues. Her contract expires this summer.
Elsewhere, it’s a potentially decisive day in WSL2 in the race for promotion to the top tier. Birmingham City will be all-but promoted if they can beat Ipswich Town (14:00 kick-off) and they would definitely be promoted if they better Crystal Palace’s result. Charlton, in second place, can also be promoted today if Palace slip up. At the other end of table, Portsmouth desperately need a result at home to Nottingham Forest to try and avoid relegation.
News from Jeddah, via Associated Press
Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia successfully defended the AFC Champions League Elite crown after beating first-time finalist Machida Zelvia of Japan 1-0 on Saturday.
It took an extra-time goal from Saudi international striker Firas Al-Burikan to settle a bad-tempered final in front of 60,000 mainly Al-Ahli fans in Jeddah.
Al-Ahli played with 10 men for almost an hour but Machida was unable to make the advantage count.
“It’s amazing,” said Al-Ahli winger Riyad Mahrez, who won the Uefa Champions League with Manchester City in 2023. “It was difficult for us again. We like to make it difficult for ourselves. Ten against 11 is nearly impossible, I don’t know how we found the strength and the energy. … After the red card we stuck together, we fought more, we ran more until we scored.”
A shock result on Saturday in the WSL, and that opens up some possibilities. Four fixtures at midday, with Arsenal playing their Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea, the reigning WSL champions, could narrow the gap to six points on Sunday with a win over Everton. Arsenal, who also remain in contention for the title, may also now have a renewed sense of optimism with three games in hand.
Coventry v Wrexham teams:
Coventry: Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva; Onyeka, Grimes; Thomas-Asante, Eccles, Mason-Clark; Haji Wright. Subs: Wilson, Latibeaudiere, Woolfenden, Bidwell, Kesler-Hayden, Torp, Allen, Esse, Simms.
Wrexham: Ward; Hyam, Scarr, Doyle; Kabore, Dobson, James, Rathbone, Thomason; Windass, Smith. Subs: Okonkwo, Cleworth, Brunt, Cacace, Longman, O’Brien, Keillor-Dunn, Broadhead, Moore.
Give this commentary a listen if you can. An, er, interesting choice of metaphor here.
Radio highlight of the year? Coverage from the football radio stations Rasio 5 Live and Talk Sport on Rochdale versus York City. Utterly bonkers stuff. No wonder that the football journalists sounded like they were going to pass out with excitement. Seeing Rochdale score after 5 minutes of extra time, to go into the football league automatically, and then see York City score after 13 minutes of extra time, giving them the automatic promotion instead, was deranged stuff.
Every person there, seeing two big explosions in short order, became modern versions of Tsutomu Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business on 6th August 1945, suffered burns when he saw the first nuclear bomb, but went off to Nagasaki, just in time for 9th August’s second nuclear bomb. He lived until passing from stomach cancer in 2010, aged 93. Now that, THAT, was a man.
York City will probably mainly want Rochdale to get up anyway so they can share their experiences but, if not, a small part of them will think: “See? See? Don’t eff with us!”. I suffer long-term illness but, hearing this on the radio, made me grab my phone and text to explain to people what just happen and to make sure they look out for the coverage. Amazing stuff.
It’s already been a big weekend of European football.
Atlético Madrid first staged a comeback then survived one to beat Athletic Club 3-2. Aitor Paredes gave the Bilbao team the lead in the first half, then early in the second Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sørloth overturned it. Sørloth thought he had made the game safe with his second in stoppage time, but Gorka Guruzeta scored in the 97th minute to set up a nervy finish.
Atlético held on, strengthening their grip on the final qualification spot for next year’s Champions League – but they are still in this year’s, and such a tense game was perhaps less than ideal before a semi-final first leg at home to Arsenal.
In Serie A later, it’s Turin v Milan, with Torino v Inter preceding Milan v Juventus.
Ligue 1 features the Derby de la Mediterranée, Marseille v Nice, with the home team hanging on to a Europa League spot, under Newcastle legend Habib Beye.
Perhaps the biggest game in La Liga is Osasuna v Sevilla, the latter in dire relegation trouble.
We await news of Salah’s injury, and that of Kai Havertz, and Xavi Simons, too. Their seasons may be over, and there are World Cup worries, too.
Relatively calm after Liverpool’s win, but sad after reading more about the injuries affecting Ekitiké, Alisson and Mo. Also deeply disappointed for Saints and a bit miffed for Wolves and Newcastle. Ah well, off to watch some Under-8s playing with joy, strict application of the rules, and no VAR. Handshakes all round!
The Championship promotion race is going to the wire. Southampton v Ipswich on Tuesday is massive. But before that, it’s Wrexham, in a play-off position after Hull’s defeat, being the guests at Coventry’s party.
Some transfer/HR news from Germany. Bayern Munich‘s director of sport, Max Eberl, has revealed that Jackson will be heading back to Chelsea when the loan agreement expires “We will not trigger the option for Nicolas Jackson.” The deal included an obligation to buy, worth £56.2million, if Jackson played at least 45 minutes of 40 matches. More problems for Chelsea, particularly after this farrago last summer.
The Champions League semi-finals are with us, and Bayern v PSG is the first of them on Tuesday. Jonathan Wilson runs the rule.
It probably is the case, as the critics claim, that Premier League teams are wasteful and far less efficient than their continental rivals. But it’s also true that once you get beyond the top couple of teams, every Premier League side is way stronger than its equivalent in any other league in the world, something seen in the domination of the Europa League and Europa Conference League. Aston Villa came sixth in the Premier League last season with revenues of £491m; sixth in France were Lyon with revenues of £141m and sixth in Germany were Mainz with £105m.
That means Bayern or PSG can rest players or take certain periods of certain games a little easier and that leaves them fresher come the end of the season. As the demands on players have increased, it may be that the benefits of not being flogged through an exhausting battle every week have come to outweigh the disadvantages of not being quite so case-hardened as their English opponents.
Will Unwin was at 2026’s equivalent of a “ghost goal”, and saw an amazing pitch invasion as an epic National League title race was decided.
The Minstermen are back in the Football League after a decade away, but it all came down to injury time after 46 matches and 4,140 minutes of football. It was utter chaos as the final fixture included more pitch invasions than goals.
Arsenal, the holders, take on Lyon in the Women’s Champions League.
Suzanne Wrack has spoken to Olivia Smith: “As the season reaches its climax, a Champions League semi-final against Lyon on Sunday is testament to how far up the ladder Smith has climbed. Now, she is heading towards unknown territory: a second season at the same club for the first time in her senior career. “I do feel quite calm now, knowing that I have set down some roots here, but at the end of the day, football is football and you never know what’s next,” she says. “So I’m always on my toes but, right now, I’m kind of laid-back, just enjoying the time here in the present with Arsenal and looking forward to winning more silverware and growing as a player and a person.”
From one of the game’s greatest ever goalkeepers, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, an extract from his autobiography.
I sorted out my mind: “Come on, Gigi,” I said to myself, and I gave myself strength: “When the game is over you can stop playing football. Just take on this hour and a half and then say goodbye to it all.”
Hearts just have to win today:
Such a big game for Leeds, safe from relegation, just about. Now for a chance to play in a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987 and reach a first final since 1973.
Hsve Liverpool seen the last of Mohamed Salah? At least Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz scored for Liverpool against Crystal Palace, a belated downpayment or two.
What a battle at the bottom, West Ham and Spurs both looked down at one point. Amd yet there’s still four games to go, and so much to play for.
Chelsea v Leeds will see Calum McFarlane taking charge, and the caretaker has had to do some sweeping up after Marc Cucurella’s barber was the latest to leak team news.
“Of course, everyone at the club has to feel responsible, staff and players. We need to, the players know that, staff and all that, we’ve spoken. We know the recent form has not been good enough and we’re going to do absolutely everything we can and work as hard as we possibly can to make sure we can put in a good performance on Sunday and I think that’s where it starts.
“I think a lot of football is about momentum and we obviously have had a bit of a losing streak. That can change with one positive result and one positive performance and what we’re going to be able to do.
On the leaks: “It has been addressed. It’s been addressed previously. It’s something that we are looking into and it needs to stop. “We’ve spoken to them about the importance of that and making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
City and Pep Guardiola had Arsenal on their minds, too. The Gunners moved back to the top. Mikel Arteta had City on his mind, by little coincidence.
Saturday’s FA Cup tie was a slowburner but took off in the last 15 minutes. For a brief monent, the shock was on. Then City did City.
Preamble
Good morning, and welcome. Saturday was a big day in the Premier League, and in the FA Cup. We will have all the reaction here. Sunday is all about Chelsea v Leeds, about as evocative an FA Cup tie as there can be, In Scotland, Hibs v Hearts, an Edinburgh derby with so much riding on it, 40 years of hurt in the Jambos’ case.
That and all the morning news, as it happens. Join me.
The Bank last cut interest rates in December but upheaval in the Middle East has stalled any further reductions.
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US to review benefits of having troops in Europe with ‘era of free-riding’ over – Europe live | World news
US to conduct a review of forces in Europe
Hegseth says the US will be “doubling down” on its efforts to get allies to spend what they need to spend.
He says his department will conduct a six-month review of US forces in Europe.
He says it will look at actual benefits of having US military in Europe – and will be a real review.
“It will be designed to ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe.”
He then goes further to say that the US dues to the Nato budget will be contingent on other countries meeting their defence spending targets.
“Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues, contributions will go down. Nato will be a two-way street.”
He adds:
“America cannot care for or pay more for Europe’s defence than our allies do.”
Key events
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US defence secretary urges UK to spend more on defence, ‘step up and do even more’
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US force review will ‘change how we look at continent,’ Hegseth says
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Russian oil refinery on fire after barrage of Ukrainian drones strike Moscow
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Trump was ‘pumped with’ harmful ideas during G7 summit, Kremlin says
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Nato agrees to modernise nuclear capabilities, strengthen planning
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Hegseth’s frustration is not new, but still striking – snap analysis
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‘Our direction of travel is and has been clear,’ Hegseth tells Nato
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Some Nato countries ‘will fail’ US posture review, Hegseth says
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US to conduct a review of forces in Europe
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Hegseth says ‘era of free riding’ is over
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Nato allies refusal to help on Iran ‘shameful,’ Hegseth says
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US ‘gave allies test to support America … and too many failed it,’ Hegseth says
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‘There have been real setbacks we cannot ignore,’ Hegseth tells Nato
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‘Europe was not supposed to be a dependency of the US,’ Hegseth tells Nato
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‘Nato has been a paper tiger and a one-way street,’ US Hegseth tells Nato ministers
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Morning opening: Ukraine hits Moscow oil refinery, disrupts flights in retaliation attack as Nato, EU leaders meet for talks
US defence secretary urges UK to spend more on defence, ‘step up and do even more’
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has also offered his view on the relationship with the UK, after meeting Britain’s new defence minister Dan Jarvis.
His predecessor resigned in protest against low government spending on defence.
Hegseth said it was “a good meeting,” stressing that “the US-British defence alliance is an important one.”
He praised Jarvis for having first-hand experience of serving in a combat zone.
But he said “the message was the same: hey, we need you guys to step up and do even more, spend even more.”
He added:
“If we need access and basing, whether it’s in the UK or say at Diego Garcia, we can’t live in a world where other countries are standing at the end of a runway with a clipboard trying to decide what flies and what doesn’t. It’s not gonna, it’s not gonna work for us. It’s not good in contingencies, and I don’t think it’s what he wants either.”
He continued saying that “the more the UK spends on defence, the stronger Nato is going to be, the stronger western civilization is, and that’s a good thing.”
“I think [it was] a good start to a relationship that we need to renew even more,” Hegseth said.
US force review will ‘change how we look at continent,’ Hegseth says
We are now again hearing from US defence secretary Pete Hegseth again, as he’s speaking with reporters after his explosive speech at the Nato ministerial in Brussels this morning.
Just as I argued (10:15), he tells them that the message is not new, with many countries already stepping up – but not all of them.
“We will be clear with them, and as we do this review, we’ll change how we look at the continent as a result,” he says.
Separately, speaking on Iran, he also notes that a number of European countries are “prepared to step up” to help with the strait of Hormuz.
“It’s an international water bill, and frankly, European countries and Asian countries use it a lot more than we do,” he says.
Russian oil refinery on fire after barrage of Ukrainian drones strike Moscow
Peter Beaumont in Pavlograd and Warren Murray
Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow, including setting an oil refinery on fire, sending out flames and towering plumes of smoke over the city and forcing the capital’s airports to suspend flights.
The scale of the long-range attack, apparently designed to shut down operations at the key oil refinery in the Kapotno area, caught most Muscovites by surprise in a city that does not typically warn residents with air raid alarms, and prompted panicked messages on social media.
Footage posted online showed three plumes of smoke rising from the refinery.
The strike was the second in two days on the facility, in what the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then called “a just response to Russian strikes”.
“Air defence forces are continuing to repel a large-scale attack. Several drones managed to reach the [Moscow oil refinery],” said Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow’s mayor, adding that a shopping centre was also damaged. He claimed about 180 drones heading for the capital had been downed.
Sobyanin said emergency crews were working at the site and also reported “damage” to Sadovod shopping centre in the south-eastern part of the city. At least seven drones appear to have beaten Russia’s air defences to strike targets in the city.
Traffic was halted on Moscow’s ring road near the refinery, the broadcaster RIA cited the interior ministry as saying, while air traffic was disrupted at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports.
Jakub Krupa
Let’s get a bit more on these Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow.
Trump was ‘pumped with’ harmful ideas during G7 summit, Kremlin says
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has offered its take on yesterday’s G7 summit – including a supportive statement on Ukraine (Europe Live, Wednesday) – saying that the US president, Donald Trump, was “pumped with” harmful ideas by the EU.
The US had no contacts with Moscow after the meeting, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Interfax and Reuters as saying.
Ushakov also disputed the EU’s assumption that the battlefield situation was changing in Ukraine’s favour.
Nato agrees to modernise nuclear capabilities, strengthen planning
Separately, Nato has agreed to modernise its nuclear capabilities and strengthen its nuclear planning capacity, the alliance’s senior body for nuclear deterrence said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
All Nato allies except France are members of the Nuclear Planning Group, which serves as a forum for consultation and decision-making on nuclear deterrence.
Defence ministers taking part in the meeting “recalled that the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance remain the supreme guarantee of Allied security and underpin Nato’s extended deterrence architecture,” the statement said.
Hegseth’s frustration is not new, but still striking – snap analysis
Jakub Krupa
None of this is really new new – Hegseth largely repeats the US’s main frustrations and grievances with the alliance, repeatedly expressed by Trump – but the tone of the delivery is still very, very striking.
Hegseth has laid into Nato allies for not helping enough with bases and overflights during its early Iran operations – and once he did not name any countries, it’s likely targeted at the likes of Spain, Italy, Portugal.
In other parts, it is just a broader criticism of what the US sees as “free riding” from the allies, as they do not move quickly enough on spending.
Coming just weeks before the Nato summit in Ankara, it is clearly intented to serve as a warning to several of the allies that still don’t spend enough and don’t seem to act with the urgency the US is expecting them to increase that spending – or even offer a credible path towards it.
The proposed posture review – and explicit threat that some of them will fail it – and the suggestion the US could reduce its contributions if others do not pay enough, will make some think twice about their plans in the next few weeks.
As Hegseth ends his remarks, Rutte says “there’s much to discuss and decide today.”
You bet it’s going to be lively.
‘Our direction of travel is and has been clear,’ Hegseth tells Nato
Hegseth says “our direction of travel is and has been clear.”
“This is the right thing to do by the American people. It’s the right thing to do by this alliance.
Europe can and must take primary responsibility for its conventional defence as it pledged at The Hague Summit, and in the process safeguarding Europe’s defence for generations to come, we know our allies can do it, and it’s time.”
Some Nato countries ‘will fail’ US posture review, Hegseth says
Hegseth makes it clear that the review will not be just a box-ticking exercise.
“It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colours. In the end, the review is intended to both improve US force posture and basing and strengthen Nato 3.0.”
US to conduct a review of forces in Europe
Hegseth says the US will be “doubling down” on its efforts to get allies to spend what they need to spend.
He says his department will conduct a six-month review of US forces in Europe.
He says it will look at actual benefits of having US military in Europe – and will be a real review.
“It will be designed to ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe.”
He then goes further to say that the US dues to the Nato budget will be contingent on other countries meeting their defence spending targets.
“Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues, contributions will go down. Nato will be a two-way street.”
He adds:
“America cannot care for or pay more for Europe’s defence than our allies do.”
Hegseth says ‘era of free riding’ is over
Hegseth says that “some of Nato’s largest economies, some of our richest countries, allies that are happiest to go on about the rules-based international order and middle powers banding together still think the era of free riding is here.”
He says Trump disagrees.
“This is not what any reasonable person would expect, and it’s not going to cut it any more.”
(He may be thinking of, among others, Spain, which has long been the target of US criticism, and has clashed with it in recent months.)
Nato allies refusal to help on Iran ‘shameful,’ Hegseth says
Hegseth makes it very clear how the US is annoyed about the perceived lack of support on Iran.
“The United States has defended Europe for generations, and the President said all he said was that our jets would need to take off from bases in Europe or our ships from ports to strike targets in the Middle East, Iranian targets that threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us.
But too many of our allies said no, or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticised us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves. It was shameful.
These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access facing an overflight that never should have been in question at all.”
US ‘gave allies test to support America … and too many failed it,’ Hegseth says
Hegseth now goes hard on some Nato countries that are still paying below the expected levels.
He says “for all of our clarity, too many allied capitals seem to still miss something in translation” and “too many allies still do not recognise the historic need … to forge a relevant, powerful military alliance.”
He says the US “gave our allies a test to support America when we asked for their help and too many failed it.”
‘There have been real setbacks we cannot ignore,’ Hegseth tells Nato
Hegseth says that Trump is clear about his intention to increase defence spending so the US leads and shows others “it’s not do as I say, it’s do as we do.”
He says he believes the US approach has been validated on Ukraine, with allies taking more responsibility for Ukraine’s defence – and this approach actually yielding positive results.
“It is happening, and it’s a validation of President Trump’s approach, an approach that will set the table for peace.”
But he says that “for all these early steps in the right direction, there have also been real setbacks that we cannot ignore.”
Hegseth continues by saying that Nato 2.0 was “an era of distraction, de-industrialisation and demilitarisation,” with “an era of free riding.”
“Those were lost years that we are not going back to.”
He says that’s why his department is “so clear and so candid” about the need to “restore Nato’s core military role and character” and why it’s returned US troop levels to pre-2022.
He says the alliance needs to return to its roots to be as strong as required and “if need be, make good on Article Five.”
He says some countries “got the message and stepped up,” but others are still failing.
‘Europe was not supposed to be a dependency of the US,’ Hegseth tells Nato
Hegseth seems to praise spending commitments adopted at last year’s Nato summit in The Hague, saying they were “all about transforming Nato back into a real military alliance that is focused on hard power and real deterrence.”
But in another eye-catching quote, he goes on to say:
“Europe was not supposed to be a dependency of the United States. That’s not what Winston Churchill or Charles de Gaulle or Konrad Adenauer wanted or expected. No, Europe was supposed to be a military power, allied with a strong America.”
He goes back in Nato history to 1951, quoting Eisehower comments that “if in 10 years all American troops stationed in Europe for national defence purposes have not been returned to the US, then this whole process will have failed.”
But he says that Nato 2.0 in the following decades increasingly focused on “gender equality and climate change” instead of “tanks and fighters and air defences.”
“Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defence budgets cratered, along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization. Nato lost its way.”
Ouch, again.
‘Nato has been a paper tiger and a one-way street,’ US Hegseth tells Nato ministers
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth has asked to speak at the beginning of the Nato ministerial in Brussels, and it very much looks like his comments will set the tone for the day.
He begins by saying that Trump “has said again and again … our allies must step up.”
“Nato has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more.”
Ouch.
Morning opening: Ukraine hits Moscow oil refinery, disrupts flights in retaliation attack as Nato, EU leaders meet for talks
Jakub Krupa
Ukraine hit an oil refinery near Moscow and other targets in Russia overnight in what president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “a justified response” to recent strikes on Ukraine.
Russian officials were quoted as saying that the attack forced commercial flights and airports to be suspended for safety reasons and caused a temporary halt on Moscow’s ring road, after some 180 drones were shot down over the Russian capital.
“This is a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities, and another important result of our warriors’ work against facilities that sustain Russia’s war machine,” Zelenskyy said.
The strikes come on the day of a Nato ministerial meeting in Brussels, the last before next month’s summit in Ankara.
Nato allies are expected to discuss the latest on their defence spending plans, with the US pressing Europe to take more responsibility for the defence of the continent.
Later on, the ministers will also take part in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, a key forum to coordinate on support for Ukraine, which is expected to be attended by Zelenskyy.
The main event comes fairly late in the day, as EU leaders are expected to gather for the European Council meeting on Ukraine and the Middle East. It’s a two-day summit, likely to go late into the night.
Lots for us to cover.
It’s Thursday, 18 June 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
The Major Oak is thought to have stood for more than 1,000 years in the heart of Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest.
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