Nato will be at war with Russia if Western countries allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles deep inside Russian territory, Vladimir Putin warned. The Russian president claimed the programming of Western missiles would have to be done by Nato military personnel - bringing the organisation into direct confrontation with the Kremlin.

Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of using strategic bombers to strike a civilian grain vessel in a missile attack in Black Sea waters near NATO member Romania, escalating tensions between Moscow and the military alliance.

Russia "started" the conflict in Ukraine and can end it "straight away”, Sir Keir Starmer has said after Vladimir Putin suggested Moscow would regard Western missiles being fired into Russia as a serious escalation of the war.