Vladimir Putin has signed off increasing Russia's military spending by 25% - to 32.5% of the total budget - the equivalent of £99.5bn. Meanwhile, the new EU Council president Antonio Costa and high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas are visiting Ukraine on their first day.

MOSCOW, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Ukraine war was escalating towards a global conflict after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons, and warned the West that Moscow could strike back.

Russia has presented the draft budget as "balanced", with the deficit falling to 0.5 per cent against this year's projected deficit of 1.7 per cent.