We are live in Vilnius, Lithuania where NATO members stop short of an outright invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance. German defence minister Boris Pistorius tells CNBC that Kyiv will have to wait until the conflict ends to become a fully-fledged member. Speaking ahead of important bilateral meetings, Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskyy slammed the delay as ‘absurd’. In tech news, Activision shares surge after a U.S. judge green-lights Microsoft’s bid to buy the game maker. UK authorities have now indicated they may welcome the deal. U.S. equities close in the green with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq within 1 per cent of their 52-week highs.

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