NATO set up an air defense operation dubbed Eastern Sentry last month after several Russian drones entered Polish airspace. It’s one of three air defense operations along the eastern flank. The second works in the Baltic Sea region, and a third covers Poland’s border with Ukraine.

Domestic theatre: For Putin, confronting the West plays well at home. As Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, recently claimed, “Europe fears its own war”. For the Kremlin, that fear reinforces the narrative that Russia is the assertive power, and that the West is indecisive.

There are currently no signs that Russia is preparing a new ground offensive in Ukraine. However, the winter air campaign targeting the country's energy infrastructure has already begun, stated a senior NATO official,

NATO faces increased Russian testing through gray-zone tactics as Trump warns the Ukraine war could lead to World War III with Moscow.

A meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York was "constructive," a top official in Moscow said, even though the Kremlin has described NATO as at war with Russia over Ukraine. The two met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

Ukraine's leader to push for "robust action" against Russia at U.N. gathering, as America's NATO partners accuse Putin of dangerous incursions, and lies.