Ukraine has to be in the strongest possible position when it decides to sit down with Russia as this is the global geopolitical context, said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Ramstein meeting.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday urged continued military support for Ukraine after nearly three years of war, warning that reduced support could embolden countries like China, North Korea and Iran.

The NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, stated that he aims to persuade Donald Trump to make it easier for European allies to purchase military equipment from the US. He emphasized on Thursday in an interview with dpa that Europe could buy more if not for the strict American export regulations.

Russia is suspected in a wide range of indirect attacks in Europe, including cutting undersea cables.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that he is working to persuade US President-elect Donald Trump to ease access for European partners to US weapons systems. Rutte told dpa that European allies are already investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the US defence industry.

The shadow fleet "threatens security and the environment, while funding Russia's war budget," Kaja Kallas, chief of foreign policy for the European Union, said to Politico. Four telecom cables — between Finland and Estonia,

Ukraine's leader says partners sending ground troops would help "force Russia into peace," as America's European allies ponder Trump's next move.

Finland says a ship affiliated with Russia's "shadow fleet" is linked to a 60-mile-long anchor drag mark on the seafloor. A power cable in the Baltic Sea was severed last week.

Russia has assembled a fleet of hundreds of vessels to covertly ship its oil. With so many ships at sea, the idea of using some to cause havoc may be proving irresistible to the Kremlin.

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Finnish investigators probing the damage to a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables said they found an anchor drag mark on the seabed, apparently from a Russia-linked vessel that has already been seized.

The Baltic Sea has seen multiple attacks on energy and communications infrastructure since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These have often been linked to hybrid warfare tactics

Finland said last week it detained a ship that may be from Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers as part of a probe into a damaged undersea cable.