Like everyone else, NATO and Ukraine are preparing for the arrival of Donald Trump and the expectation the incoming president will push for a ceasefire in Ukraine’s nearly three-year war with Russian invaders. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday that the alliance will dispatch naval drones, submarines, ships, and aircraft to patrol the Baltic Sea toprevent Russia from committing acts of sabotage there. NATO officials suspect Russia has deliberately damaged undersea pipelines and data cables in recent months. The mission will be called “Baltic Sentry.”
Also on Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he and France’s President Emmanuel Macron have continued to discuss the possibility thatWestern troops might be deployed to Ukraine to protect any peace deal his government might sign with Russia – though Zelensky tied this possibility with a request for more clarity on when Ukraine can join the European Union and NATO. This announcement came just before Zelensky welcomed German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius for an official visit to Kyiv.
For now, the war grinds on. A Ukrainian security official said Tuesday that Ukrainian drones had carried outsuccessful overnight attacks on energy and military sites in central Russia. Russian officials say these attacks will “not go unanswered.”
Ukraine’s Air Defense Forces claimed it had shot down 58 Russian drones overnight, including near Kyiv.