Russia will pose a major threat to Nato even after the war ends in Ukraine, Finland’s defence minister Antti Hakkanen has warned.
Finland has seen a new build-up of Russian forces as the state consumes military resources at a rapid pace and becomes increasingly reliant on China, he added on Wednesday.
It comes as Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Europe should be on alert for Russia to strike deep into the region.
The Polish deputy leader warned that failing to build defences such as a “drone wall” on Europe’s eastern flank would be “irresponsible”.
Speaking on a visit to parliament in London, where he unveiled a Shahed Iranian drone downed in Ukraine, he said: “We should be prepared to counter that, and so I think not to build anti-drone and drone capacity these days would be irresponsible,” he said.
Russia could “reach, unfortunately, deep into Europe”, he added.
Earlier this week Donald Trump warned Russia that the war must end because it is not making the country look good.
Putin official pushes back at Trump warning of Russian economic collapse
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees energy and the economy for the government, denied the claims of US President Donald Trump that the Russian economy would collapse due to “long lines waiting for gasoline”.
Mr Novak said Russia had a stable supply of gasoline.
“We have a stable domestic market supply, we see no problems in this regard,” he said on Wednesday.
“The balance is maintained between production and consumption, and we, on the part of the government and the relevant ministries, are doing everything to ensure that this remains the case.”
Russian military says it has pushed Ukraine out of two settlements
Ukrainian forces have been pushed out of two settlements by Russian forces, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
Russian forces took control of the village of Oleksiivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region as well as the settlement of Novopavlivka in the Donetsk region, it said.
Analysis: Zelensky is buying into Trump’s Gaza delusion – so he can repeat the trick with Ukraine
Hungary reluctant to cut off Russian energy
Hungary’s foreign minister has warned that the country would suffer if they phased out Russian gas.
The foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said the country would not give in to external pressure dictating how it manages its own energy supplies.
Mr Szijjarto is in Moscow to attend the Russian Energy Week forum.
UK sends 85,000 drones to Ukraine
The UK has delivered more than 85,000 military drones to Ukraine over the last six months, defence secretary John Healey is expected to announced on Wednesday.
At least £600m has been invested to accelerate drone delivery for Kyiv, Mr Healey will tell the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels.
US expects Nato to invest more into arms initiative for Ukraine
The United States expects Nato countries to invest more into the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), an arms initiative for Ukraine, American Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.
He told reporters that the US expects its partners to increase military capabilities and firepower.
Russia launches major attacks on Ukraine gas facilities overnight, says Naftogaz
Ukraine’s largest national oil and gas company has accused Russia of targeting its production facilities overnight.
Naftogaz said Russia had struck its thermal power plant and production facilities overnight.
The company said Russia has launched three major attacks on its gas infrastructure over the last seven days, including in its eastern Kharkiv region and gas infrastructure in Sumy and Chernihiv.
Nato pushes for more weapons for Ukraine amid fading support and rising airspace tensions
Nato defense ministers will meet on Wednesday to try to drum up more military support for Ukraine amid a sharp drop in deliveries of weapons and ammunition to the war-ravaged country in recent months.
The ministers will also debate a call from Nato’s commander to lift restrictions on the use of their aircraft and other equipment so they can be used to defend the alliance’s eastern border with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine more effectively.
A series of mysterious drone incidents and airspace violations by Russian war planes has fueled concerns that President Vladimir Putin might be testing Nato’s defensive reflexes. Some leaders have accused him of waging a hybrid war in Europe. Moscow denies probing Nato’s defenses.
Putin’s top ally warns if Trump gives missiles to Ukraine it could lead to ‘nuclear war’
Trump is reportedly considering a request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the Tomahawks, which have a 1,500-mile range that would enable Kyiv to strike much deeper into Russian territory, hitting strategic targets such as the invader’s enemy infrastructure, military bases, and munitions factories.
Zelensky has argued that ramping up the arms available to his country would increase the pressure on the Kremlin to agree to a peace deal.
Ukrainian PM discusses attacks on energy in US talks
Ukraine’s prime minister said she was focusing on Russian attacks on her country’s energy grid in talks in Washington ahead of a visit later this week by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
“At every meeting in Washington we raise the topic of defending Ukrainian energy and supporting our resilience over the winter and ways to defend it,” prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
She described the priorities of her visit as “energy, sanctions and the development of cooperation with the USA in new ways that can strengthen both our countries”.
Zelensky meets US president Donald Trump on Friday to discuss Ukraine’s air defence and long-range strike capabilities. The leaders spoke twice last weekend amid intensifying discussions about the potential provision of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.
