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NATO warns of preemptive strike against Russia
Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, at a time when diplomacy is intensifying to find a possible way out of the war in Ukraine.
According to Trump's spokeswoman, Caroline Leavitt, Washington is "very optimistic" about reaching an agreement, following talks that US officials held on Sunday with Ukrainian representatives.
Putin hinted last week that he would end the war only if Ukrainian troops withdrew from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022. Although Moscow does not fully control these territories, the Russian military made its biggest advance in a year in November, taking control of about 270 square miles, according to an AFP analysis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that surrendering territory is not an option.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy was in Paris on Monday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. The latter also held a joint phone call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, reaffirming support for Ukraine's sovereignty.
However, the diplomacy pushed forward by Trump’s peace plan, according to the analysis of Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, has “painfully exposed Europe’s weakness.” According to him, despite being the main source of economic and military aid to Ukraine, Europe remains peripheral in the diplomatic process and has done little more than suggest amendments to the American draft agreement.
During this time, European allies have been the target of various forms of "hybrid warfare," including repeated airspace violations by Russian drones and fighter jets.
NATO's top military chief went so far as to say on Monday that the alliance could consider a "preemptive strike" against Russia as an act of "defence," the Financial Times reported. Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone's statement was immediately condemned by the Kremlin, which called it "extremely irresponsible and escalating." /Pamphlet
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