Ukraine acknowledged last week that it fired U.S.-provided ATACMS into Russia on Tuesday for the first time since the Trump administration lifted the ban, which was seen as a significant escalation because these systems require targeting and intelligence guidance to fire.
Russia carried out its biggest attack on Kyiv since the start of the war, launching 430 drones and 18 missiles into the capital, which prompted the Ukrainians to launch missiles into Russia.
Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, told a conference in Bucharest last week that the collective West needs to be prepared for a long-term confrontation with Russia and other countries that are not compliant with the current rules-based order that is dictated by Washington and Brussels.
President Donald Trump posted on social media last week that the U.S. has more nuclear weapons than any rival and bragged that they are in prime condition—but due to “testing program[s]” in other countries, he said he ordered the Department of War “to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.”
Officials in Europe are considering plans on how to move a large number of troops across the continent in the event of an all-out war with Russia, and one of the ideas is to combine transportation assets in a “solidarity pool,” according to a report.
Last week, Donald Trump hit Russia’s oil industry with the most severe sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine more than three years ago, the first time his administration has imposed direct costs on the Kremlin.
The recent surge in military spending in Europe over the perceived threat from Russia helped shares in Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) pop in its initial public offering after Thyssenkrupp AG, the German conglomerate, spun off 49 percent of the unit that rewarded shareholders with one share for every 20 of their previously owned shares in the parent company.
Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, announced last week that the country plans to spend €10 billion on military drones in part of its effort to revamp its armed forces in the face of what it sees as a new threat.
The Trump administration has been providing the Ukrainian military with intelligence to help it carry out massive strikes on Russian energy infrastructure with the hopes of forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
Poland has ramped up its military spending over what it sees as Russia’s uncontained aggression in the region and sees itself as the possible front in a wider war with Moscow.