Nato is “not ready” to fight against Vladimir Putin’s Russia without the US, the leaders of the alliance’s three frontline states have told The Independent, as they called on allies to drastically increase defence spending.

To understand recent fears about the possible escalation of Russia’s war on Ukraine into a nuclear conflict, we must revisit its beginnings, where the groundwork for this crisis was laid. “I believe that NATO would not directly interference in the conflict even in this scenario,

The popularity of weapons training in Finland has soared in recent months, driven by concerns over expansionist neighbor Russia.

Russia is keen to disrupt, weaken or even divide NATO and one way of encouraging that might be to convince the U.S. that war is coming with the alliance in Europe and to ask America if it wants to be dragged into it. This especially matters as Trump's incoming administration forms its policies toward NATO and Russia.

NATO’s secretary-general says he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting Wednesday with Ukraine’s president and a small number of European leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed and wounded in Russia's Kursk region and warned that Pyongyang could send more personnel and equipment for Moscow's army.

The transfer marks the end of an era when Russia played an arguably oversized role in determining which countries could operate in Syria’s contested airspace.

In sub-zero temperatures, Estonian workers are building the first part of a 500-mile railway that aims to link the Baltic capitals with Warsaw by 2030.

Secretive North Korea has one of the world’s largest militaries, with 1.28 million active soldiers, but unlike in Russia, the Korean People's Army (KPA) has no recent experience of combat. Pyongyang’s army is “thoroughly indoctrinated but with low readiness,” says Mark Cancian, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Russia's friends — or frenemies — aren't all pariah states. Some of them enjoy good relations with the West, too.