The Kremlin has in recent days characterized NATO as at war with Russia as tensions sharply escalated between the two nuclear-armed sides. NATO states have accused Russia of multiple serious airspace violations, which Moscow calls unfounded, intended to provoke and test the strength of the alliance over its support for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman shoots back at Trump's suggestion that Russia is "a paper tiger," declaring: "There are no paper bears. And Russia is a real bear."

Russia has unleashed a massive wave of attacks on Ukraine's railways since the summer, using new tactics to hit key nodes with long-range drones.

The Kremlin on Wednesday rejected the central arguments for U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetorical U-turn on the war in Ukraine, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the UN General Assembly that Russia's invasion has led to "the most destructive arms race in history.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on the European Union to use $160billion of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit – particularly the continued supply of weapons – in a major policy U-turn by Berlin.

Russia has been encroaching on its NATO neighbors’ airspace for decades, then either denying it happened or brushing it off as unintentional. But since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, such incursions have carried a bigger threat.

The US and Canada scrambled fighter jets to identify and intercept four Russian military planes off Alaska, amid growing concern over Moscow’s incursions into Nato airspace. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it had detected and tracked two Russian Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in the Alaskan Air Defence Identification Zone.

Ohio, calls for sweeping sanctions on Russia after a Ukraine visit, warning Moscow’s industrial power is fueling the war against Ukraine.