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NATO Says Putin’s ‘Serious Escalation’ Will Not Deter It from Supporting Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference on Russia's annexation of four areas of Ukraine at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 30 September 2022. (EPA)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference on Russia's annexation of four areas of Ukraine at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 30 September 2022. (EPA)
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NATO Says Putin’s ‘Serious Escalation’ Will Not Deter It from Supporting Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference on Russia's annexation of four areas of Ukraine at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 30 September 2022. (EPA)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference on Russia's annexation of four areas of Ukraine at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 30 September 2022. (EPA)

NATO accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday of provoking "the most serious escalation" of the war in Ukraine since it began, but said he would not succeed in deterring the alliance from supporting Kyiv.

"We have the combination of the mobilization in Russia, combined with the reckless, dangerous nuclear rhetoric, and then today's illegal annexation, or attempt to annex parts of Ukraine," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

"Together this is the most serious escalation of the conflict since the start and the aim of President Putin is to deter us from supporting Ukraine. But he will not succeed in that," he told a news conference.

He was speaking after Putin proclaimed Russia's annexation of a swathe of Ukraine at a Kremlin ceremony, promising Moscow would triumph in its "special military operation" against Kyiv even as some of his troops faced potential defeat.

Putin's proclamation of Russian rule over 15% of Ukraine - the biggest annexation in Europe since World War Two - has been firmly rejected by Western countries and even many of Russia's close allies.

Stoltenberg said Russia's move was "the largest attempted annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War", adding that an area roughly the size of Portugal had been "illegally seized by Russia at gunpoint".

"The sham referendums were engineered in Moscow and imposed on Ukraine in total violation of international law. This land grab is illegal and illegitimate.

"NATO allies do not and will not recognize any of this territory as part of Russia," he added. "We call on all states to reject Russia's blatant attempts at territorial conquest These lands are Ukraine."

He said NATO was not a party to the conflict, but it reaffirmed its "unwavering support" for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and would continue to support the country in defending itself against Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the annexation, saying on Friday that the move represented a serious violation of both international law and Ukraine's sovereignty.

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World

Suspected Militants Ambush Police Vehicle in Northwest Pakistan, Killing 5 Officers

File photo: Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
File photo: Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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Suspected Militants Ambush Police Vehicle in Northwest Pakistan, Killing 5 Officers

File photo: Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
File photo: Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Suspected militants opened fire on a police vehicle in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing five officers before fleeing, officials said, part of a surge in violence in the region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack took place in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province while police were on routine patrol near an oil and gas field, said local police chief Noor Wali told The Associated Press. He said the assailants, after killing the officers, poured gasoline on the vehicle and torched it.

A large police contingent cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track the attackers, according to The Associated Press.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi condemned the attack. In separate statements, they said the assailants would be brought to justice and expressed condolences to the families of the killed police officers.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, which is separate from but aligned with Afghanistan’s Taliban government and has been blamed by authorities for previous attacks.

Pakistan has seen a steady rise in militant violence, which has strained relations with Afghanistan. Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021, a charge Kabul denies.

Tensions escalated in October after Afghanistan accused Pakistan of an Oct. 9 drone strike in Kabul, followed by cross-border clashes that killed dozens, before a Qatar-brokered cease-fire on Oct. 19. Talks in Istanbul last week ended without agreement.

World

Russian Attack Targets Ukraine Energy Infrastructure after Miami Peace Talks

A person walks on a non-illuminated street during during a power outage in the southern city of Odesa, on December 22, 2025, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructures. (Photo by Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP)
A person walks on a non-illuminated street during during a power outage in the southern city of Odesa, on December 22, 2025, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructures. (Photo by Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP)
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Russian Attack Targets Ukraine Energy Infrastructure after Miami Peace Talks

A person walks on a non-illuminated street during during a power outage in the southern city of Odesa, on December 22, 2025, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructures. (Photo by Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP)
A person walks on a non-illuminated street during during a power outage in the southern city of Odesa, on December 22, 2025, following Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructures. (Photo by Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP)

Russia attacked Kyiv and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure early on Tuesday, triggering emergency outages and prompting NATO member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace, two days after US-led Miami peace talks ended.

The weekend peace talks in Miami brought together US officials with Ukrainian and European delegations, alongside separate contacts with ‌Russian representatives, ‌as Washington tested whether there ‌was ⁠scope for a ‌settlement to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

As of 0620 GMT, air raid alerts covered nearly all of Ukraine, according to the country’s air force. Debris fell near a residential building in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district, damaging windows, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said ⁠on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said emergency power ‌outages were introduced in a number ‍of regions, including Kyiv ‍and the surrounding region, after Russia again ‍attacked energy facilities.

Russia has repeatedly hit Ukraine’s power grid and energy facilities during the nearly four-year war, intensifying strikes in winter to disrupt electricity and heating, strain logistics and the economy, and increase pressure on Kyiv.

Poland, a NATO member bordering western ⁠Ukraine, said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to protect Polish airspace after Russian strikes targeted areas of western Ukraine near the border.

"These measures are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace,” Poland’s operational command said on X.

Poland scrambles jets during major Russian missile-and-drone barrages on western Ukraine, typically when strikes are assessed to pose a heightened risk near ‌the Polish border.

World

Trump Says US Needs Greenland 'for National Security'

(FILES) (L-R) US President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry attend an event with Hyundai executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, March 24, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
(FILES) (L-R) US President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry attend an event with Hyundai executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, March 24, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
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Trump Says US Needs Greenland 'for National Security'

(FILES) (L-R) US President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry attend an event with Hyundai executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, March 24, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
(FILES) (L-R) US President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry attend an event with Hyundai executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, March 24, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated that the United States needed Greenland for "national security" after his appointment of a special envoy to the Danish Arctic island triggered a new spat with Copenhagen.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said the United States "needs" the resource-rich autonomous territory for security reasons and has refused to rule out using force to secure it, AFP said.

Trump on Sunday appointed Louisiana governor Jeff Landry as special envoy to Greenland, prompting anger from Denmark, which summoned the US ambassador.

"We need Greenland for national security. Not for minerals," Trump told a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.

"If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," he said.

"We need it for national security. We have to have it," the president said, adding that Landry "wanted to lead the charge".

On his appointment, Landry immediately vowed to make the Danish territory "a part of the US".

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen earlier Monday said in a joint statement that Greenland belongs to Greenlanders.

"You cannot annex another country," they said. "We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity."

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he was "deeply angered" by the move and warned Washington to respect Denmark's sovereignty.

The European Union later offered its "full solidarity" to Denmark.

The Danish foreign minister earlier told TV2 television the appointment and statements were "totally unacceptable" and, several hours later, said the US ambassador had been called up to the ministry for an explanation.

"We summoned the American ambassador to the foreign ministry today for a meeting, together with the Greenlandic representative, where we very clearly drew a red line and also asked for an explanation," Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR in an interview.

- Strategic location -

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa stressed on social media that territorial integrity and sovereignty were "fundamental principles of international law".

Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have repeatedly insisted that the vast island is not for sale and that it will decide its own future.

Most of Greenland's 57,000 people want to become independent from Denmark but do not wish to become part of the United States, according to an opinion poll in January.

Lokke Rasmussen said Trump's appointment of a special envoy confirmed continued US interest in Greenland.

"However, we insist that everyone -- including the US -- must show respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark," he said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Washington argues Greenland, located between North America and Europe, can give it an economic edge over its rivals in the Arctic region.

The island has untapped rare earth minerals and could be a vital player as the polar ice melts and new shipping routes emerge.

Greenland's location also puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.

The United States has its Pituffik military base in Greenland and opened a consulate on the island in June 2020.

In August, Denmark summoned the US charge d'affaires after at least three US officials close to Trump were seen in Greenland's capital Nuuk trying to find out how people felt about deepening US ties.

Trump's determination to take over Greenland has stunned Denmark, a fellow member of NATO that has fought alongside the US in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In January, Copenhagen announced a $2.0-billion plan to boost its military presence in the Arctic region.