Alarms bells sounded this week in Europe after NATO jets scrambled to intercept an unprecedented Russian drone incursion in Poland. Now there is fresh unease on NATO’s eastern flank, as Russia and Belarus kick off major military drills to test the readiness of their armed forces.

Moscow insists it did not plan to hit targets in Poland, after Warsaw says it shot down Russian drones in its airspace.

Whether this week’s drone incursion into Poland was an accident or a provocation, the risks are still growing.

Nato fighter jets shot down Russian drones over Poland in the first ever direct engagement between the Western alliance and Moscow.

Russia has significantly escalated strikes on Ukraine since President Trump took office, data show, defying his call for peace by increasing the range of buildings hit, including civilian ones. The rise in strikes reflects Russia’s growing munitions production and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s avowed determination to achieve his goal of dominating Ukraine by military means.

Jen Psaki explains that after NATO members in Europe responded with alarm to an incursion of Russian drones into Poland, risking a drastic escalation, Donald Trump seemed more inclined to make excuses for Vladimir Putin than to stand with allies in discouraging Russian belligerence.

Russia's drone incursions into NATO members risk escalating into "exchange (of) the use of military power against each other", Lithuanian Foreign Affairs minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday,

Russia pauses Ukraine negotiations as President Donald Trump faces bipartisan criticism in Congress for failing to act against President Vladimir Putin amid failed peace talks.