Russia continues its relentless bombardment of Ukrainian cities, escalating the conflict and deepening the divide between Moscow and Kyiv. Although negotiations continue through intermediaries on both sides, observers say that they are now miles apart on pivotal issues, including territorial claims and military tactics. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear his intent to “take over all of Ukraine,” making the path to peace more difficult.
In a significant turn, Russia has recently announced its annexation of five Ukrainian territories—Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea—on Russian maps. It is important to underscore here that the Dnipropetrovsk region does not be included in such statement. The Russian forces in that area have just recently taken the village of Novomykolaivka. Today, the Russian army occupies about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
NATO’s Response to Airspace Violations
The situation is tragically getting worse by the day. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland’s airspace has been heavily violated. In one high-profile case, Polish and NATO forces downed Russian drones that crossed into Polish airspace. This coincided with Russia’s biggest missile attack against Ukraine. If confirmed, this incident would be the first known case of a NATO member shooting across the line in the WiP thus far.
The actions taken by NATO underline the alliance’s commitment to protecting its member states while addressing the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. Increasing violations of airspace have raised concerns amongst the Baltic states, Sweden, and NATO allies. This has sparked productive debate on the best ways to respond to any future escalations by Russia.
Economic Sanctions and Tariffs
As war rages throughout the region, former President Donald Trump puts forward an already radical proposal. He recommends that NATO hit China with 50-100 percent tariffs to further cut its economic lifelines to Russia. Trump’s position is indicative of a louder drum beat coming from some quarters of leadership that economic punishment is needed to stop Moscow’s meddling. He recently imposed a 50 percent tariff on India to punish it for continuing to buy Russian oil.
Visegrád countries Hungary and Slovakia have similarly been caught purchasing Russian oil, sources of embarrassment for supposedly unified NATO. This has caused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to call for increased punishments for countries that continue to provide financial support to Moscow.
“I’m very thankful to all the partners, but some of them, I mean, they continue [to] buy oil and Russian gas, and this is not fair … I think the idea to put tariffs on the countries that continue to make deals with Russia, I think this is the right idea.” – Volodymyr Zelenskyy
We particularly need Trump to take strong and decisive action against countries that continue to have economic relationships with Russia. He continued, “That significantly undermines your leverage, and negotiating strength, in relation to Russia.”
The Humanitarian Impact
This escalation of the war has resulted in the most devastating humanitarian consequences for the people of Ukraine as well. In just the past few days, unceasing bombardments have killed hundreds of civilians and displaced 1.4 million in Gaza. International organizations are overwhelmed trying to bring life-saving aid as the situation deteriorates.
Even with these obstacles in view, Ukrainian forces are still brave and determined in their stand against Russian barbarity. The fall of the front line town of Novomykolaivka to a still-menacing Russian invader underscores that this war is far from over. Commercial drones are a good example—both the Ukrainian military and their opponents continue to innovate and develop new tactics to face changing threats.
