Washington vowed to defend NATO territory as tensions spiked.

The United States warned it would defend every centimetre of NATO territory during a UN Security Council session convened by Estonia after alleged Russian airspace incursions, escalating a diplomatic clash as the war in Ukraine grinds on. New US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Moscow should de-escalate while President Donald Trump seeks an end to the conflict.

Tallinn called the emergency meeting after Estonia reported three Russian fighter jets entered its airspace for 12 minutes on Friday, the third such episode in ten days involving neighbours of Russia. The incident followed reports that around 20 Russian drones crossed into Poland, three of which were shot down, while Romania also protested a drone overflight.

The Kremlin dismissed the accusations as unfounded. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO countries were stoking confrontation with baseless claims about violations of their airspace.

On the battlefield, authorities in southern Ukraine said three people were killed in a Russian air strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia, with two others injured, one critically. Overnight attacks also wounded one person in Kyiv and another in Sumy. Russian officials earlier reported three dead and 16 injured in annexed Crimea after a Ukrainian drone attack.

Separately, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin proposed maintaining for one year the central limits of the New START treaty after 5 February 2026, if the United States reciprocates. Moscow suspended participation two years ago, halting inspections, but the accord’s caps of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and 800 launchers remain a reference point.

Source: 20 Minutes FR