Europe Scrambles as Russia Pushes the Limits — and the Peace Train Leaves Kyiv Behind
Drone attacks, sabotage, and hybrid warfare are expanding across NATO states. Moscow vows zero concessions in U.S.-led peace talks. Europe races to rearm — from youth conscription to a new drone
HOT TAKE ANALYSIS
The Kremlin is escalating on multiple fronts: buzzing drones across Polish and Romanian airspace, jamming GPS signals, triggering chaos at European airports, sabotaging rail links carrying arms to Ukraine. It’s a strategy designed to test NATO’s nerve - and expose its seams.
Europe - sorry, but staffed by some of the most incompetent bureaucrats to be minted - is finally responding, but in a scattered, panicked fashion. Cyber offensives are being discussed in Brussels. France is reviving uniformed youth service. Italy is unveiling an Iron Dome–inspired shield. EU diplomats whisper about surprise NATO drills to rattle Moscow. All of this would have sounded fantastical only three years ago.
And yet, none of this shifts the centre of gravity of the peace talks. As I argue in my Globe and Mail op-ed, Washington and Moscow are negotiating the future of Ukraine - with Kyiv treated as a peripheral player and Europe barely in the room. The Kremlin has already declared it will make no concessions. It believes that time, pressure, and Western political chaos will deliver what tanks cannot.
For Ukraine — battered, exhausted, and politically cornered — the danger is that “peace” becomes a euphemism for capitulation.
Europe is overdue for seriousness. Because Russia is no longer probing the edges. It’s probing the core.
Russia’s drones and agents are unleashing attacks across NATO countries and Europe is now doing what would have seemed outlandish just a few years ago: planning how to hit back. Ideas range from joint offensive cyber operations against Russia, and faster and more coordinated attribution of hybrid attacks by quickly pointing the finger at Moscow, to surprise NATO-led military exercises, according to two senior European government officials and three EU diplomats. “The Russians are constantly testing the limits — what is the response, how far can we go?” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže noted in an interview. A more “proactive response is needed,” she told POLITICO. “And it’s not talking that sends a signal — it’s doing.” Russian drones have buzzed Poland and Romania in recent weeks and months, while mysterious drones have caused havoc at airports and military bases across the continent. Other incidents include GPS jamming, incursions by fighter aircraft and naval vessels, and an explosion on a key Polish rail link ferrying military aid to Ukraine.
Russia says the United States-brokered talks to end the war with Ukraine are “serious”, but its officials caution that an agreement is a long way off and Moscow would offer no major concessions to Kyiv. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in televised comments on Wednesday that the negotiations were ongoing and “the process is serious.” But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday that “there can be no question of any concessions or any surrender of our approaches to those key points.” Jim Townsend, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera that Russia likely perceives Trump as impatient and unfocused and will deploy delay tactics to avoid concessions. “This could just be a real mess. The Russians don’t feel any pressure. They think they’re going to win if they hold out long enough,” said Townsend, adding that all of the pressure so far has been on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - Al Jazeera
President Emmanuel Macron announced thousands of volunteers aged 18 and 19 will start serving in the military next year as he unveiled a new program meant to bolster France’s armed forces to address growing concerns over Russia’s threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine. Young volunteers will serve in uniform for 10 months in France’s mainland and oversea territories only, not in military operations abroad, Macron said in a speech at the Varces military base, which is located in the French Alps. “A new national service is set to be gradually established, starting from next summer,” Macron said. “In this uncertain world where power prevails over law and war is an ever-present reality, our nation has no right to fear, panic, unpreparedness, or division.” The program will start with 3,000 youth to be selected next summer and gradually will increase to 10,000 per year by 2030. France has ambitions to reach up to 50,000 volunteers per year by 2035, a figure that will be adjusted depending on the global context, Macron added - AP
Italian defense company Leonardo will unveil an AI-powered air-defense system called the “Michaelangelo Dome” to protect Europe from Russia. Europe uses several anti-air weapons systems, so the Dome — modeled on Israel’s Iron Dome — must coordinate between disparate platforms, in what Leonardo’s CEO called the defense industry’s “largest integration programme ever.” Europe is racing to rearm in the face of Russian aggression: Moscow is believed to be behind several recent drone incursions into European airspace. But the continent may still be unprepared for a more belligerent world. A French general’s warning of a possible return of voluntary conscription sparked a “furore,” an analyst wrote in the Financial Times, as Europe realises that it must deal with Russia without US support - Semafor
Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has ordered inspections of all public housing estates undergoing major renovations, with authorities launching a criminal investigation into the city’s deadliest fire in decades that claimed 83 lives at a Tai Po estate. Rescue work continues amid flames now retreating onto the upper floors of three blocks in Wang Fuk Court. Some 56 people remain in hospital. Raging flames in all blocks have been brought under control even as three still have fires on the upper floors of their 31-storey structures. According to a preliminary investigation, officers discovered highly flammable styrofoam cloaking lift windows on every floor, which authorities said caused the fire to spread more rapidly within the blocks and ignite flats through the corridors. The mesh netting and sheeting used outside the buildings also did not meet fire safety standards, officials said on Wednesday night. Three people – two directors and a consultant of the contractor responsible for the renovation of the buildings – have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. They allegedly used non-compliant materials in scaffolding nets and sealed windows with styrofoam, which sparked the tragedy as the highly flammable substances caused the fire to spread rapidly. President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences on Wednesday evening and called for “all-out efforts” to minimise casualties and losses. - SCMP
Two National Guard soldiers shot in Washington DC on Wednesday have come through surgery, says US Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi also says one of the soldiers is a woman who volunteered to work across the Thanksgiving holiday. US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro says the soldiers remain in a critical condition. Pirro says the Afghan suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, drove across the country from Washington state before the attack. Lakanwal was also shot during the incident and taken to hospital - US President Donald Trump says he was “severely wounded.” Trump has vowed that his administration will ensure the suspect “pays the steepest possible price” for “an act of terror.” CIA Director John Ratcliffe, told Fox News that the alleged shooter was allowed to enter the US “due to his prior work with the US government.” He said: “In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the US government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation.” FBI Director Kash Patel says “there is confirmation now that the subject had relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces,” adding that the US is “fully investigating that aspect of his background” - BBC
The estate of Johnny Cash is suing Coca-Cola over its use of the singer-songwriter’s voice by an impersonator in an advertisement. The complaint was filed on Tuesday in Nashville and is the first use of Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, which protects a person’s voice, image, or likeness from being used without authorization. The advertisement has been airing since August during college football games and features professional Cash impersonator Shawn Barker. The manager of Cash’s estate claimed that the voice sounds “remarkably” like the late singer, who died in 2003. “This case arises from Coca-Cola’s pirating Johnny Cash’s voice in a nationwide advertising campaign to enrich itself,” says the complaint. The estate licenses Cash’s songs but claims that Coca-Cola never asked for permission. The Daily Beast has reached out to the Coca-Cola Company for comment, but received no immediate response. “Stealing the voice of an artist is theft. It is theft of his integrity, identity, and humanity,” wrote Tim Warnock of Loeb & Loeb, a lawyer for Cash’s estate. Meanwhile, a representative for Barker told Billboard that the impersonator was “thrilled” when he was approached to do the vocals for the commercial - The Daily Beast
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