Latest Ukraine war: Finland says Russia remains major threat to NATO

“You get peace when you are strong. Not when you use strong words or wag your fingers, but you get peace when you have strong and real capabilities that adversaries respect,” U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters before a meeting at NATO headquarters on Wednesday.

“Our expectation today is that more countries donate more, that they buy even more to provide to Ukraine, so that that conflict can be brought to a peaceful conclusion.”

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees energy and the economy for the government, denied US President Donald Trump’s claims that the Russian economy would collapse due to “long lines for gasoline.”

Mr. Novak said Russia has a stable supply of gasoline.

“We have stable domestic market supply, we do not see any problem in this regard,” he said on Wednesday.

“There should be a balance between production and consumption, and we, on behalf of the government and the relevant ministries, are doing everything to ensure that this situation remains.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Russian forces had driven Ukrainian forces from two settlements.

It said Russian forces had taken control of the village of Oleksiyevka in Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk region, as well as the settlement of Novopavlivka in the Donetsk region.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister has warned that the country will suffer losses if they phase out Russian gas.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the country would not bow to external pressure to manage its energy supply.

Mr Szijjarto is in Moscow to attend the Russian Energy Week Forum.

Britain has delivered more than 85,000 military drones to Ukraine over the past six months, Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to announce on Wednesday.

At least £600 million has been invested in accelerating drone deliveries to Kiev, Mr Healey will tell the Ukraine Defense Liaison Group in Brussels.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the United States expects NATO countries to invest more in the Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), an arms initiative for Ukraine.

He told reporters that America expects its partners to increase military capability and firepower.

Ukraine’s largest national oil and gas company has accused Russia of targeting its production facilities overnight.

Naftogaz said Russia had attacked its thermal power plants and production facilities overnight.

The company said Russia had launched three major attacks on its gas infrastructure in the past seven days, including attacks on its gas infrastructure in the eastern Kharkiv region and in Sumy and Chernihiv.

NATO defense ministers will meet on Wednesday and try to garner more military support ukraine Amid a sharp decline in the supply of arms and ammunition to the war-torn country in recent months.

Ministers will also debate a call for NATO commanders to lift restrictions on the use of their aircraft and other equipment so they can be used to defend the alliance’s eastern border. RussiaBelarus and Ukraine more effectively.

A series of mysterious drone incidents and airspace violations by Russian warplanes have heightened the President’s concerns Vladimir Putin It may be testing NATO’s defensive alertness. Some leaders have accused him of waging a hybrid war EuropeMoscow has refused to investigate NATO’s security.

It is being told that Trump is considering the request of the Ukrainian President. Volodymyr Zelensky For Tomahawks, which have a range of 1,500 miles that will enable Kiev attack deeper into Russian territoryHitting strategic targets such as the aggressor’s enemy infrastructure, military bases and munitions factories.

Zelensky has argued that increasing the weapons available to his country would increase pressure on the Kremlin to agree to a peace deal.