CNN reports:

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine could restore its borders from before Russia’s invasion and that he believes NATO member countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace, escalating his rhetoric against the Kremlin as its war in Ukraine drags on.

Taken together, Trump’s remarks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly about shooting down Russian aircraft and his later post on Truth Social about Ukraine’s borders seemed to reflect a significant shift in his attitude toward Moscow and what the end of the intractable conflict might look like.

His comments on Ukraine’s borders represent the first time since taking office that he’s suggested the nation could win back all of the territory that Russia has taken since 2014. He had previously suggested Ukraine would need to give up some of its territory in order to secure a peace deal. And his statement on NATO shooting down aircraft suggests a willingness to put the defense alliance in more direct conflict with Russia than merely giving weapons to Ukraine.

“Yes, I do,” Trump said when posed a question about NATO shoot-downs during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Later, on Truth Social, Trump wrote that after developing a more fulsome understanding of Ukraine and Russia’s economic and military situations, he had come to believe “Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” He said the conflict was making Russia look like a “paper tiger,” and asserted it was costing Moscow significant funds and making it hard to get gasoline. [Continue reading…]

The Guardian reports:

Two German Eurofighter jets were scrambled on Sunday to intercept a Russian military aircraft above the Baltic Sea, as Estonia said it would call an emergency meeting of the UN security council after Russian planes violated its airspace.

Germany’s air force said the Russian Il-20M reconnaissance plane had switched off its transponders and ignored requests to make contact. The Eurofighters took off from the Rostock-Laage airbase to head off the aircraft as it flew in international airspace.

Tensions between Nato and Russia have been dramatically rising after a series of what European governments say are deliberate, provocative acts by the Kremlin. On Friday, three Russian MiG-31 fighters violated Estonian airspace in the Gulf of Finland. Moscow denies this.

Asked if the US was willing to defend EU countries from further Russian aggression, Donald Trump on Sunday said: “Yeah, I would. I would.” Earlier, the US president said he “didn’t like” Russia’s jet incursion but said he had not been briefed about it.

Estonia condemned the Kremlin’s “brazen” behaviour. It said it was convening an emergency security council meeting for the first time in 34 years of Estonia’s membership of the UN. [Continue reading…]