NATO has taken over air defenses in Poland from the US just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, according to a NATO spokesman, with questions looming about the incoming administration’s approach to the alliance and to Ukraine.

The plans will focus on Ukraine's air force, drone programs and air defense capabilities, among other parts of Kyiv's military, a U.S. defense official said.

Tensions between Ukraine and Hungary over the war with Russia and the expired gas transit deal continue to increase online.

Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland's top diplomat said on Wednesday.

Ukraine's leader says partners sending ground troops would help "force Russia into peace," as America's European allies ponder Trump's next move.

"The whole [Trump] team is obsessed with strength and looking strong, so they’re recalibrating the Ukraine approach," one European official told the Financial Times.

Ukraine's Western allies will gather with President Volodymyr Zelensky at a US base in Germany on Thursday in their last such meeting before Donald Trump returns to the White House in less than two weeks.

President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he sympathized with the Russian position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO, and he lamented that he will not meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before his inauguration.

Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Donald Trump's statements that the war began due to Joe Biden's support of Kyiv joining NATO.

While Ukraine’s acceptance into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) appears unattainable, armed neutrality may be the country’s next best option to protect against future Russian aggression.