Russia–Europe
Current trend: Holding · Category: World · Last updated: August 25, 2026
Current situation
Military conflict and sanctions continue affecting European policy and economic planning. Recent discussions among European powers have shown some willingness to impose sanctions on Russia, a fraught topic among those countries due to energy dependence.
Why we're watching
The conflict continues shaping European security, defense spending, energy markets, and organizations like NATO. As Europe tries to become more independent of the U.S., how it handles Russia will be a major test.
What to watch for next
Peace negotiations, Sanctions changes, Military escalation, Change in political winds toward Ukraine
Signal history
- 2026-08-25 — The U.K. will help Ukraine make its own long-range missiles by sharing classified technical information for British components. In return, the U.K. would be given access to Ukraine’s Avengers AI laboratory, providing Britain with battlefield data and insights to train its own AI models. With the U.S. pulling back support for NATO and Ukraine, or at least asking both to step up their own preparations, more European countries are striking agreements for defense and increasing spending. Many Euro-area countries feel an existential risk from Russia and we should see a rising number of these individual agreements, especially with battle-hardened Ukraine.
- 2026-08-17 — For the 4th time, a suspected Russian drone has been shot down over Romania. The latest incident involved an F-18 fighter jet that was on a NATO policing mission. Russia continues to test NATO resolve, as Europe struggles with strained U.S. relations regarding the international coalition.
- 2026-07-30 — Poland blames Russia for firing missile into its territory NATO and Poland scrambled military aircraft when a missile apparently fired by Russia landed deep inside Polish territory. An intentional Russian attack so deep inside a NATO member’s territory would be an escalation in Moscow’s yearslong war on Ukraine.
- 2026-07-24 — EU agrees new sanctions against Russia The agreement, reached on Thursday by ambassadors, is considerably watered down. Still, the bloc managed to avert a politically disastrous revision of the price cap on Russian oil.
- 2026-07-20 — EU faces crumbling support for new Russia sanctions The EU cannot impose sanctions without unanimous support. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://help.ft.com/faq/gifting-and-sharing-an-article/what-is-a-gift-article/. https://www.ft.com/content/eb0cd740-e45d-4dd7-ab9a-6f6643bb32ee?syn-25a6b1a6=1 Athens has refused to agree to the entire package if it does not win approval for transporting Russian liquefied natural gas to third countries, arguing that it would otherwise deal a blow to a prominent Greek shipping billionaire.
- 2026-07-19 — Russia unleashes one of biggest ballistic missile attacks of the Ukraine war Ukraine is also working with France and Italy on arrangements to produce another air defense missile.
- 2026-07-15 — EU and Ukraine sign drone deal as Europe seeks to bolster its defences Ramping up of Euro-area defense is a major shift from prior decades' reliance on U.S. protection.