But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday dismissed the idea of halting the conflict at the current contact line. Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Airports in several countries have temporarily closed in recent weeks after reports of drones in the skies. Experts say the response has exposed a lack of preparedness.

As temperatures drop in Ukraine, Russia has stepped up drone attacks on power facilities supplying millions of homes across the country.

Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson believes that the intensification of Russia's hybrid operations requires European states to respond decisively and prepare for a possible war. Source: Jonson in an interview with German outlet RND,

European democracy and rule of law are at risk, the general says, so Europe must give Ukraine whatever it can to pressure Moscow, even if Trump does not.

During a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday 20 October, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha briefed his European counterparts on the results of the meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States and called for increased pressure on Russia.

Only Russia friendly Hungary and Slovakia, refused to back the bill, which terminates Russian pipeline and liquified natural gas imports.

Former Soviet Union expert Dr. Ronald Suny, and Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago,