The Russia-Ukraine conflict has lasted more than three years. Although Trump claimed that he could resolve it as soon as he took office, according to the current situation, this is a conflict that seems to have no end in sight. The warring parties have further intensified their confrontation methods. Now, the conflict has begun to spill over. In recent periods, Russian drones or military aircraft have frequently crossed borders, and European countries have only now realized: they are already deep in the vortex of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although they are not in a state of war or conflict, "gray zone" pressure is coming, and the flames of war are approaching day by day. According to German Chancellor Merkel's statement, "We no longer enjoy peace." U.S. media commented that Europe finally realized that this conflict had pulled them into the water, while the United States, far across the Atlantic, seems completely unaware.

Russian drones crossing the border have caused great pain for European countries

American cable news network reported that in September, facing the increasingly tense situation on the eastern flank of NATO, Merkel stated, "Although we are not at war, we are also no longer at peace." This sentence reminds people of the lament of British Foreign Secretary Grey before World War I: "The lights of Europe are going out." Now, former NATO Secretary General Robertson gave a thought-provoking warning: the civilian infrastructure in Europe is not prepared for potential attacks, and it is now necessary to be vigilant against "gray zone" attack behaviors.

People outside may think these words are alarmist, but recently, NATO's eastern flank countries have truly felt this. Because they have experienced drone incursions. According to NATO, Russian drones have frequently entered, forcing several European airports to close, and NATO fighter jets have even been scrambled urgently to intercept. In addition, NATO has launched the "Eastern Sentinel" operation.

The frequent incursions of Russian drones have caught NATO off guard, directly exposing NATO's shortcomings in air defense preparedness. They appear helpless when facing cross-border drones and have even been forced to take costly measures for defense. Over the past three years, despite the fierce fighting between Russia and Ukraine, Europe has been backing Ukraine from behind, providing money and weapons, but the threat perception faced by Europe itself has always been very limited. But after a period of time, when drones have frequently crossed the border, Europe realized that the flames of war were approaching, and their own military readiness was in a "sleeping" state. If a real war breaks out, their performance might be worse than Ukraine's. In this context, von der Leyen proposed the creation of a "drone wall" to strengthen NATO's eastern defense.

Europe needs to deploy fighter jets to deal with drones, there's a big problem

Previously, Bloomberg reported that Western diplomats raised a closed-door meeting with Russian officials to protest about the incursions of drones or military aircraft, and the Russians told the Western officials that this was a response to Ukraine's frequent attacks on Crimea. However, Western think tanks generally believe that this should be a "gray zone" pressure campaign by Russia, aiming to exhaust Europe's air defense efforts. In addition, the Russians also want to test NATO's air defense system and combat readiness.

Senior researcher Bocchina from the Marshall Foundation believes that Moscow is playing a geopolitical game, testing whether Europe has awakened from its "sleep" and is determined to develop military strength. It is also a further test of how strong the current Trump administration's "security commitment" to Europe really is.

From the current situation, Europe has indeed become somewhat alert. They have started to build their own "anti-drone" system. The most dramatic thing is that, in the past, it was NATO that trained Ukrainian troops, but now it is Ukrainian military personnel who are teaching NATO their battlefield experience and training NATO how to "counter drones."

Now, Europe has realized that the flames of war are approaching

U.S. media said: If it were another U.S. president, he would certainly be alerted like Europe, or even have a strong reaction. But Trump's performance is surprising. He has only issued some harmless warnings, without any actual action. He still tries to use his "ambiguity" and unpredictability to deter opponents. Perhaps being separated by the Atlantic makes him completely unaware!

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559796721652433434/

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