NATO launches air patrols after Russian strikes ahead of peace talks

Russian missiles and drones hammered Ukrainian cities just as negotiators gathered in Geneva for the most serious peace effort in years, and NATO aircraft moved to shield allied airspace in response. The timing of the strikes, hours before talks aimed at a ceasefire, underscored how the air war over Ukraine and its neighbors is shaping the political ground on which any deal will be built.

By scrambling jets and tightening air patrols along its eastern flank, the alliance signaled it will not allow the conflict to spill across its borders even as it backs diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. The result is a tense dual track: intensified military vigilance in the skies, paired with fragile negotiations on the ground.

Russian blitz meets NATO airpower on the border

The latest escalation began with a large Russian missile and drone barrage targeting Ukrainian cities, part of a pattern of long-range strikes that has repeatedly tested air defenses. Earlier in February, Russia used a mix of drones and ballistic missiles to batter Ukraine’s energy system, with Ukrainian authorities reporting that the attack involved 99 missiles and 197 drones, and that it knocked out power and heat for thousands of civilians in Kyiv and other regions, according to one detailed account of the Russian air attack. The new salvo that coincided with the Geneva talks followed the same template, using long-range weapons to hit infrastructure and urban targets far from the front line.

As Russian missiles tracked across Ukrainian airspace toward targets near the Polish frontier, NATO systems began to react. The alliance has invested heavily in radar coverage and quick reaction alert procedures since the full-scale invasion, and those measures kicked in once again as aircraft were detected on trajectories that could threaten allied territory. The pattern is familiar from previous episodes when long-range Russian attacks triggered allied responses, including earlier instances in which NATO monitored cruise missiles flying close to its borders and tracked their paths until impact inside Ukraine.

Poland scrambles jets and hardens its air defenses

On the morning of the latest barrage, NATO member Poland again found itself on the front line of the alliance response. The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces reported that fighter jets were scrambled and that air defense units were put on heightened alert as Russian missiles headed toward Ukrainian cities close to the Polish border, describing how it activated all available assets to monitor and, if necessary, respond to any violation of its airspace during the morning attack on 17 February, according to a statement on the fighter jet scramble. Polish officials have stressed that each time Russian missiles approach, their forces must be ready for the possibility of malfunction, miscalculation, or deliberate provocation that could send a weapon into allied territory.

Such alerts have become part of a grim routine for Poland’s military and its NATO partners. Reporting on earlier incidents described how long-range Russian attacks on Ukraine prompted quick launches of Polish fighter jets to shield the country’s airspace, with analysts noting that this has become a fairly regular occurrence as Moscow tests the limits of allied patience and readiness during its war on Ukraine, according to coverage of long-range Russian attacks. A similar pattern emerged after a previous mass missile attack, when NATO member Poland scrambled fighter jets early on a Thursday and raised its air defenses and radar systems to full readiness in response to the Russian barrage, as described in an account of fighter jets after.

Alliance posture from Eastern Sentry to the Arctic and North Atlantic

The scramble over Poland did not occur in isolation; it fit into a broader NATO effort to tighten air policing and deterrence across its northern and eastern approaches. Under Operation Eastern Sentry, the alliance has already scrambled a fighter jet for the first time specifically to defend its airspace against Russian drones, a step that demonstrated how seriously it treats even unmanned incursions and how quickly it is willing to employ combat aircraft under that mission, according to a detailed description of the Operation Eastern Sentry response. Eastern Sentry has become a symbol of NATO’s willingness to respond not only to direct incursions but also to nearby hostile activity that could threaten its territory.

Farther north, the alliance has been reinforcing its presence over the Arctic and North Atlantic, regions that are increasingly central to its strategy as Russian forces operate more frequently in those waters and skies. Swedish Gripen and Danish F-35 jets were recently deployed to secure NATO airspace over the Arctic and North Atlantic, a move that strengthens air policing and rapid response over the North Atlantic approaches and signals to Moscow that allied air forces can react quickly across a wide arc from Scandinavia to the North Atlantic, according to an analysis of Arctic and North deployments. Together with the constant readiness of Polish and other eastern-flank fighters, these northern deployments form a layered air shield around the conflict zone.

Peace talks in Geneva unfold under the shadow of air raids

While jets took off in response to the latest strikes, Russian and Ukrainian officials arrived in Geneva for talks brokered by the United States after almost four years of war. Also in Geneva were American representatives from the United States, along with Russian and Ukrainian military chiefs, who were expected to discuss how a ceasefire might be implemented and what security guarantees would be needed to make it hold, according to a briefing that described how Also in Geneva were senior commanders. The commander of the U.S. military and NATO forces in Europe, Gen Alexus Grynkewich, as well as Secretary of the U.S. Army Dan Driscoll, were involved in discussions about how any agreement might be enforced on the ground and in the air, according to reporting that highlighted the role of NATO in Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly framed the goal as a long-term ceasefire that would stop Russia’s devastating onslaught, while acknowledging that any deal will have to address the reality of Russian troops on occupied territory.

Expectations for the Geneva talks have been tempered by the scale of the battlefield challenges. One account described how discussions on the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory were expected to be particularly tough, with negotiators facing the task of reconciling Kyiv’s insistence on restoring sovereignty with Moscow’s attempts to cement control, according to a summary that highlighted how tough talks were anticipated. Another report noted that Trump described the talks as “big” and that Ukraine’s short-handed army is locked in a war of attrition with Russia’s larger forces along the front, underscoring the pressure on Kyiv to secure some form of relief from Russia’s devastating onslaught, according to coverage that detailed how Trump describes the. The visual backdrop to these negotiations includes images from the Ukrainian Emergency Service showing firefighters battling blazes in private houses after Russian airstrikes, stark reminders of the human cost that continues even as diplomats search for a way to stop it, as seen in photos provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service.

Competing narratives on air support and the risks ahead

As NATO publicly reinforces its own airspace, speculation has grown about more secretive forms of support for Ukraine’s skies. A French report cited by Ukrainian outlet UNN alleged the existence of a secret US-Dutch F-16 unit protecting Ukrainian airspace, claiming that the pilots are serving on six-month contracts with the possibility of extension, although Kyiv has officially denied that such a unit is operating, according to a summary of the UNN report. Whether or not this specific claim is accurate, the debate reflects broader uncertainty about how far Western governments are willing to go in providing direct air cover, beyond training Ukrainian pilots and supplying aircraft over time.