Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly told former US President Donald Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin may come to regret his decision to invade Ukraine. The revelation emerged during talks held in Beijing, as Putin, a close ally of China, flew to the Chinese capital for discussions with Xi.
Putin's Conflicting Messages
Despite his recent claims of seeking peace and expressing regret over the war, Putin has intensified his military campaign in Ukraine. In a message directed at the Chinese people, he stated, 'We do not ally ourselves against anyone, but rather work for peace and universal prosperity.' However, this appeal was undermined by fresh attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, which prompted NATO to scramble warplanes in neighboring Romania.
Romania's military command reported: 'Russian forces carried out a new series of drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, in the vicinity of the river border with Romania, in Tulcea county.'
Escalation and Nuclear Drills
Simultaneously, new warnings emerged that Russia is planning an attack on NATO states in the Baltic region, fueling fears of a wider conflict. War games involving tactical nuclear weapons are now underway in Belarus, which borders NATO members Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Belarusian authorities have banned civilians from entering forests near the borders with these countries during the drills.
These exercises are part of a three-day Russian nuclear drill involving over 64,000 military personnel and more than 7,800 units of equipment. The drills are described as preparations 'on the use of nuclear forces in the event of a threat of aggression.'
Potential Summer Offensive
Reports indicate that Putin is planning a summer offensive in Ukraine's Donbas region. However, some analysts believe this could be a diversion for a limited invasion of the Baltic States, aimed at testing NATO's resolve. The objective, according to sources, 'is not to start a war with NATO, but to trigger a major crisis within the alliance by invading Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania and, ideally, bring about its effective fragmentation.'
Drone Stockpile
Last week, it was reported that Russia has been stockpiling hundreds of thousands of fiber-optic drones for a potential assault on NATO and the Baltic States. Intelligence from Ukrainian and Russian sources indicates that Putin has diverted large numbers of next-generation FPV drones from the Ukrainian front to rear depots since late 2025.
The Kremlin may have already amassed up to 130,000 fiber-optic drones, a stockpile that could rise to 200,000 by the end of summer. These FPV drones are particularly dangerous because they use hair-thin fiber-optic cables instead of radio signals, making them far harder to jam electronically by NATO defenses. Russian military insiders believe these weapons could overwhelm Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the opening stages of an assault, shocking Europe into submission before NATO can fully respond.
The Baltic states are seen as uniquely vulnerable because, although they possess advanced electronic warfare capabilities, they lack Ukraine's combat experience with mass drone warfare.
