UKRAINE

NPR - Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised message yesterday that Moscow has the right to strike NATO countries that arm Ukraine. Putin’s statements came after Russia fired an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to Kyiv's long-range missile attacks earlier this week. Putin is sending a message that NATO could become a target, NPR’s Greg Myre says. Michael Kofman, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says though Russia might have the upper hand right now, it’s suffering massive casualties and can’t sustain this pace indefinitely. Meanwhile, Ukrainians face additional challenges. Trump says he wants to negotiate to end the war once he is in office. Kofman believes Putin might not want to negotiate seriously if he believes he is gaining ground.