NATO has taken over air defenses in Poland from the US just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, according to a NATO spokesman, with questions looming about the incoming administration’s approach to the alliance and to Ukraine.

Ukraine's Western allies will gather with President Volodymyr Zelensky at a US base in Germany on Thursday in their last such meeting before Donald Trump returns to the White House in less than two weeks.

Donald Trump has stated that he understands why Vladimir Putin is so strongly opposed to NATO membership for Ukraine. According to Kiev, Putin would be less aggressive if Ukraine were a NATO member, but an official invitation to join has yet to materialise.