Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the accession of Ukraine to NATO would be a declaration of war against Moscow and only "prudence" on behalf of the alliance could prevent the planet being shattered into pieces.

NATO’s rare rebuke of China could lead to actions pressuring the country to curb exports to Russia. Beijing denounced it as “prejudice, smears and provocation.”

Russia could be expected to use any aerial sanctuary to attack the Baltic defenders and inbound NATO troops with the drone and glide-bomb attacks it has used in Ukraine, as well as to menace Western Europe with an even larger missile campaign than Ukraine has faced thus far.