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The tension between Russia and Ukraine has hit new heights as the U.S. has carried out a “rare” flight mission over Ukrainian airspace to “reaffirm U.S. commitment” to the area that has been victim of Kremlin-backed encroachment on the former Soviet-bloc state. After the latest skirmish, President Donald Trump cancelled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Argentina late last month “based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned”.

Under the international Open Skies Treaty – of which the U.S., Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and 31 other nations are a part – the Pentagon is rumored to have flown an unarmed Air Force OC-135 observation plane near Crimea, the Ukrainian region seized by Russia in a 2014 invasion. The bilateral agreement follows the path the U.S. has taken with Ukraine in the past few months after Russia has become much more aggressive in their geopolitical foothold in Eastern Europe.

The flight was the second American military gesture made this week after Russia shot at and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crew members off the Crimean Peninsula in November. On Wednesday, the U.S. Navy piloted a warship through the Sea of Japan in a challenge to Russia’s maritime claims in international waters.

“Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait is a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity,” the Pentagon said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal. “The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere.”

According to one report, U.S. military officials are also planning to send another military ship into the Black Sea, in a third challenge to Russian territorial claims in international waters across the Eastern Hemisphere.

Months ago, Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak was in contact with the U.S. Defense Department about ramping up military support in the Baltic region, which is currently on a temporary, rotational basis by American troops. The Polish government has been highly concerned over regional security as the Russian government has bolstered separatist groups in eastern Ukraine, claiming that it is only a matter of time before such hostility reaches over the border.

Poland even offered the Pentagon $2 billion to assist them in building further military infrastructure and funding permanent deployment of U.S. troops. Nevertheless, Poland has not been the only Baltic-region nation that has expressed concern. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are all worried that Russian advancement will not end in Crimea.

Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the exile of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, NATO-led battle groups have been deployed to each country. Within the past four years, 150 U.S. troops have been stationed in Lithuania, and in mid-2017 the country’s president requested a permanent U.S. presence, “to not only deter but to defend,” against possible Russian military threats. Over 10,000 people have been killed during the years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government troops.

Martial law has been imposed in the Black Sea town of Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine after Russia’s latest military escapade. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said, “Russia will pay a huge price if they attack us.”

President Donald Trump as announced his nominations for two top Cabinet-level positions, tapping former Justice Department head William Barr for U.S. Attorney General, and acting-Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Heather Nauert to the post of U.N. Ambassador. The announcement comes as shakeups have been continuing in the White House following the midterm elections of last month.

Barr served as the 77th Attorney General under the late former President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. The Reagan-era policy staffer was known as a strong defender of presidential power and aggressive actions on terrorism and drug-trafficking. Regardless, during his 1991 confirmation hearing he received a good reception from both Republicans and Democrats.

In becoming the 85th attorney general, he will be the first to repeat the position since its inception in 1789. He will replace acting-Attorney General Matt Whitaker who was thrust into the position following his tenure as chief of staff to the ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions after a two-year tumultuous relationship with President Trump. Since 1973, there have been 10 acting attorneys general.

Presumably, questions will arise in the upcoming Senate confirmation hearing Barr will have about his role as head of the Justice Department and how he will handle the long-awaited end to White Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election.

Nauert, who has had a meteoric rise from journalist to powerful diplomat, will also have a tough Senate confirmation hearing following the way Democrats treated another Trump nominee for an influential post – Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Nevertheless, Nauert has held positions at several news organizations during her two decades as a journalist, most notably on Fox News. She has had a much shorter government career that began in April 2017 when she was hired as a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department.

Following the dismissal of Steve Goldstein on March 13, 2018 after the firing of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Nauert was named acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Nauert is currently the fourth ranking position in the State Department, tasked with overseeing public diplomacy to advance U.S. interests and security in over 250 embassies, outposts, and locations of American interest.

In November, President Trump made his short list of pick for the top U.S. spot at the United Nations in New York City, adding that she was under “serious consideration.”

“She’s excellent,” Trump said. “She’s been with us a long time. She’s been a supporter for a long time. And she’s really excellent.”

Current U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she would step down from her diplomatic post at the end of 2018. Although the former South Carolina governor is speculated to have ambitions to hold higher office, Haley said following her announcement at the White House, “No I’m not running in 2020.”

“Look at two years, look at what has happened in two years with the United States on foreign policy. Now the United States is respected. Countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do. They know that if we’re going to do something, we follow it through, and the President proved that,” Haley said in the Oval Office aside Trump.

In the near future, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is said to be the next one out of the never-ending revolving door of the Trump Administration.

It has been rumored that Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff Nick Ayers could replace the former four-star Marine General as senior aide to President Trump, with some within the administration saying it is a “done deal.” Ayers was one of the architects of Vice President Pence’s tour of vulnerable Republican districts before the midterm elections, including appearances in Virginia.