Germany's new government surprised NATO allies on Thursday by putting forward plans to boost defence spending, to meet a target of five percent of GDP demanded by US President

"We just need to work through the practical consequences," U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said earlier this week.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not concerned about Russia beefing up its military presence alongside the border of NATO countries.

Trump told reporters on Friday that he would speak with Putin after the Russian president skipped peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said his country is prepared to move toward spending 5% of its economic output on defense, backing a goal pushed by US President Donald Trump for NATO members and underscoring the new Berlin government’s more aggressive stance on the military.

Poland, a NATO member, has reportedly intervened after it detected ships from Russia's "shadow fleet" operating near a cable in the Baltic Sea.

If this past weekend in European politics is an indicator of anything, it's that the "Trump effect" is real, and its reverberations are unpredictable.