At a time when the eight NATO nations bordering the Baltic Sea are on high alert after a string of undersea power and internet cables were suspiciously severed, Russia's shadow fleet is getting extra attention.

Under steel grey skies, the Dutch minehunting vessel Schiedam cuts through the waters dividing Denmark and Sweden, part of NATO's Baltic Sentry mission to protect underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

Northern Europe’s Baltic Sea is bordered by nations including Germany, Russia and Latvia. Many critical cables and pipelines cross the seafloor. But with tensions rising in the region, NATO is looking for ways to ensure all that infrastructure stays safe.

The mutual-defense alliance has been central to Ukraine’s war against Russia, but the future is uncertain with President Trump back in office.

"Right now, that is still on the table," said John Coale, President Donald Trump's deputy Ukraine envoy, when asked whether the U.S. had ruled out possible NATO membership for Ukraine. Speaking in an interview with Reuters in Munich,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that the US had never seen Ukraine as a NATO member, following the latest statements from Washington that Kiev joining the defence alliance would be "unrealistic.