For all the talk of ceasefires, Ukraine is still embattled. Under nightly Russian bombardment, Kyiv has been left in limbo, both by Europe and the United States. This week Sir Keir Starmer’s coalition of the willing looked more like a ragbag of the reluctant, with Italy opting out and France invoking the UN.
Donald Trump apparently got on famously with Vladimir Putin in their much-heralded phone call, but Ukrainian power plants are still being hit. Talks in Saudi Arabia are “like shuttle diplomacy in a hotel”, according to General Keith Kellogg, the US envoy. Once these negotiations begin in earnest, will Ukraine be kept in the loop? There can be no just peace without it.
Yet hope springs eternal. In Germany, the Chancellor-elect Friedrich Merz has won his big vote to change the constitution, so that Europe’s biggest economy can borrow hundreds of billions to spend on defence. In Brussels, further loans are being floated to pay for arms. Here, European commanders have met at Northwood to plan for a possible truce, with the emphasis on protecting Ukrainian airspace. A welcome visit to British troops in Estonia by the Prince of Wales reminds us how thinly stretched our forces already are.
Meanwhile the military situation in Ukraine remains precarious, though Russian claims of imminent victory are false. Europe still has no plan, but this week’s German seizure of a Russian tanker is a start.
Sir Keir should work with our allies to put Moscow’s sanctions-breaking “shadow fleet” out of action.
This is the moment to put Mr Putin under maximum pressure by stopping the Kremlin from flouting Europe’s embargoes.
For all the talk of ceasefires, Ukraine is still embattled. Under nightly Russian bombardment, Kyiv has been left in limbo, both by Europe and the United States. This week Sir Keir Starmer’s coalition of the willing looked more like a ragbag of the reluctant, with Italy opting out and France invoking the UN.
Donald Trump apparently got on famously with Vladimir Putin in their much-heralded phone call, but Ukrainian power plants are still being hit. Talks in Saudi Arabia are “like shuttle diplomacy in a hotel”, according to General Keith Kellogg, the US envoy. Once these negotiations begin in earnest, will Ukraine be kept in the loop? There can be no just peace without it.
Yet hope springs eternal. In Germany, the Chancellor-elect Friedrich Merz has won his big vote to change the constitution, so that Europe’s biggest economy can borrow hundreds of billions to spend on defence. In Brussels, further loans are being floated to pay for arms. Here, European commanders have met at Northwood to plan for a possible truce, with the emphasis on protecting Ukrainian airspace. A welcome visit to British troops in Estonia by the Prince of Wales reminds us how thinly stretched our forces already are.
Meanwhile the military situation in Ukraine remains precarious, though Russian claims of imminent victory are false. Europe still has no plan, but this week’s German seizure of a Russian tanker is a start.
Sir Keir should work with our allies to put Moscow’s sanctions-breaking “shadow fleet” out of action.
This is the moment to put Mr Putin under maximum pressure by stopping the Kremlin from flouting Europe’s embargoes.