On the Wednesday before Valentine’s Day, the US president picked up the phone in the Oval Office and called an old flame.

In a meandering conversation of more than 90 minutes, Donald Trump sought to assess whether the US relationship with Vladimir Putin was broken beyond repair, while US-supplied missiles rained down on Russian oil depots and the Russian dictator’s troops continued their bloody assault on the territory of Ukraine.

Mr Trump’s verdict, unsurprisingly, was upbeat. “I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with president Vladimir Putin,” he announced on his Truth Social platform.

Besides exchanging thoughts on “artificial intelligence, the power of the dollar and various other subjects,” he had picked up the receiver with one goal in mind – ending the war in Ukraine – and apparently he got what he wanted.

“We both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place,” he said, revealing that the two 70-plus-year-old leaders had instructed teams of negotiators to begin work “immediately”.