Deadlock at Ramstein: the high-level meeting at which Ukraine’s allies convened on Friday to agree a major military aid package to enable Volodymyr Zelensky to repel an expected massive Russian offensive, hit an immovable object in the shape of what looks like intransigent German deference to Russia. Germany has the ideal weapon to neutralise Russian offensive action – the Leopard 2 tank – but its lingering pacifist posture and now undisguised fear of Russia has rendered adamantine its refusal to send any to beleaguered Ukraine.
Bottled up in the Black Sea
A contest for control of the Black Sea has seen Russia stunningly defeated.