PM's diplomatic moves mark a clear end to post-Brexit era of active EU antagonism

Britain is back. That was the concise verdict of Éléonore Caroit, the vice-chair of the French national assembly's foreign affairs committee. And the optics of Sunday's crisis talks on Ukraine bore this out, with Keir Starmer at the very centre of the leaders' joint photo.

- Peter Walker

"You are back on the scene, of the leadership in Europe," Caroit told the BBC yesterday morning. James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat MP who speaks for the party on Europe, was equally adamant, praising Starmer for taking his change "to bring us back to the heart of Europe where we belong".

So is this a post-Brexit turning point? Is the UK, since 2016 more accustomed to watching European decisions being made from the side of the room, at the heart of the action once more? The slightly unsatisfactory answer is: it depends. There are, however, a few things that seem clear.

The first is that Starmer, in his self-declared mission to be a "bridge" between Europe and Donald Trump's tempestuous America, has made himself a significant player in efforts to try to ensure a potentially fair and secure peace deal for Ukraine.