Trump undermines Europe at every turn, to Putin's glee

European efforts to persuade the Kremlin to agree to a peace deal are dogged by the US president's continual flip-flopping about Russia - and that suits Putin just fine

- By Sam Kiley

Vladimir Putin has lost no time in warning that he'd attack foreign troops stationed in Ukraine as part of a peace deal he has no intention of signing while Donald Trump continues to undermine Europe's defences.

Speaking in Vladivostok, Putin - who claims that Ukraine’s intention to join Nato is the reason his forces invaded - said: “If some troops appear there, especially now, during military operations, we proceed from the fact that these will be legitimate targets for destruction.”

His words came less than 24 hours after French president Emmanuel Macron announced that there are now 26 countries in the “coalition of the willing”, which includes the UK, that are prepared to deploy forces to Ukraine. But critically, they would only be there as part of a reassurance force, to prevent Russia from agreeing to a peace deal and then proceeding to rearm and reinvade. There is no European or British plan to send forces to Ukraine before a fully fledged peace deal has been done.

No peace deal is on the table. But Europe is trying to build a new order, outside the chaos caused by Trump. Its every move, though, is dogged by the Oval Office.