Passive on Ukraine, Trump is being mocked by Putin

European leaders have redoubled their efforts to prise Donald Trump away from Russia by warning that the US president is being “mocked” by Vladimir Putin, alleging that Moscow is using chemical weapons in Ukraine and demanding that the US restore weapons supplies to Kyiv.

- SAM KILEY WORLD AFFAIRS EDITOR

The move came after Ukraine said it had endured the biggest overnight air attack of the entire war, with swarms of 500 drones and missiles intended to overwhelm already stretched air defences.

Radek Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, called for the US to end its suspension of air defence missiles and other weapons most of which are on standby for delivery to Poland -and derided Trump’s fruitless efforts to secure a ceasefire. “Mr Trump, Putin is mocking your peace efforts,” said the Oxford-educated Sikorski.

In addition, the Dutch and German governments said their intelligence services had evidence of widespread use of chemical choking agents (teargas) against Ukrainian trenches by Russian troops. These have been used to force soldiers into the open where they could be shot by Putin’s forces.

“This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalised, standardised, and widespread,” said the Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans.