Russia must be subdued by every trick in Britain's book

Yet again this week, President Trump set Europe's strategic challenge. Despite reaffirming US commitment to Euro-Atlantic defence once allies pledged to invest more ourselves, his new national security strategy pivots to the Pacific while his Ukraine peace plan negotiates European security without European input.

- MARK SEDWILL

Europe might not be on our own, but we need the capability to be self-reliant. And fast.

The Royal Navy announced this week its goal to be war-fighting ready by the end of the decade. The army and RAF have similar ambitions. But the leisurely timeline for reaching 3.5 per cent GDP by 2035 will neither deliver the resources necessary nor impress Vladimir Putin, determined to keep his war machine and economy rolling even with a Ukraine ceasefire.

As national security adviser, I dealt with the Salisbury poisonings, about which Lord Hughes's inquiry reported last week. It was a turning point. After years of inadequate responses to Syria, Crimea, MH17, Litvinenko and Russian subversion, we decimated Russian intelligence capability with the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history and imposed genuinely painful sanctions. Yet even that success was fundamentally defensive. We responded to an attack that had already been executed. We established consequences but not deterrence.