Strictly defence

Nato resolve remains fixed on economic interventions

- Patrick Wintour

Leaders of the G7 and Nato shifted from the pastoral backdrop of the Bavarian Alps to the more prosaic plains of Madrid last week, but there was no shortage of photo opportunities, trumpeting of democracy, multibillion-dollar announcements or pledges of unstinting resolve to help Ukraine.

As the leaders headed home, it was legitimate to ask how far these promises change the balance of power on the battlefield, or put doubt in the mind of Vladimir Putin. For although these summits were an exercise in reassurance to domestic electorates, and to a lesser extent to Ukraine, the target audience was really one man: the Russian president.

Not surprisingly, he gave the impression of insouciance. In central Asia, his first trip abroad since the war began, he said: "The work is going quietly, rhythmically, the troops are moving and are reaching the lines that have been given to them as milestones.

Everything is going according to plan." The sudden, and somewhat mysterious, withdrawal of the Russian garrison from Snake Island (measuring 600 metres by 700 metres) might suggest otherwise, but it is not the start of the removal of all Russian troops from Ukraine.