The Deputy Prime Minister has pledged to “listen to the needs and difficulties of the 300 Italian companies that do business with Russia”. And on the subject of tourist visas, he says: “Any ban would be yet another punitive measure against citizens who have nothing to do with the war.”

At the Più Europa convention, he calls for economic sanctions against Putin, but then pushes for the resumption of cheap Russian gas imports. On the ‘no’ to sending arms to Ukraine, he says: “We’ll see what the manifesto and the primaries bring”, but then makes it clear that military support must be halted. The ambiguities of the former prime minister

“Ukraine’s resistance? True patriotism. The economy? We’re on the right track. A federal Europe? I disagree with Draghi. The AfD? There’s no need for restrictions. Anti-Semitism? We’re absolutely clear on this.” No alliance with those who vote against Kyiv? “I’m not prepared to do the opposite of what I’ve done so far.” The head of government speaks

Putin is striking cities and attacking shopping centres, but his soldiers on the front line are making slow progress and are sometimes retreating

Iran has resumed its attacks, and in Jordan, sixty Patriot interceptors were deployed in a single night. Ukraine is requesting three hundred; the more that are used up in the Middle East, the fewer will reach Kyiv. Calculations

Kyiv and Moscow are fighting with the aim of crippling their opponent’s ability to function. For Kyiv, it is a matter of survival; for Putin, it is an obsession

Witkoff and Kushner discuss negotiating positions, whilst the Russian president has never ceased to respond by citing the ‘root causes’: the denazification and demilitarisation of Ukraine. The European approach that can (and must) change

Kremlin drones flying over children returning to school: the fear and resilience of a people. “Europe does not understand that Ukraine is defending the peaceful lives of Westerners,” says Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk 

The Russian attack on the SBU whilst Trump’s envoys are travelling to Moscow is not a sign of peace. Nor does the pace of missile production in the Kremlin’s factories indicate a willingness to negotiate. Figures