Nothing illustrates this better than an eu squabble over some €210bn ($245bn) of frozen Russian assets, much of it lodged at a clearing-house in Brussels.

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Europe is breathing a sigh of relief. On December 2nd Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, held lengthy talks about Ukraine with Vladimir Putin in Moscow—and not much happened. Many had been expecting Team Trump to sell out Ukrainian sovereignty in return for commercial deals. The risk of such an odious stitch-up now seems to