It remains to be seen how far President Trump’s embrace of Russia and abandonment of traditional allies will go. But “the West” may be gone.

A budget-constrained France could launch a national loan to fund plans to beef up its defence spending, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and Finance Minister Eric Lombard said on Friday.

In fact this was Christian Pineau, the French foreign minister, after the Suez crisis in 1956. Then, America forced Britain and France to pull back from their joint military adventure. Britain concluded that it had to hug America close;

European Union leaders are holding emergency summit talks to beef up their own military defenses and make sure Ukraine will still be properly protected as Europe faces the prospect of the U.S. cutting

The French president and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have teamed up after the extraordinary shouting match between Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy.

Yet there is a dangerous tension in Europe’s response. It seeks to show it is pulling its weight by strengthening Ukraine and keeping it fighting if necessary, whereas Mr Trump wants to bend it to his will and end the war. In trying to stop the rift with America, Europe may hasten it. ■