Europe, restart the final countdown

Sunday's European Leaders' Summit in London saw much reassuring shoulder-clutching of White House-washed Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A peace plan has reportedly been devised, but details are yet to be known. Keir Starmer announced that a 'coalition of the willing' - an echo of the George W Bush-led Tony Blair-fed multination force against Saddam Hussain's Iraq in 2003 perhaps meant to reassure Donald Trump - has been cobbled up. There was agreement that there would be no lasting peace without security guarantees for Ukraine and its participation in peace talks. Cognisant of the need to keep it real, Starmer said that a buy-in from the US was necessary for the plan to work. And therein lies the rub.

Barely 24 hours later, the 'show of unity' was tested. Emmanuel Macron's announcement of a month-long truce has not gone down well with Kyiv, or London, which has reportedly distanced itself from the 'French plan'. Ukraine, correctly, reiterated that a ceasefire without security guarantees will only be to the advantage of the Putinate. On the bright side, though, Sunday's plan included continued flow of aid for Ukraine, sending boots on the ground and keeping up economic pressure on Russia.

Perhaps the thing to do is to return to the drawing board and get Europe singing from the same music sheet. Then, a European union should seek out supporters beyond the EU bubble. A broader 'coalition of the willing' could get the US on board. To use a Trumpian metaphor, right now, Europe 'does not have the cards'. But with a 'good hand' from countries invested in a rules-based world order - for their own good, if not for the goodness of their hearts - a Moscow-flirting US may come around to providing muscle and be a 'backstop' should Vladimir Putin treat a ceasefire as a lock'n'reloading device.