rate, to start talking to the russians. is that true, do you think? is that what he really wants? there is, ithink, an acceptance of the inevitability that at some point there will be talks and there will be tensions then between the us and europe and certainly between the us, nato, europe and ukraine about how to get out of this situation in a way that is acceptable to the ukrainians that might look very different from what's considered acceptable in washington. there is still a lot of support in american public opinion for backing ukraine and their defence forces. but anyone in ukraine who is worried that the political situation here is shifting a little bit and not in their favour is probably right to be concerned. but i don't think now is the time to be too worried about it. throughout europe and farther afield, britain has always been