Alistair Bunkall

Now, the question is, can they continue to do so?

Because a lot of this is being done by drones.

A lot of it is because of the use of drones.

Do they have the capacity to keep drones

restocking their drone capabilities because both Russia and Ukraine are going through them at an absolute rate of knots.

Well, in Europe, it's very interesting at the moment because there was a lot of talk in Brussels about whether or not the EU should restore direct contact with Russia, which they cut off in 2022, I think.

So for a few years.

And if so, who should be that kind of that point person?

So quite a few names being thrown around.

Angela Merkel, Alexander Stubb, the current Finnish president, Mario Draghi, the former prime minister of Italy.

I think those are kind of probably the three favourites at the moment.

And

Two things I'll say.

One is that the fact that the Europeans are now even considering this is because the Americans have pulled back.

They've had no success at all with diplomatic efforts to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.

They're fully engaged with Iran, and so they're pulling back.

And they're not funding the Ukrainians anymore.

The Europeans are the largest funders, and so they now have the skin in the game, and they have a seat at the table, which is what they wanted.

How do they use that?

Do they appoint a mediator?