France and Germany are at loggerheads over military aid to Ukraine

EMMANUEL MACRON, France’s president, had presumably hoped that a summit in Paris on February 26th would demonstrate European unity behind Ukraine. Instead it seems to have resulted in an unseemly spat with Germany and raised awkward questions over the extent of both countries’ military aid. Mr Macron, who has taken an increasingly hawkish tone on the issue, declared that Russia’s “defeat”—his first unambiguous use of that word—was “indispensable to security and stability in Europe” and promised missiles for “deep strikes” into Russia. But he also criticised those “who say give them just sleeping bags and helmets”—a swipe at Germany’s initial policy—and said he did not rule out the deployment of ground troops to Ukraine (for non-combat tasks, officials later clarified).