It is by now largely forgotten that when Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed the current security crisis in Europe, his demands were not just that Ukraine never becomes a member of Nato, the US-led military alliance in Europe, but also that the alliance would have to accept limits on the number of troops it could deploy closest to Russia.

The Ukraine question is currently being settled on the battlefield. But the other Russian demand to Nato has already been answered with a flat refusal. And regardless of the outcome of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukraine war has given Nato a new lease of life, precisely what Mr Putin sought to avoid.