Love and best wishes to you and The General.
I have an Admiral myself.

Putin is the Hyacinth Bucket of great power leaders: it's all about keeping up appearances. Russia's a great power only to the extent that it can persuade others it is, because there's very little material basis for its pretensions to great power status. That's why Trump's deference is so important.

If you've spent 20, 30, 40 years in roles that were grounded in assumptions about the US and US-Europe relations, adjusting to the fact that the world that gave birth to and sustained your professional self is gone, is incredibly hard. Denial is often more appealing than reality.

I'm not actually that surprised that some European officials are surprised the Trump admin is prioritising economic relations with Russia. It's clear that some people in Europe's policymaking communities simply can't get their heads round the fact that the post-1945 US-Europe relationship is over.

"You judge the greatness of a nation by how it treats animals" - Ghandi. We must all support Ukraine to total victory -- it is the most humane option. @peta.org @greenpeace.eu @ec.europa.eu @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu