Relations between East and West have become shrouded in fog. Russia warns of a “real war” if it is given an ultimatum on the future of its puppet dictator Bashar al-Assad. The West, meanwhile, contemplates how with the use of smart sanctions it could drive a wedge between the Kremlin, the Assad regime and Iran. As Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, heads for Moscow today it seems that the G7 group of democracies on one side, and Vladimir Putin on the other, are engaged in an elaborate game of blind man’s bluff.
The foreign ministers of the G7 states, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and Japan, are still a long way from agreeing a comprehensive new set of sanctions that