In a war dominated by the unexpected, few imagined Ukraine’s fourth year at war would so firmly now question the security of all of Europe.

The United States will not provide security guarantees for Ukraine, Donald Trump has said, adding that Europe will instead be responsible. “I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” said the US president, speaking at his first White House cabinet meeting since his inauguration last month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow could not consider "any options" for European peacekeepers being sent to Ukraine and that the idea was aimed at fuelling the conflict and making it harder to de-escalate.