Ukrainian president says ‘our unity is the best interceptor against Russia’s aggressive plans’

Rubio insists that the US “do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship.”

He says “we do not want allies to rationalise the broken status quo rather than reckon with what is necessary to fix it.”

“We do not want our allies to be weak, because that makes us weaker.

We want allies who can defend themselves, so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength. This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame.

The congresswoman was speaking at a panel on populism in her first appearance at the conference

If you need a primer on what’s on the agenda for the next three days, I spoke with the MSC’s head of policy Nicole Koenig, the author of the European part of their security report published ahead of the meeting.

I asked her what is most likely to be the focus of this year’s forum, will Rubio deliver a “JD Vance 2.0” speech or say something more (nomen omen) diplomatic, and what other topics are likely to come up.

“We have had years, decades of complaints by the US about the fact that in Europe, we were not spending enough on defence. That has changed since the summit in The Hague.

The shift in mindset is that yesterday in the room, what we felt, all of us, there was a clear coming together of vision and of unity.

“They want [us] to perceive the Russians as a mighty bear, but you could argue they are moving through Ukraine at the stilted speed of a garden snail, so let’s not fall the trap of the Russian propaganda.”