For European leaders, this could not have come at a worse time. Ukraine has survived a brutal winter. It has started taking some territory back from Russia. It has struck targets deep inside Russian territory.

At the same time, Russia was facing economic tensions and struggling to recruit enough soldiers to replace the 1,000 or so casualties, both dead and wounded, it continues to suffer almost daily.

But now Russia is being given an economic boost and its opponents are distracted by war in the Middle East. It continues to talk to the US – there was a meeting only days ago between senior Trump and Kremlin officials in Miami, about which little is known.

In fact, Ukraine is struggling for cash because promised EU funds worth €90bn ($103bn; £77bn) are being delayed by a row with Hungary.

Kyiv is under pressure from the EU to reopen a pipeline – that passes through its territory – that was damaged by Russian strikes in January. It normally carries – extraordinarily – Russian oil to Hungary and elsewhere and Budapest accuses Kyiv of dragging its feet repairing the pipeline. The authorities in Ukraine say the damage is severe and will take time to fix.

So the war in Iran is having – perhaps inevitably – an impact far outside the Middle East.

President Trump’s envoys have been leading efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

But the US president does not appear to have taken on board the views of Ukraine or its European allies with his unilateral decision to ease pressure on Russia – a move that will, inevitably, mean peace talks will be less likely to make much progress for the time being.

The fear among European chancelleries is that this could get worse and the temporary US easing of sanctions on Russia could become permanent.

A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said all allies should maintain pressure on Russia and its war chest. “The best way to continue to stop Russia supporting hostile actors is to continue on collective pressure and end the war in Ukraine,” he said.

But for now, that pressure is not collective, it is being reduced – and the Kremlin is reaping the harvest.