Peter Gavin Hall

• Vladimir Putin spent a few pleasant hours this week with one of his friends and allies – an increasingly exclusive club these days.
• You can also subscribe to our fortnightly recap of expert analysis of the conflict in Ukraine.
• But Ukraine has been using home-grown drones to attack targets in Russia and there are signs that sentiment is shifting.
• Read more:
  Ukraine war: US and allies may supply longer-range missiles – how this would change the conflict

  Ukraine has been supplied with UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

• Read more:
  What BAE's Ukraine deal shows about the risks and opportunities of setting up a business in a war zone

Playing politics

• But the statement emerging from the world leaders in New Delhi stopped short of that.
• It said all states must refrain from acting against the territorial integrity of other states and rules that use of nuclear weapons was “inadmissible”.
• Jennifer Mathers, senior lecturer in international politics at Aberystwyth University, believes that this is a reflection of the growing clout of the global south, much of which sees climate change and inequality as more pressing issues than a war on the edge of Europe.
• Read more:
  Ukraine war: Russian-held elections seek to normalise illegal occupation and reveal reality of a long war ahead

Competing narratives