The European Union has quietly sought to reopen communication with Russia

Robert Kuzovkov was killed on Monday in Poland in what is seen as part of a possible Russian sabotage campaign in Nato nations.

The furore comes after confirmation Costa’s influential chief of staff Pedro Lourtie reached out to a senior Russian official, in a move that raised eyebrows among countries that say they were not informed of the plan.

The European attitude, until very recently, has been to sit back and hope that US president Donald Trump sorts it out.