Europe gets a seat on its own security plan only after Russia's envoy sat at the White House.

Clive Fancied. I've asked this table twice this week what it thinks of my stanza, and the replies stand at none.

Gary None, and you're counting them like a winning hand. I had the shed door off three hinges by lunch.

Le Monde has it as "Europe will be represented at US-mediated Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi." The Washington Examiner, at home, has the same seat as "Europe wary of Trump administration's talk of broader security agreement with Russia."

Rob Who gets a seat round here is what I'd like answered, since the meter's had none since March.

You will be looking for the clause that gives Europe a vote. There is no clause; the seat at Abu Dhabi stands in for it. Jean-Noël Barrot, France's foreign minister, said Europe would be represented in talks set for Tuesday and Wednesday, aimed at ending the war.

The framework can be taken by both ends, turned over, and looked at underneath: not one section of it has been shown to the continent it is named for. It will not survive the first person who asks what is in it.

The continent has learned of a decision after the fact. On the first of October, Britain opened talks with European allies over releasing emergency diesel stockpiles, after Washington told Germany and France to release theirs.

On a Monday in October, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European security officials in Warsaw that Trump's "energy ceasefire" announcement had surprised him, posted as Russian drones hit Kyiv. He vowed Ukraine would retaliate if strikes on its power grid went on, amid a dispute over Ukraine's own strikes on oil refineries.

Clive Surprised. You're surprised about that meter this past March too, and still the one composing a verse about it after.

Gary A verse costs nothing. I'd have the door off its hinges before you'd finished the second line.

The New York Times put the question plainly: what if Europe rearms at exactly the wrong time. Its own answer: a far-right party in Paris or Berlin determined to burn bridges with its neighbours could do just that.

Europe eats what is put in front of it at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ukraine pays in the meantime, its power grid still the target and its own strikes on refineries still the quarrel.

Keith A table laid before the diner arrives is the oldest trick in catering, and I'd have charged twice for it by Thursday.