This week Joe Biden managed to suggest that his administration was expecting Mr Putin to make “a minor incursion” into Ukraine. 

The White House felt compelled to issue a clarification that the President had not, as many Republicans instantly claimed, “okay’d” a Russian attack. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly refused a face-to-face meeting with Mr Biden to discuss the Ukraine crisis, exposing growing rifts within Nato over how to respond to the threat of a Russian invasion.

Freddy Gray argues the President’s response to the crisis is one of many proofs that he is not up to the job, arguing his media cheerleaders have failed the world. 

Robert Taylor questions what the EU is up to, arguing time is running out for the bloc to stay on the right side of history. 

The Telegraph’s view is that the West cannot afford disunity over Ukraine.

Wine spilled on printer – new Downing St party details

Downing Street staff partied until 1am in a seven-hour drinking session the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, the Telegraph can reveal, as new claims emerged. 

People were served wine and spirits with mixers in plastic disposable cups, with alcohol at one point getting spilled on an office printer, according to an eyewitness. 

A photograph seen by this newspaper shows No 10 staff – some with drinks – gathered in the Downing Street basement. 

Another new claim is that some attendees went down the child slide belonging to Wilf Johnson, the Prime Minister’s son. 

Political Editor Ben Riley-Smith and Tony Diver have fresh details of the party, which may become a focal point for civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry into alleged lockdown-breaking gatherings.

Meat Loaf, creator of Bat Out of Hell, dies aged 74

He was the heavyweight rock singer whose 1977 album Bat Out of Hell spent nearly 500 weeks in the British pop charts and became one of the biggest selling records of all time. 

Today, the world mourns the loss of music icon Meat Loaf, who has died aged 74. Combining roaring guitars, strong melodies and Meat Loaf’s powerful vocals, Bat Out of Hell created a genre entirely its own. 

Rolling Stone gave it zero stars but James Hall reveals how Meat Loaf made a misunderstood masterpiece. 

It has emerged the US singer had been on the verge of recording his first new material in six years and playing onstage again when he died. 

You have shared your memories and here is his must-read Telegraph obituary.

Comment and analysis

Around the world: Tonga’s long-term health fears

Vital aid supplies are finally starting to arrive in Tonga after it was hit last weekend by the double catastrophe of a powerful volcanic eruption and tsunami, but experts have warned that the health impacts of the disaster will be felt for months or even years to come. After enduring five days of crippled communications, the first pictures to emerge from the tiny Pacific archipelago of some 100,000 people, reveal its islands have been covered in a thick blanket of toxic volcanic ash that shot 30km into the air as the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai violently exploded.

Friday big-read

Grenfell: five years on