It is fair to say that Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has not yet found his confidence as an international statesman. The performance of his government during the Ukraine crisis has been clumsy, to put it mildly, with his country accused of putting self-interest ahead of the self-determination of another European nation. On an individual level, Mr Scholz has struggled to disprove the charge of his critics that he is little more than an unimaginative technocrat. At such a moment as this, the EU’s largest economy surely needs a leader of some courage and vision.

Mr Scholz’s predecessor, Angela Merkel, never quite met that description, either. She was often too keen to compromise, and too wary of confrontation, to mount a robust defence of the international order against those who wish to subvert it. Her governments were also committed to the Nord Stream 2 energy pipeline that much of eastern Europe views as a threat to their security. Nevertheless, she appeared to enjoy an understanding with Vladimir Putin, who seemed to trust her as a bridge between Russia and the West.

Can Mr Scholz perform the same function? He arrives in Moscow today for meetings with Mr Putin, having spent yesterday in Kyiv. These talks have been described as a last-gasp effort by the Western powers to stop a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine, although there have been tentative signs that the Kremlin is prepared to keep open lines of communication for longer.

Part of the problem, however, is that Berlin has done little to reassure the Ukrainians that it is not prepared to sell them out – especially given anger in Kyiv at reports that Germany had sold “dual use” goods to Russia, which could feasibly have military purposes, while refusing to arm Ukraine. Attempts by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to reach a deal with Mr Putin failed because it quickly became clear that the accommodation with the Kremlin he had in mind would be fiercely resisted by Kyiv as a threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty.

One of the sticking points is whether Ukraine should retain the right to join Nato. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his country’s desire to do so yesterday and the UK has been clear that it should be up to Kyiv which alliances it seeks to join. Other Nato members may not be so principled. Will they sacrifice Ukraine’s dreams of pivoting towards the West in order to appease Mr Putin?