Yes, I am going to talk about inflation and the Fed. But let's start with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who described his ice-cold meeting with his UK counterpart Liz Truss as "a dialogue between the mute and the deaf". He may have meant "…and the daft", because when he asked her if she supported Russian sovereignty over Rostov and Voronezh, she replied the UK would never do so - both have always been parts of Russia, as the ambassador had to point out. It was a deliberate Lavrov trick that did not change the undiplomatic dynamic. Nor the military one.

Russia is still placing more forces just kilometres and minutes from the Ukrainian border; building field hospitals (for all the injuries peaceful exercises produce); making Ukraine's Black Sea ports impossible to use (technically a breach of UNGA Resolution 3314 and an act of war?); removing all but essential workers from its Kyiv embassy; claiming the Kremlin "sees signs of a possible offensive by the Ukrainian army" in Russian-held Donbas; reportedly, allowing the Duma to consider an appeal to President Putin to recognize Ukraine's breakaway republics as Russian territory on 15 February; and Belarus is issuing emergency conscription notices. None of this looks like the "no further escalation" President Macron was waving around earlier his week.