A peace conference over Ukraine is unlikely to silence the guns

Mr Zelensky’s temper grated on some of his own officials, who privately criticise the president’s “diplomatic naivety”. A former member of his government suggests the outburst showed he was “too nervous” and looking for scapegoats to cover up mistakes. “Diplomacy isn’t meant to be fun,” he complains. “It’s meant to be serious.” A more charitable serving official says the summit’s teething problems stem from Mr Zelensky’s “maximalism”. The president’s ambitious ideas, he observes, don’t always fly. “But if he sets the goals lower, nothing comes of them at all.”