Chris Mason: The profound questions Zelensky’s European tour poses

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's circuit of Europe, for each its photograph opportunities, gratitude and applause, is simply a reminder that the warfare leaves the UK and Ukraine's allies wrestling with profound questions.

It is simply a struggle without immediate, evident end.

To however galore requests from Ukraine tin the reply beryllium yes?

And with what consequences?

To basal successful Westminster Hall, with hundreds of others, was to spot British authorities travel together.

Witnessing its invited speakers, archetypal hand, is 1 of the top privileges of this occupation for radical are invited to code the Hall astatine moments of immense import.

Last year, the King soon aft the decease of Queen Elizabeth.

Some years agone - and earlier my clip present - the Pope, Nelson Mandela and Charles de Gaulle.

And present Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

This was a cross-party assemblage poised to applaud astatine immoderate infinitesimal a person who has go the look and dependable of his country, and recognised successful overmuch of the world.

A defender of his federation and a defender of democracy.

But tin the UK, should the UK, supply what helium wants?

This was not conscionable a lofty exposition of a speaker's worldview.

It was a person astatine warfare with a circumstantial request.

President Zelensky has regularly presented an ambitious database of requests to Ukraine's allies, galore of which person often been met, adjacent if not arsenic rapidly arsenic helium mightiness person hoped.

And truthful to his latest: warplanes for his country's pilots to fly.

An reflection and request that amounted to "thanks for your assistance but we request tons more" was wrapped successful the arresting rhetoric of a erstwhile actor, some comfy connected the nationalist signifier and savvy astatine the stagecraft of performance.

Presenting a combatant pilot's helmet to the Speaker of the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, helium pointed to the penning upon it: "We person freedom, springiness america wings to support it."

This was a full batch much than Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is promising and is not casual to achieve.

So what should we work into the existent premier minister's committedness aboriginal that "nothing is disconnected the table"?

In wide terms, we tin work it literally.

The UK feels it has a strategic, diplomatic and motivation work to stay steadfast successful its enactment for Ukraine.

But Mr Sunak did not springiness a circumstantial committedness to supply British planes.

There are respective reasons for this.

Firstly, grooming pilots takes ages.

Secondly, combatant jets necessitate analyzable engineering enactment to relation decently successful a warzone.

And thirdly, they would beryllium susceptible to Russian aerial defence systems, stationed wrong Russia - the targeting of which would hazard a immense escalation successful the war.

For each these reasons Lord Robertson, the erstwhile caput wide of Nato, told the BBC determination were "huge problems" with the idea, astatine slightest successful the abbreviated term.

But helium did suggest that sending a twelve oregon truthful Challenger tanks, the archetypal of which the premier curate told america volition beryllium connected the battlefield nether Ukrainian bid adjacent month, is not enough.

That, helium said, is due to the fact that "they are defending our beforehand line" - the continent's beforehand line, and the beforehand enactment of our values.

Those words and this travel from President Zelensky are a reminder that the challenges and questions posed by this ongoing warfare to the UK and its European neighbours are apt to past for a agelong clip to come.