Renzi plays games with EU-Russia sanctions

It is hardly surprising that Italy, an old friend of Russia, led the successful charge to soften conclusions at last week’s EU summit.

It removed threats to tighten sanctions on Moscow a in response to the Kremlin’s support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal campaign in Aleppo.

Prime minister Matteo Renzi’s diplomatic coup wrong-footed his more hawkish French, German, and British counterparts, but it may have been infl...