Fears of a post-Putin Russia haunt the US as it delays helping Ukraine with F-16s

“The longest wind-up for a punch in the history of the world.” Colourful language, but behind the colour are serious questions about the pace at which NATO, and the United States in particular, is arming Ukraine. Over the last week focus on the war has been diverted by the plane crash in Russia which is believed to have killed the leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin. Prigozhin fell out bitterly with Vladimir Putin two months ago after he said that Putin’s war in Ukraine was based on two lies: that NATO was a threat to Ukraine and that…