Western leaders fear the Kremlin is using tensions over Ukraine to exploit divisions.
There is concern that President Putin is trying hard to shift the balance of power in EuropeEurope, Nato and the US find themselves looking nervously over both shoulders these days.
The fortunes of prominent EU leaders are also being affected, in the frenzied shuttle diplomacy we're witnessing across Europe, to Moscow and Washington, as Western powers try to calm the situation and avoid a military invasion into Ukraine. I'll get to that in a moment. In fact, the European Commission is engaged in sustained internal diplomacy - as it was during the Brexit negotiations at the time - in an attempt to keep the 27 member states united over sanctions. It's whispered in EU corridors, that one of the reasons a precise, written "menu" of Russia sanctions for differing potential scenarios does not exist, is that Brussels hopes less detail means less fodder for member states to haggle over and complain about.
Normally EU countries are divided over Russia. Poland and other former communist countries in Eastern and central Europe tend to want to be tough on Moscow, which they constantly view as a potential security threat. They see the UK as being of the same mind, and openly still mourn the UK's departure from the EU because of this.
On Monday alone, the French president was with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the German chancellor met Joe Biden in Washington and the foreign ministers of Slovakia, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic headed together to Kyiv. But, before heading to Moscow on Monday, Mr Macron made sure to speak to London, Washington and Brussels. EU diplomats I chatted to were approving of his attempts to try to de-escalate the situation.
Mr Scholz is also in a weak position in the German parliament. He only just squeezed into the Chancellory by the slimmest of margins. And while he and his closest advisor are known to be passionate Europhiles and transatlanticists, the German chancellor clearly felt he needed to tread carefully. While his predecessor Angela Merkel was respected on the world stage in crisis situations, Olaf Scholz has made, at best, a hesitant impression.
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