HOPES RAN high on September 13th that Ukraine might finally be allowed to use British and French Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles against targets inside Russia. Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, had spoken for two hours at the White House, and many thought the American president would finally grant his permission—needed, it is thought, because the missiles may draw on targeting information from American satellites and other sources in order to evade Russian defences, and some of them may contain American components.