Russian aid to Italy leaves EU exposed

BRUSSELS/MOSCOW — Russia’s military planeloads of aid to Italy to combat the spread of coronavirus have exposed the European Union’s failure to provide swift help to a member in crisis and handed President Vladimir Putin a publicity coup at home and abroad. Italy has been thankful for the Russian decontamination units and army medical staff sent over the past four days, contrasting it with a piecemeal response by EU states. But senior EU and NATO diplomats and officials see the assistance less as generosity and more as a geopolitical move asserting Russian power and extending influence. “The Italians made a general request for assistance and the Russians are sending...