Russia’s friends are a motley—and shrinking—crew

“The West’s plans to isolate Russia by surrounding us with a sanitary cordon have been a fiasco,” Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, gloated recently. “We are strengthening good neighbourly relations…with the international majority.” At first glance Mr Lavrov seems to have a point. On February 23rd, the day before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 39 countries refused to back a UN resolution condemning it. Despite America and its allies imposing sanctions, Russia’s economy and trade have held up surprisingly well. Mr Lavrov himself, meanwhile, has merrily racked up plenty of air miles visiting foreign capitals.