Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Last week we told you about Italy's presidential election when it seemed the probable winner

would be Mario Draghi, the Prime Minister. But the incumbent was reelected, Mr. Draghi

State put, and somehow the political scene changed anyway.

And here are two ideas you wouldn't naturally put together. TikTok and NUNS. Our correspondent

meets with the sisters of a convent dedicated to spreading the word across all media. Turns

out some of TikTok's most creative content is second to NUNS.

In a press conference with Hungary's President Viktor Orbán yesterday, Russia's president

Vladimir Putin gave his first public remarks on Ukraine since December. He blamed America

for using Ukraine as a pawn to stop the spread of Russian influence. And he warned that

Russia's concerns about the expansion of NATO were being ignored.

In response, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said America was open to continue

to dialogue with Russia about Ukraine.

Well, here's our view. We don't know what President Putin is going to do. And it is our

responsibility to – and it's an imperative to keep the door to diplomacy open. That does

not mean that we are going to not stand by our own values, which includes our belief

that – and the belief of NATO countries that it should be up to NATO members to determine

who is able to join NATO, and that the door to that should be open.

For now, as at least 100,000 Russian troops crowd at Ukraine's borders, those doors to

diplomacy are open. Yesterday, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in Kiev, speaking

with Ukraine's leader Vladimir Zelensky. Russia's and America's foreign ministers spoke on

...