A ‘Yes’ from Dr No is vital

THE child pictured on Page Nine is called Malak. Aged three. Her one comfort a Mickey Mouse cuddly toy.

Yesterday morning, when the picture was taken, she was still alive. In the hell that is Aleppo we cannot be sure she will be tomorrow.

Yet our ComRes poll today shows the British people are wary of enforcing a no-fly zone to protect her.

Their understandable worry is that dogfights with the Russians in the air will lead to a cataclysmic holocaust on the ground.

It need not be like that. We urge Boris Johnson and John Kerry to come up with an initiative at today’s talks with which to approach the Russians tomorrow. We do not underestimate the difficulty of that task. It will require giving Vladimir Putin and tyrant Bashar al-Assad the unpalatable assurance a ceasefire will not grant rebels any tactical or strategic advantage.

Only by stopping the bombing of Aleppo will Malak be safe. Which means the planes which carry the bombs must cease flying over it.

That is best achieved by agreement. But we recognise that might not be forthcoming.

We asked to speak to the Russian ambassador in London. There was no response. We called the Russian Embassy. There was no reply.

This is not a nation willing to engage in dialogue. It prefers to conduct diplomacy by posting sarcasm on Twitter.

Mr Putin’s intransigence gives no reason to believe Mr Johnson and Mr Kerry would be treated differently. That may mean eyeballing Mr Putin until he blinks. It would mean giving him adequate notice of no-fly zones no sane political leader would breach.

It means saying to Mr Putin the casual murder of children like Malak will no longer be tolerated.

Mr Putin seems content to play the part of a James Bond villain.

The suffering children of Aleppo deserve better than to be up against an implacable Dr No.

Mr Putin could still redeem himself in the eyes of the civilised world by saying Yes to letting Malak live.