diplomat

In the meantime, however, diplomats and analysts worry Israel will ratchet up the bloodshed in both conflicts, operating in the political vacuum as the U.S. changes administrations.

"I don't think it will be decisive," a Western diplomat in Kyiv told the BBC, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Neither Rubio nor Mike Waltz, who was nominated to be Trump's national security advisor, sparked giddy enthusiasm, but as one European diplomat put it to Politico: "They are a bit less awful than others."

It is unclear whether Musk was meeting with the diplomat on behalf of the president-elect.

His nomination for secretary of state - America’s most senior diplomat - Marco Rubio, has described China as the “most advanced adversary America has ever faced”.