Simon Jenkins, describing his horror that our new prime minister is considering allowing Ukraine to use British missiles to attack inside Russia, is a rare voice of reason in a chorus of relentless escalation (Worrying to see PM cheering war – Will Ukraine become Starmer’s Iraq?, 15 July). Western leaders by and large seem to have forgotten the promises we made to Mikhail Gorbachev more than 30 years ago, assuring him of our commitment not to extend Nato’s borders into the former Soviet bloc.
Since then, we have seen numerous former Soviet states join NATO, leaving Russia surrounded from the west, with hostile missiles, troops, tanks and aircraft pointed in its direction from its own backyard. Russian unease about this situation over the past 20 years has been ignored, and I believe the invasion of Ukraine was entirely due to fear that Ukraine would also be accepted into the NATO alliance.
There does not seem to be a single Western leader or military strategist who attempts to understand the Russian position; they seem to think it is perfectly acceptable for NATO to extend its sphere of influence into Russia’s backyard.
Those who forget the lessons of history are destined to repeat its mistakes. Ironically, our best hope of avoiding World War III may be the election of Donald Trump. He is a narcissistic maniac, but he seems to be the only leader who appreciates the danger of this new era of Western imperialism. Only he understands the futility of pouring billions of dollars into a war that Ukraine cannot win without NATO troops on the ground and planes in the sky. NATO seems to be suffering from a severe case of groupthink; meanwhile, the survival of human civilization is in grave danger.
Jonathan Gorse
Milland, West Sussex
Simon Jenkins believes Putin “has to be rescued” from the “terrible mistake” he made in marching on kyiv and that it is the duty of NATO and the West to force him to do so, presumably by putting pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskiy to cede territory in the east. He also criticises Zelenskiy for the deaths of thousands of conscripts, not to mention the many thousands of deaths Putin’s “mistake” has inflicted on his own countrymen, not to mention Ukraine. Appeasing Putin with territory will not work.
What NATO and the West must do, and should have done from the beginning, is to offer Ukraine the support it needs to push back Putin to the point that Ukraine itself considers sufficient. And Jenkins must rid himself of the terrible mistake of thinking otherwise.
Karen Miller
Beckenham, London
Vladimir Putin may have made a terrible mistake by invading Ukraine, but he decided to burn his bridges by declaring Donbass and Crimea to be Russian territory: he cannot negotiate any compromise without losing face (and, by implication, his power).
That is the dilemma facing the West. Losing Ukraine to Russia will spur further expansion, with Moldova and Georgia being obvious targets. The Baltic states and, ultimately, Poland have reason to be wary.
I have always been a supporter of diplomacy, but I do not see how meaningful peace negotiations could be carried out in the current situation. Of course, Putin’s empire, committed to permanent expansion, will eventually collapse, like all empires, but for the moment, unfortunately, I see no alternative but to stop this expansion by any means necessary.
Dr. Wolfgang Heinemann
Bochum, Germany
