Ukraine-Russia crisis: If Vladimir Putin orders an invasion, it would be unnecessary and totally unjustified – Angus Robertson MSP

For western Europeans, both Ukraine and Russia may seem far away on the other side of the continent.

Ukrainian service personnel sit in the back of military truck in the town of Avdiivka, on the front-line with Russia-backed separatists (Picture: Aleksey Filippov/AFP via Getty Images)

However any large-scale conflict will have a significant impact on all of our lives, forcing people to flee the fighting and seek refuge elsewhere in Europe while pushing up energy and food prices on top of the current cost-of-living crisis.

If Russia invades its neighbour, the international reaction will be swift and significant with large-scale sanctions against the aggressor, while there will be military and financial support for the victim Ukraine.

Scotland has long and abiding links with both Ukraine and Russia. These are not far away countries about which we know little. There are many Scottish residents from both nations and also bonds of history.

Two memorials in the heart of Edinburgh commemorate key events in history of Ukraine.

On the southern side of Calton Hill, a plaque commemorates Saint Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kyiv and ruler of Ukraine, while on the northern side of Calton Hill a memorial stone marks the Holodomor, the Soviet terror famine that claimed millions of lives in Ukraine.

Both memorials were erected by Ukrainians in Scotland, who to this day have a community centre and club on Royal Terrace.

Scotland’s connections to Russia are significant, from the tens of thousands of Scots who moved to Russia during tsarist times, including Henry Farquharson who helped establish the Imperial Navy.

Its present-day successor continues to fly the St Andrew’s ensign, marking the patron saint shared by Scotland and Russia. Scotland’s cultural connections with Russia include the great romantic writer Mikhail Lermontov, descended from the Scottish Learmonths, and Robert Burns, one of the few poets taught during tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet periods.

More recently, thousands of Scots served in the Second World War Arctic Convoys supporting Soviet resistance to the Nazis. During the Cold War, it was Professor John Erickson and his ‘Edinburgh Conversations’ which did much to pioneer dialogue between East and West.

What is going on at the present time with Ukraine is heart-breaking. Hundreds of thousands of heavily armed Russian troops and military forces are poised to strike their neighbouring country, inflicting damage, destruction and death.

The current threats to Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin are appalling and unacceptable. Should full-scale Russian military aggression begin, it will claim the lives of many Ukrainians and Russians. It is unnecessary and totally unjustified.

All nations have the right to live in peace and determine their own future. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, US Vice-President Kala Harris was quite right to say: “No one country can say to another, you can't have the system of government you want.”

Unfortunately Russia is trying to do just that. They don’t like Ukraine’s ambitions to embrace European democratic and economic standards. Having already invaded and annexed Crimea, Russia supports insurrectionists in the east of Ukraine and is now spreading disinformation together with its proxies as a pretext for conflict.

Even at this late stage, it is not too late to avert the worst armed conflict. Last-minute diplomacy involving President Emmanuel Macron of France and US President Joe Biden are aimed at stopping the Russian war machine.

We must wish them well in their efforts and extend our solidarity to the people of Ukraine.

Angus Robertson is the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central and Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary

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