Readers' Letters: The West must be prepared to face down Vladimir Putin

Aside from providing vital humanitarian aid it’s clear that having played its sanctions card and sent military equipment, the West appears out of ideas to further assist Ukraine.

A Ukrainian soldier helps an elderly woman who was being evacuated on a shopping cart from Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv

President Zelensky’s call for a no-fly zone has been rejected and it’s not clear whether Nato is providing more support beyond missiles and military intelligence, such as electronic jamming of communications and cyber warfare, given fears of reprisals if Poland provides military jets. Putin will see indecision as a green light to escalate the siege war.

St Petersburg, formally Leningrad, faced starvation from 1941-1944 when up to 1.5 million died. Observers should not rule out deranged revenge for the siege imposed by fascist Germany and Finland on Putin’s birthplace.

After a protracted takeover of Ukraine, bombing innocent civilians and surrounding cities, the worry is that Putin will order his army to invade Moldova and potentially Finland, both non-Nato members. Furthermore, unless Nato faces down Russian forces in the Baltic, Black Sea and around Russia’s borders there is a chance Putin may also turn on the Baltic States. This would trigger Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and Nato would potentially collectively engage Russia.

That’s when, as with the Cuban missile crisis, the world would hold its breath but supply lines would get stretched and at some point Putin will need a face-saving exit. If progress slows further Putin will come under increasing pressure from Kremlin colleagues and China to negotiate; to plough on would mean economic misery and further isolation.

History tells us, however, that dictators are unpredictable and unless faced down with military power they will press on with ever more heinous war crimes so it’s important that the West and Nato are ready to act decisively when the time comes even if it means political brinkmanship, calling Putin’s bluff, and appealing to his ego as a superpower statesman. Without a reckoning for the humanitarian catastrophe, however, only a phoney peace would prevail.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Action, not words

1.5 million refugees from Ukraine. That means 41.5 million people are still in Ukraine being bombed, shelled and massacred by Putin’s army. The West cannot stand by and let Putin commit genocide on the Ukrainian people.

There has been too much wringing of hands and not enough determination to stop Putin's murderous attack. The leaders of Ukraine are asking all the countries of the Free World to send fighter planes and bombers to drive Putin back. They are being murdered in front of our very eyes and all we do is send empty messages of solidarity.

The people of the Ukraine need actions, not pious words. They need fighters and bombers to smash Putin's army and drive them out of Ukraine for good.

Les Reid, Edinburgh

Refugee crisis

Scotland’s share of the 200,000 refugees the UK has pledged to take from Ukraine works out at approximately 20,000. Yet there is uncharacteristic silence from Ms Sturgeon as to how the SNP government has prepared for this influx.

Has the SNP offered support to the UK in managing the huge number of visa applications from the civil service at East Kilbride? Have funds been allocated to support Scotland’s local and municipal authorities in our six main cities and those who need to be involved in actively planning to accommodate and assist these people? We need answers.

Elizabeth Marshall, Edinburgh

Today’s targets

As we watch the gut-wrenching scenes in Ukraine I wonder how many of us realise that these same people are actually yesterday’s target for us in the UK?

And the huge crowds bringing supplies for the refugees in Lviv, they also were our targets. All of Ukraine was a target for our H Bombs and Kiev was in fact a No.1 target for us, because it was so important for Russia. And everybody knows Russia is the enemy….

But it’s worse than that. The tens of thousands of brave women and men who are demonstrating against the war in the streets of St Petersburg and Moscow, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, risking a savage beating at the hands of Putin’s goons and months in jail – they are our real and existing targets. Today.

When a submarine sails out of Faslane these are the target. These are the ones we will burn and blast. Never forget that that is what Trident does when it does the only thing it was designed to do. No matter how we hide the truth behind a lying mask of weasel words like deterrent, device, nuclear capability, etc, this is the world’s most powerful machine for the mass killing of human beings.

When we look at the people suffering the horror of war in Ukraine or anywhere else, we can see them as human beings. When we just think of them as “the enemy” we do not. They cease to be human. They become merely a disembodied and abstracted target.

That is why we are right now in the insane position of preparing to kill the same innocent people in Russia who are protesting against war in Ukraine as we are.

Brian Quail, Glasgow

Energy security

In the short term it does not matter what the national energy strategy is because we are forced to pay the global price.

Our oil and gas reserves were used to paper over cracks rather than establish generational industry. Even our numerous off shore wind turbines are built abroad despite decades of difficult offshore engineering taking place in our surrounding waters.

An appropriate energy strategy should develop companies and engineers within our own nation first and foremost.

Tom Walker, Loanhead, Midlothian

Excuses, excuses

In 2016 Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland voting to stay in the EU while England voting to leave; would be a mandate for a second independence referendum. That came about and nothing happened.

Then in 2017 Sturgeon said “permission” needed to be obtained from the Tory Westminster government for a referendum. This was denied.

Then the goalposts shifted again. Sturgeon said no referendum would be possible until the details of the UK government’s Brexit deal was known.

In 2019 Sturgeon again begged for “permission” to hold another plebiscite. Boris Johnson again said no. Scotland was then taken out of the EU after the SNP vowed this would never happen.

Covid became another excuse that Sturgeon used not to have a referendum. This despite the fact a Holyrood and US Presidential election both took place during the pandemic.

Now, after having run our of excuses, the Ukraine crisis has occurred and Ian Blackford is suggesting that the referendum allegedly planned for 2023 won't take place while the Ukraine war is going on (Scotsman, 7 March).

It’s abundantly clear Sturgeon has no intention of holding a referendum any time soon or ever. To believe otherwise requires mental gymnastics.

Alan Hinnrichs, Dundee

Victorian values

Tom Bowser (“Scotland needs beavers. So when will we stop killing them when they could be relocated elsewhere ?” Scotsman, 7 March) raises a very important question about the ambiguous attitude of the Scottish Government when it comes to wildlife protection.

Scottish Natural Heritage, now using the working name NatureScot, has a culling culture at heart.

When the Scottish Government legislated to stop seals being shot at wild salmon netting stations and floating factory fish farms, I thought 40 years of campaigning had been successful. I was wrong. The government issued licences to shoot seals. It took another decade for us to put an end to seal shooting.

Animal Concern lobbied for protection of beavers to stop farmers and landowners shooting them. Eventually it was made illegal to shoot beavers. Unless you obtain a government licence, conveniently introduced at the same time.

We joined the successful lobby to stop culling mountain hares. Once again government double-jointed be-all-things-to-all-people policy kicked in and licences were issued to let cullers body-swerve that lawas well.

The current Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill proposes using a maximum of two dogs to flush out foxes to be shot. Sadly, Scottish Government plasticity pops up yet again and those who want to use more than two dogs can apply for another official Government loophole, sorry licence.

The Scottish Government’s attitude to wildlife is more fitting to the Victorian era than the 21st century.

John F Robins, Animal Concern, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire

‘Modern’ Scots

I was intrigued by the description of a "modern Scot" in Brian Ferguson's piece (Scotsman, 8 March) about a new BBC travel show called Scottish Fling presented by Martin Compston and Phil MacHugh. Compston says he's looking forward to meeting "real modern Scots" and MacHugh also describes himself as a "modern Scot". What exactly does that term mean?

With MacHugh being a former Yes Scotland executive and Compston a prominent backer of the SNP, I trust their definition extends beyond those who share the same political views as they do?

It wouldn't be the first time that supporters of independence have nonsensically claimed that you need to think and vote the same way as they do to be truly Scottish. The description of Martin as a "passionate patriot" in the piece also sets some alarm bells ringing.

Perhaps they will reveal in the show who they see as being a “modern Scot”? Worth checking how they vote just to be sure.

J Lewis, Edinburgh

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters' or similar in your subject line. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription. Click on this link for more information.