Sir, – A response from Ireland to the Russian assault on an internationally recognised democratic country, which would reverberate in the halls of the Kremlin and all over the world, would be to summon the Russian ambassador to inform him that Ireland will now start to take steps to join the Nato alliance. The ambassador should be informed that this case has shown that diplomacy does not work with the current Russian leadership at the helm, and military protection is the only option. As a side issue, part of the island of Ireland is already in this organisation and this would represent the elimination of another barrier between North and South. – Yours, etc,
GEORGE LAIRD,
Luxembourg.
Sir, – Vladimir Putin claims that his objective is to “denazify” Ukraine. His behaviour replicates that of Hitler in the 1930s. Intent on collapsing neighbouring democracies who he likewise believed had no “history of statehood”, Hitler falsely cited the “persecution” of Germans by Czechs and Poles in order to justify Nazi aggressions at that time. War with catastrophic consequences followed. Mr Putin calculates that his unprovoked aggression will be met by hand-wringing and limited sanctions on the part of today’s western powers.
It is to be hoped that he has misjudged the EU, US, and the wider democratic world. Ukraine is the front line in the fight to preserve a stable and peaceful international order based on the rule of law. For this and future generations of Europeans, the stakes could not be higher. – Yours, etc,
Dr MARK PHELAN,
Craughwell,
Co Galway.
Sir, – Last week in a radio interview, the Russian ambassador said it would be “insane” to invade Ukraine. May we therefore assume that he considers Vladimir Putin to be a lunatic? – Yours, etc,
EDWARD DOYLE,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – Now that the lying kleptocrat Vladimir Putin has launched his full-scale invasion of the sovereign independent democratic state of Ukraine, the toughest sanctions ever applied on a country must be imposed on Russia.
Mr Putin will do whatever it takes to dominate and control Ukraine. He may not stop there.
The Ukrainian people will suffer death, destruction and hardship for no just cause.
We are in a new world now and global peace is fragile. Nato and the EU, for good reasons, are not prepared to go to war with Russia on behalf of Ukraine. Therefore all other punitive measures must be on the table to deal with this malignant regime. All the lying Russian ambassadors and embassy staff throughout the West must be expelled immediately.
Russian oligarchs and their families should be sent home too.
The Russian people have tolerated this megalomaniac, with all his delusions of grandeur and superiority, for over 20 years and they too must suffer the impact of these sanctions. There is no other way to deal with Mr Putin and his regime.
We in the West must be willing now to tolerate whatever burden would arise by imposing the toughest sanctions possible on Russia. The short-term pain to be suffered in the West will be worth it in the end. – Yours, etc,
MARK MOHAN,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – The Irish Anti War Movement condemns the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military and we send solidarity to the people of Ukraine at this dangerous time. We also stand with those people in Russia and Ukraine who want diplomacy and peace instead of war.
This is a completely unjustified invasion by Russia but not totally unprovoked. We have heard much in the western media about extensive western diplomacy. With the exception of efforts by the French and German governments, this is not true. Other Nato members, particularly the US and Britain, have been stoking tensions if not conducting open warmongering. They have refused to consider Russia’s genuine security concerns about the eastward expansion of Nato. They have sent military arsenals to Ukraine and troops to neighbouring Nato countries. They withdrew their monitors in the OSCE from eastern Ukraine weeks ago, the very people who could have advised of infringements of the ceasefire agreed under the Minsk II agreement. Governments of certain Nato countries want a war with Russia, albeit a proxy one using the Ukrainians as pawns.
Nato governments’ alleged concern for the human rights of Ukrainians is more about breaking the reliance on Russia’s supply of energy to the west and diverting attention from the failures of their aggressive foreign policies, as witnessed by their disastrous and catastrophic succession of wars in recent times, as well as diverting attention away from their domestic difficulties.
While we condemn this latest Russian aggression, we call for serious genuine diplomatic efforts by western governments with the aim of creating a new architecture of security throughout eastern Europe that recognises the integrity and security of all states. The idea of non-aligned military neutrality has never been so relevant. The Irish Government could play a genuine role here if it has the confidence, gumption and neutral ideology to do so. – Yours, etc,
JIM ROCHE,
Irish Anti-War Movement,
Dublin 1.
Sir, – Well, apologists for Putin’s Russia, feeling stupid yet?– Yours, etc,
MARK BOYLE,
Johnstone, Scotland.
Sir, – Is it now time to request the Russian ambassador and “diplomatic” staff to leave, as clearly the Irish Government and others have been mislead? Russia poses a threat to European security and stability and for that there must be consequences. – Yours, etc,
CONOR HOGARTY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Russia’s economy is a tenth the size the EU’s, and it cannot hold out against being cut off from world markets, and eventually the Russian public will get the message and pass it on to Mr Putin that if you act like a blood thirsty barbarian, you’ve no place in the civilised world. – Yours, etc,
CHARLES McLAUGHLIN,
Portobello,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – It is obvious that Mr Putin wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union, at the expense of many sovereign nations that now enjoy freedom from Moscow’s tyranny. Ukraine is just the first step in this plan. He must be stopped at this early stage, before we are left with a much more dreadful situation to resolve. – Yours, etc,
PAT McLAUGHLIN,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – It is said that timing is everything in life. The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is currently held by Russia – as it launches a military operation against Ukraine. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN O’HARA,
Carrowmore,
Sligo.
Sir, – In his televised speech on February 21st, Vladimir Putin stated that modern Ukraine was “entirely created” by “Bolshevik, communist Russia”, denying any concept historical legitimacy to what he termed the “regime ruling on the territory of Ukraine”.
His imperial mindset reminds me of a comment by writer Tom Holland that the leaders of ancient Rome saw their “city’s empire as an order destined as universal”. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK CALLAN,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The premeditated brutal assault of Russia on Ukraine reveals the Russian ambassador to Ireland as fitting the description of an ambassador coined by Sir Henry Wotton, envoy of James I to Venice, as a someone “sent abroad to lie for his country”. His position is untenable.
The Taoiseach has unambiguously and eloquently expressed the country’s outrage at what is happening in Ukraine. Our Minister for Foreign Affairs has strenuously asserted that, whatever about military alliances, this country is neither politically nor ethically neutral.
He insists, correctly, that Ireland is fully supportive of Ukraine. This support, unfortunately, has been so far more a matter of words rather than deeds.
The Government must implement effective actions. Words or wrist-slapping measures through the IFSC are not enough. We are limited in terms of what a small, if angry, country can do.
One measure, however, is within our power.
The Government should immediately withdraw our ambassador from Putingrad and declare the Russian regime’s representative in Dublin persona non grata. – Yours, etc,
MOORE McDOWELL,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.