Putin is already testing the west and we have failed Ukraine

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Biden and Putin are at loggerheads (AP)

Putin is already testing the west and we have failed Ukraine. It is no good Ben Wallace making threats when the west has not supported Ukraine, just as the west failed against Hitler and Germany in the run-up to the Second World War. Putin will not stop now he can see how weak the western response has been. I wonder where they will strike next because if he succeeds in Ukraine he will be much closer to Europe to set up his nuclear arsenal.

If this happens it may be too late to stop him inflicting further damage to Europe; by supporting Ukraine more from the outset, its citizens may have had more left of their country to return to. After all, our so-called leaders cannot even bring themselves to look after the refugees with any respect for their plight or dignity.

Michael Coomber

Address supplied

Is either party in the mood for a compromise to find the urgently needed resolution and cessation of hostilities in Ukraine? We should all be focusing our efforts to find ways to end this dreadful conflict. There are avenues available if both parties are willing to compromise.

A possible committee of arbitration under the auspices of the UN could be formed immediately with possible participation from China, Canada and Switzerland. The west would need to steer Ukraine to the idea of compromise, as indeed was the case for the US in the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis and their removal of missiles from Turkey.

Peter Smith-Cullen

Norfolk

Boris Johnson’s government maintains a balanced approach to the war in Ukraine. It provides the Ukrainian army with weapons and missiles but at the same time continues to purchase Russian oil, which indirectly benefits the Russian military. 

Such a principled impartial approach gives trust and confidence in the government’s foreign policy.

Bambos Charalambous

Manchester

By its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has blatantly defied everything the United Nations stands for. It should be expelled immediately.

On a wider front, it is now clear that MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) is no longer the recipe for a peaceful Europe. A settled future for our continent (and indeed elsewhere) now rests on enhanced provision for international peacekeeping.

The Rev Andrew McLuskey

Ashford

Rising Covid cases

Samuel Lovett writes “Experts unsure why Covid cases are increasing again” in Saturday 12 March edition. I doubt anybody else is unsure! Johnson’s message to the public, by his actions, is to go forth and infect. Don’t isolate if positive, pay for testing kits, live with Covid. I assume Johnson wants to be first to throw caution to the wind. All his big decisions have been wrong. Relying on herd immunity is simply wrong in the case of a rapidly mutating virus with variants that are proving to be increasingly infective.

I learned from The Independent’s discussion on long Covid that 20 per cent of people who contract Covid will end up with long Covid and a decrease in their ability to function, both physically and mentally. That is too big a price for the nation to pay for a temporary boost in the popularity of our self-indulgent PM.

Robert Murray

Nottingham

You report that “Experts unsure why Covid cases are increasing again”. I am certainly no expert but it seems to me every time there has been a relaxation in the restrictions around Covid, cases rise.

It cannot be a coincidence that since our PM decided to follow the politics rather than follow the science, cases are now on the rise again.

G Forward

Stirling