LETTER: How far will Putin go?

Let’s focus on the important realities rather than what is arguable history. A vast number of Ukrainians who do not want to live under Russian control are having their world destroyed in an act of war. Many Ukrainians and many Russians are also being killed and wounded.

This is the inevitable result of the choices of one man: Vladimir Putin. No-one in their right mind can believe Ukraine posed any threat to Russia. No-one in their right mind can believe Nato posed or intended any threat to Russia: it was set up and behaved purely as a defensive alliance.

The real motivation for Putin’s actions must therefore lie in Russia, despite the false tissue of excuses he has used to justify what he intended to do anyway. There are many theories about his real motivation but they are less important than the bigger question, which is how far he is prepared to go.

The one thing we know about him, which he is in the process of confirming now, is that he is a ruthless killer who doesn’t care how much he damages the world and its people. Another thing we strongly suspect is that he has little if any support from the suppressed silent majority of Russians.

The only conclusion I can see is that Putin is going to have to be forcibly stopped before he single-handedly causes a third, and infinitely damaging, world war.

Roger Briggs
Edenvale

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