‘If we want lasting peace, we must understand Russia’

Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments. I don’t know whether Sir Keir Starmer is right to offer to station British troops in Ukraine (Metro, Tue) but I do know that if we want to see a lasting peace in eastern Europe, we have to understand and strive to accommodate all sides of the argument. Whether we like it or not, the Russians feel they have legitimate grievances – their sphere of influence has been progressively pushed back over the past 35 years, from the middle of Germany to the outskirts of their own heartlands.

For the most part, Russian hegemony has been replaced by Nato, which – let’s face it – exists essentially to act as an anti-Russian military bloc. Nato was founded as a defensive alliance, yet it has enlarged itself until it now poses a threat to Russia’s largest cities, at least in Russia’s eyes. And with democracy in neighbouring states leading to new governments unlikely to ally with them, the Russians see two options to guarantee a buffer zone against this threat – either maintain allied dictatorships in satellite states (as in Belarus and central Asia) or expand their own borders into sympathetic areas. In Ukraine, they failed at the first option following the Maidan Revolution, so they are trying the second.

I absolutely do not agree with what Vladimir Putin is doing. I do not support this rationale and I do not see any moral justification for his criminal war of aggression in Ukraine. But if we don’t understand his motives, we won’t understand the causes of the war and the issues that need to be addressed. And if we don’t address those issues, any attempts at a lasting peace will fail. Helen Shaw, Liverpool.

‘Surely depends upon creating the funds for the other boot’. Sir Keir’s promise of ‘boots on the ground’ surely depends upon Rachel Reeves creating funds for the other boot. Robby, Kent. ‘We don’t have the ships, the guns, the munitions, the men or the money’. The news that Sir Keir Starmer wants to send British troops to Ukraine as ‘peacekeepers’ brought to mind the words of the old music hall song, which gave rise to the term jingoism. ‘We don’t want to fight, but by jingo if we do/We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.’.

Alas today, we don’t have the ships, the guns, the munitions, the men or the money. So why are we planning to go to war with Russia? Otto Inglis, Crossgates. ‘the gulf will indeed be polluted “American”’. Who the heck does Donald Trump think he is, negotiating Ukraine’s future behind their back? Maybe it’s because he’s president of the US, or maybe it’s because he already likes to fashion himself as a dictator that he thinks he can dictate to the Ukrainian people.

This contemptible arrogance from the US is, ironically, exactly what led to the string of disastrous decisions and horrendous wars that characterised US foreign policy in the late 20th and early 21st century. Ryan Cooper, London. I recently returned from the Mexican Gulf coast. The beaches are gorgeous but covered in single-use plastics – notably straws and cutlery. With Trump renaming it the Gulf of America and an executive order bringing back plastic straws, the gulf will indeed be polluted ‘American’.
Jonathan Lethbridge, Camden.

‘The glaring elephant in the room? Ukraine.’. After listening to JD Vance’s speech in Berlin, I couldn’t help but wonder if this ‘new world order’ is bringing us closer to or further from war?. We’ve faced extremism from the Middle East and the terror it unleashed. Europe’s response has been to embrace secularism and pluralism, rejecting radicalism in favour of inclusion. Yet Vance’s speech, heavily leaning into Christian conservatism and far-right rhetoric, highlights the stark contrast between Europe and the US. With its gun culture, racial tensions and growing divisions, the US seems closer to internal conflict than many care to admit.

That leaves the UK caught in the middle – between extremism in the Middle East and rising radicalism in the US. Fortunately, we still value tolerance and perspective. Our soft power is not to be underestimated. The UK is uniquely positioned to bring stability and reason to a divided world. The glaring elephant in the room? Ukraine. A conflict Vance conveniently ignored. For a country desperate for global respect, the US seems determined to alienate its allies. Tony Howarth, London.

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