Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments. Vladimir Putin is not just an oppressive dictator at home, but a sly and cruel mass-murderer abroad, in multiple African countries and in Ukraine. By sending troops into Ukraine on campaigns of rape and execution and bombing civilian targets, he has caused enormous suffering – and stolen chunks of a sovereign nation’s territory.
And yet it seems Putin is to be rewarded by being allowed to keep everything he has stolen. By who? By another power-hungry authoritarian in Washington – one who neither understands nor cares about anywhere outside the US. Trump intends to quickly force Ukraine to lose the war its people have so bravely fought and deny the country Nato membership or even any security guarantees. In handing Europe’s enemy everything he demands, Trump has proven that the US is no longer Europe’s ally. The consequences should worry us all. Stephen Psallidas, Newcastle upon Tyne.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. ‘between a criminal and a war criminal’. So, peace in Europe is to be negotiated between a criminal charged with bribery and corruption, who has a long history of seeking vengeance against anybody who dares to criticise him and a war criminal who is accused of overseeing the rape and torture of prisoners of war and who has taken devastating retribution against anyone who dares to criticise him. Julian Self, Wolverton.
‘we should not forget at the ballot box’. Just 60p per pupil funding for school breakfasts by the Labour government is a choice. Cutting winter fuel allowance for some pensioners is a choice. Child benefits staying capped to keep kids in poverty is a choice. Reneging on the promise to compensate Waspi women is a choice. Imposing unnecessary austerity on the poor while giving £5billion to Ukraine to sustain endless war is yet another poor choice by the Labour government, one we should not forget at the ballot box. Julie Partridge, London.
‘The chance for a different outcome was lost’. President Joe Biden and western Europe armed Ukraine sufficiently to fight back but not defeat the Russian invader, dooming Kyiv to a bloody ground war it could not win. Nato could have joined the fight as it did in Korea and things would not have gone nuclear as the west possesses a nuclear deterrent for just such a reason. Russian troops would have been expelled and Putin’s murderous regime may have collapsed.
Now an exhausted Ukraine will have to settle for new borders and the hope to regain lost territory in the decades to come. The chance for a different outcome was lost. Trump is right to demand Europe spends far more on defence. Russia does not threaten the US directly but China openly and defiantly does – hence Trump’s pivot away from Europe. Our own national security is openly threatened by Russia.
We can only secure ourselves by increasing defence expenditure to a minimum of four per cent and moving the bulk of the Army into Ukraine to help defend the new front line. The same scenario applies to France and Germany. Poland and Finland already understand this. Chris Shepherd, London. Arrow MORE: Say goodbye to frizz and flyaways with Typebea’s new styling range (and get 20% off!). Arrow MORE: New pub sign leaves drinkers scratching their heads after historic blunder.
