Unintended consequences
Sir: The West has got it wrong when it comes to putting a stranglehold on
Vladimir Putin (‘Putin’s rage’, 5 March). Harsh economic sanctions will ultimately punish millions of ordinary Russians, many of whom are poor and probably against the invasion of Ukraine. If the products Russian workers produce do not sell then those workers become unemployed and forced into poverty. That could quickly turn more Russian citizens against the West, strengthening support for Putin rather than weakening it, thus prolonging the occupation and hostilities. So far, the West hasn’t done a great deal regarding this invasion, other than turn the wheels of Putin’s propaganda machine for him.
Stefan Badham
Portsmouth, Hampshire
Putin’s put-down
Sir: Owen Matthews is perhaps uniquely well-placed to comment on Russian affairs and is a most valued columnist. Like many he got it wrong, however, on the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like many he has also failed to understand the staged theatre of Putin’s so-called put-down of his Foreign Intelligence Service head, Sergei Naryshkin (‘Putin’s rage’, 5 March). When Naryshkin claimed that the state aim was to take the Donbas subregions back into Russian control, he was (with a smile: ‘No, Sergei’) ‘put down’ by his President and told that the aim was merely to recognise their autonomy. That was five days before the invasion. Some put-down, more a put-up. But maybe we were all of us fooled.
David McKie
Cambridge
Currency conversion
Sir: Charles Moore (Notes, 5 March) points out that the exchange rate for the Russian rouble to US dollar since 1992 has gone from 5.5 to 100. This is seemingly a massive devaluation, but unfortunately the current exchange rate seems to be an inadequate measure of Russian military might. As with Germany in the 1930s, currency problems seem to be good portents of future wars, regardless of political leadership.
Stephen Rae
Petersfield, Hampshire
Keeping the peace
Sir: It is not only Russian gas and oil dependency that must now be broken (‘Teutonic shift’, 5 March). Attention should also focus on the reliance of the United Nations system on Russian air assets (and personnel) contracted in for use in UN security council mandated peacekeeping and peace support missions in countries including the Central African Republic, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is especially important given Russia’s recent (and current) perversion of ‘peacekeeping’ and given United Nations primacy over peacekeeping as a concept and practice (in support of the UN Charter, notably Chapter 7, threats to international peace and security). It is also to be hoped that the Secretariat and the office of the UN secretary-general are taking a hard look at senior-level appointments of Russian citizens within the system and indeed looking at the credentials of the many UN staffers who are Russian. A witch hunt is not the object. Adherence to core values is.
Rod MacKenna
Crete, Greece
Turning the tide
Sir: Since most European countries are now desperately rethinking their energy strategies given their unwillingness to be held hostage to Russian gas supplies (‘Teutonic shift’, 5 March), world markets will inevitably respond with further large increases in the cost of our energy. In re-evaluating all our home energy resources, the government should include the Swansea Tidal Lagoon Project, previously rejected on unit cost grounds. Given both the present crisis and the spiralling unit cost of energy it may now be appropriate to resurrect this scheme. Swansea was the first of a number of tidal lagoon projects to be located around the UK coastline which together would have produced a significant and continuous long-term supply of green energy. How can this not be urgently reconsidered?
Graham Dimmock
Moretonhampstead, Devon
Let them in
Sir: Following your leading article (‘Friends in need’, 5 March), I’ve written to my MP to protest the needless prevarication of this government’s ministers and the bungling ineptitude of the civil service in responding to the Ukraine refugee crisis. It’s clear from the levels of public sympathy and support that this government isn’t listening to the people. It must not drag its feet any longer: offer immediate sanctuary to Ukrainian citizens fleeing war, irrespective of whether they have family connections. The great people of Great Britain will make them welcome. We are put to shame by the generosity of Poland’s citizens. Their young people fled here during the second world war to join the Free Polish forces, standing shoulder to shoulder with the RAF pilots at a time when our allies were already defeated or hadn’t yet stepped up to the plate to defend us as we stood alone. We demand positive, immediate access for Ukrainians in their hour of need.
Suzi Clark
St Albans, Hertfordshire
Going tonto
Sir: The Barometer column (5 March) discusses the word ‘tonto’, one meaning of which is the Spanish for ‘stupid’. In the Lone Ranger series, the sidekick – Tonto – called his boss ‘Ki mo sa be’. In phonetic Spanish, this sounds like ‘que no sabe’, or ‘he doesn’t know’. I had always understood this to be Tonto’s somewhat sarcastic nickname for his friend, who no doubt thought he was being glorified in Comanche as some sort of leader. If so, it was an excellent example of surreptitious anti-white supremacy pre-dating the current debate by some 60 years.
Mike Jeffes
Ashwell, Baldock
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