Sir – The hypocrisy of western politicians regarding the war in Ukraine is truly astounding. Throughout history states came into being by conquering weaker ones.
The ancient Greeks did it. So did the Romans. The Normans replaced the Saxons in England. The Dutch, the Belgians, the French, the Spanish, the Italians, the British, all conquered, and later lost, land that was not their own.
The grabbing of Texas from Mexico in 1836 by the US is a relatively modern example. A more recent equivalent is the Israeli takeover of Palestine.
I am writing this as no admirer of the Russian president Vladimir Putin but as an advocate of Ukraine’s right to exist within its own borders. – Yours, etc,
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JERH O’LEARY,
Blarney,
Co Cork
