A chara, – Not for the first time, some commentators in the West seem to be ready to write Ukraine’s epitaph while calling for some form of negotiated settlement that would reward Putin for his brutal and unprovoked aggression against his sovereign, democratic neighbour (“Messy Ukraine peace deal may be the best”, Opinion & Analysis, March 2nd). A naive assumption is frequently being made that Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate when all his statements indicate that he only seeks to impose terms, not to make compromises. No such “peace” can be expected to be anything other than temporary while Russia regroups with the full support of its club of rogue regimes. Failure to stop Putin in Ukraine would leave a rump Ukraine and other EU and Nato members in eastern Europe wide open to renewed violent redrawing of international borders designed to restore Russia’s Soviet-era sphere of influence. – Is mise,
RAY McCARTHY,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.