In 2014, I was immature enough to have suggested that Russian annexation of Crimea was a legitimate act and democratically just but its actions in Syria and now in Ukraine goes to show that Russian President Vladamir Putin is a very dangerous despot and has been stoking up nationalistic feelings in Russia on his calculation that the Russian people will always support him and make him a life-time President of the Country.
The freedom loving peoples of the world should make their feelings known that the threat of invasion into Ukraine and presumably beyond in Europe must be met with strong opposition and if diplomatic channels are not sufficient for Russia to leave the people of Ukraine alone, the highest levels of sanctions must be imposed on the country to marginalise it out of the World Community.
Russia has amassed 130,000 troops along the border with Ukraine and are also propping up the puppet regime of Belarus so that there is a on-going threat to the status quo of Europe for which all military options of self-defence must be put in place by North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).
This means sacrifices on the domestic front of the democratic nations having a proper rule of law which Russia does not have and all its dissidents are incarcerated out of the political debate or murdered as we have seen for a decade, including in foreign territories.
The western countries must stay united for their is no higher goal than peace and for States or cultiures or communities of people the principle of self-determination should override all other considerations. Ukraine has made it clear that it wishes to be part of NATO, that should be enough. President Biden should go to meet the Ukrainian President and endorse the fact that the western democratic nations will stand by Ukraine and demand that Russian troops and weaponry are returned to the barracks of that country.
The world needs peace, and no sooner that it has seemingly recovered from the Coronavirus pandemic this despot has wanted to continue with his legacy of a war-mongering Stalinist in its subjugation of its internal population through coercion and the destabilising of its neighbours. I was under the view that gas supplies into Europe come largely from Russia and that the President of Russia is using the threat of cutting off gas supplies to break apart NATO.
A major escalation of the crises can be averted through resolutions in the Security Council of the United Kingdom that refers Mr Vladamir Putin as a war criminal and has committed crimes against humanity including acts of aggression in Syria, Ukraine, Crimea, the incident of the downing of the Malaysian aeroplane several years ago. Nothing seems to stop this despot.
Shantanu Panigrahi