War prosecutions

SIR – Russia’s invasion and destruction of areas of Ukraine has been appalling, and the crimes should be prosecuted.

However, am I alone in feeling unease that the first prosecution was against a young officer aged 21 (report, May 24)? One wonders what his options were, under orders. He at least pleaded guilty – but the people truly responsible for sanctioning these atrocities seem unlikely to face justice. Rev

Anthony Oehring

Poole, Dorset

SIR – Henry Kissinger has long been known as a realist in his approach to foreign policy. However, his call for Ukraine to cede territory to Russia in order to secure a lasting peace deal (report, May 24) is extremely naive.

Vladimir Putin has already gone back on his country’s recognition of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under the Budapest memorandum of December 1994. I doubt that another treaty with his regime would be any more secure.

C D C Armstrong

Belfast

SIR – You report (May 24) that hundreds of millions of people are “marching to starvation”. While this is clearly Vladimir Putin’s fault, America is compounding the problem.

On April 12 President Biden announced an increase in the use of bioethanol. Ninety million tons of corn grown in the United States are converted into fuel. Redirecting this to animal feed and food production would, at a stroke, deflate cereal prices and free up wheat to produce bread.

The world’s governments should put pressure on the Biden administration to reverse its current policy.

Colin Clark

Former Scotland Office minister Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire