A Putin petard

The presidential election in Russia may explain the timing of recent outrages, but does not explain why they should have been so provocative.

I can suggest three reasons: 1) The official Western line on the conflict in Ukraine, that it was all Vladimir Putin’s fault, smacks of self-righteous humbug. Taken with the consequent economic sanctions against Russia, it probably convinced Putin that the West is implacably and irredeemably hostile to Russia. at the time, theeu and Russia both needed to trade, though neither was happy at the necessity. 2) Russia has recently acquired a naval and air base on the Mediterranean coast, something that neither the czars nor the Soviet Union was able to achieve (Britain fought the Crimean War to prevent such a thing). 3) I suspect that Putin now feels assured that he can sell all Russia’s produce, especially natural gas, to China for decent prices in convertible currency, and obtain all necessary imports likewise. If so, he would be prudent to expunge his dependence on hostile Western powers.

Moreover, if he can persuade Western governments to expel Russian citizens and impound their assets, he will have an excuse for cancelling Western investment in Russia and restricting visas to Western businessmen and those who wish to assist pro-western opponents of his regime. Our longstanding attitude to Russia assisted Putin’s rise to power, just as our attitude to Germany in the 1920s assisted Hitler to the chancellorship. We are hoist with our own petard.

ROGER WEST Swanston View, Edinburgh