Russia’s ambitions

Britain may be leaving the EU but it remains committed to Nato, a body of more historic and strategic importance. The EU entertains fantasies of being a military power, but it is Nato that really matters. From Estonia, our chief foreign correspondent reports on the RAF’s vital role in patrolling the Baltic skies. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all joined Nato in 2004 and Britain is sworn to protect such allies against aggression. Since April, the crews of II Squadron have been scrambled 19 times to intercept a total of 40 Russian aircraft.

The scale and nature of modern Russia’s ambition was shown in Ukraine, where Vladimir Putin’s support for a separatist movement allowed him to seize Crimea and effectively divide the nation in two. At the root of his foreign policy is ethnic revanchism: to snatch territory from countries created after the Cold War that contain a significant proportion of people of Russian heritage and language. He may be an ex-KGB man, but Mr Putin shares the tsarist devotion to autocracy, a revived Orthodox church and Slavic nationalism. Beyond his borders, Mr Putin has also extended the hand of friendship to the murderous Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Some Britons would like to see their country withdraw from its military obligations, perhaps by abandoning the Trident nuclear weapon. Not only would this be a betrayal of our Nato allies but it would be bad for our own security, too. Our world is a complex web of alliances that have to be upheld with resolute strength in the face of both state aggression and terrorism. We must always support the dedicated British personnel who have the nerve-racking task of helping keep the peace.