There should be a full Nato response now

AS your readers know, Nato is a defensive alliance of democratic countries and its guiding principle is... “an attack on one is an attack on all”.

Democratic Ukraine is not a member of Nato and is being attacked by Putin and the full array of conventional Russian military might. I would argue that an attack on democracy, which Putin’s war in Ukraine is, also amounts to an attack on all and so there has to be a Nato response. Provided that response does not go beyond the borders of Ukraine, then it should be regarded as defensive. Such a response is possible using drones and other sophisticated weapons.

There are concerns around escalation from conventional warfare to the use of tactical nuclear weapons and more should Nato become involved. Escalation is already happening at the conventional level. Having been held and severely damaged by the relatively small, well-trained but lightly armed and supported Ukraine army, Putin has escalated to all-out war on the civilian population of Ukraine.

The radioactive area of Chernobyl has been captured by Putin’s forces. There are reports of his troops collecting dead Ukraine soldiers from the battlefield with a view to depositing them at Chernobyl and engineering a ‘false flag’ nuclear incident. That incident would give Putin the excuse to use tactical nuclear weapons in support of his forces, struggling to subdue Ukraine’s cities. It sounds like a ‘conspiracy theory’, but is that sort of action really outside the Putin playbook, as rehearsed in Syria?

The Ukraine army, with some support from weapons provided by Nato member states, is severely damaging and holding Putin’s forces. It is doing so to the extent that Putin has to try to recruit Syrian mercenaries to swell the ranks where his men have been killed.

He does not dare to report the scale of the losses and the numbers and identities of his dead soldiers, many of whom are poorly trained young conscripts. He fears the truth would provoke a backlash from the

Russian people, who are being kept in the dark about the butcher’s bill for this war.

The war in Ukraine has already escalated to total war against the civilian population. There may be a false flag action that gives Putin the excuse to use tactical nuclear weapons. There may shortly be up to 12,000 Syrian mercenaries fighting for Putin.

However, the Ukraine army and the people of Ukraine are holding Putin’s troops and making every yard they gain difficult and damaging.

Nato has a choice of staying on the sidelines and watching Ukraine in its valiant death throes... or provide tangible support defensively within the borders of Ukraine.

Nato must act.

Brian Seage St Cleer, Cornwall