Remarkable President Zelensky restores faith in the power of leadership
sir – Until yesterday afternoon I was in total despair that we have no world leaders with any real gravitas.
My faith has now been restored, having listened to President Volodymyr Zelensky in Westminster Hall. What a remarkable individual.
Simon Morpuss
Stratford-upon-avon, Warwickshire
sir – Amid so much terrible news from around the world, how reassuring to hear an address that lifts the heart.
President Zelensky’s speech was truly magnificent. May Ukraine get all the kit it needs to defeat the evil Russian regime.
John Taylor
Purley, Surrey
sir – I am a supporter of the British Government’s military aid to Ukraine and the provision of suitable heavy weapons to ensure that Vladimir Putin is defeated.
However, the Prime Minister’s announcement that Britain will now begin to train Ukrainian fighter-jet pilots raises more questions than it answers. The RAF is already failing to train enough pilots to meet Britain’s own defence needs, and training could only be offered to Ukrainian pilots at the expense of RAF trainees.
If the plan is to convert qualified Ukrainian pilots on Nato fast-jet aircraft, Nato will need to decide, and decide very quickly, which aircraft and weapon systems are suitable for the Ukrainian theatre of operations.
Typically it takes about 75 flying hours and several months of groundschool and simulator training to convert a fully qualified pilot to a new fast-jet aircraft type. If the Russian spring offensive is to be defeated, time is of the essence, especially when some Nato nations will take a very different position from Britain on any commitment to provide air-power support to Ukraine.
Add to that the huge logistic and complex engineering support tail required to deliver offensive air operations by modern fast-jet aircraft, and the offer of “training fighter pilots” sounds like political posturing. This is not what Ukraine needs in the short term.
Far better to provide additional Challenger 2 and Leopard 1 or 2 tanks quickly, which, when complemented by ground-based anti-aircraft artillery, will blunt a Russian spring offensive and cause unacceptable casualties to a brutal Russian dictator and his people. Gp Capt Alan Ferguson RAF (retd) Hadleigh, Suffolk
sir – I was encouraged to read that Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, thinks that Russian athletes should not compete at next year’s Paris Olympics, under whatever flag, if Putin is continuing to wage war on Ukraine (Sport, February 8).
This stance should be repeated elsewhere in the sporting world. We should accept the fact that Putin is, in effect, waging war against all democratic nations, and take action that recognises that.