LET’S say it’s not a smokescreen by Moscow and some sort of peace deal is becoming possible, albeit a long way off. If that’s the case - and if Ukraine could accept what already looks to be deeply insulting, absurd and humiliating terms - then the west needs to ask itself: what kind of ‘peace’ can we ever really achieve with Putin?
Putin now raises the spectre of instituting purges and a new Great Terror against his own people in the style of Stalin. His troops are accused of raping and murdering Ukrainian women.
This goes far beyond the illegal invasion of another nation. Putin is already a war criminal, soaked in innocent blood. He’s shelled maternity hospitals and schools.
Now, though, he threatens atrocities against Russians, while his own soldiers behave like animals - carrying out the same crimes the rape squads of the Red Army committed at the end of the Second World War. How can there ever be real peace with Russia while Putin remains in power?
To read the rest of this analysis, sign up to The Herald's political newsletter, Unspun, for FREE and get unrivalled political analysis in your inbox every day at 6pm.
Our columns are a platform for writers to express their opinions. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Herald.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel