“Perhaps they’ll listen now”

“Perhaps they’ll listen now”

Russian troops in Crimea This is not my usual blog post. Instead it’s in the form of a letter that I sent to the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, today, 23 March. I wrote the letter because I want to shed some light on the vast dangers and risks of the next...
Time for more than sanctions and words

Time for more than sanctions and words

  London, 17 March 2014   It is 24 hours since the “result” of the referendum in Crimea. There was no surprise there, and today the region was recognised as independent by the Russian state. The result in Brussels and Washington and London has...
Timid western politics won’t wash with Putin

Timid western politics won’t wash with Putin

New Statesman, 14-20 March 2014   The first Ukrainian I met was called Peter. On my first visit to Kyiv, exactly 20 years ago, Peter introduced himself to me in front of the monument to the 150,000 massacred Jews of Babi Yar. He was a retired accountant from...
Rebirth of a nation

Rebirth of a nation

New Statesman, London, 7-13 March 2014 The revolution in Ukraine and the celebration, grief and apprehension it has inspired mask a fundamental misunderstanding. The country has released itself from the larcenous grip of a bullying dictator and his venal friends – but...