Sir, – Rebecca Crowley (Letters, April 22nd) believes that the only way to show solidarity with Ukraine is to supply it with lethal military aid. She dismisses every other expression of solidarity, including economic sanctions and UN intervention, as useless. She states that the "reality of the past two months has proven every point wrong over and over".
What I called (Letters, April 21st) for were biting economic sanctions, such as the total boycott of Russian oil and gas, not the cosmetic sanctions against Russian oligarchs that occurred. The shocking reality is that at the same that European countries are supplying Ukraine with arms and ammunition they are equally fuelling the Russian war machine with $850 million every day by continuing to buy its oil and gas. By lacking the political will to boycott Russian oil and gas, the EU is pursuing its own economic interests and is not grasping the opportunity presented to it to bring Putin's war machine to a halt. Nato has allowed itself to be outmanoeuvred and bullied into subjection by Putin with his empty threats to use nuclear weapons in retaliation if Nato stepped on his toes. The sad truth is that only gainers in this war are the arms manufacturers. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Drumcondra,
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Dublin 9.