Sir, – Russian ambassador Yury Filatov unsurprisingly states (News, July 29th) that Sabina Coyne Higgins’s views (Letters, July 27th) tally with his country’s position because in her letter she unwittingly, in her call for peace without acknowledging that Vladimir Putin launched a brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, effectively implied there was some kind of moral equivalence between the two sides which, like it or not, helps to normalise that illegal invasion.
More seriously, in not demanding that Russia withdraw and end its extreme and quite horrific crimes against civilians, which include bombing hospitals, schools, apartment blocks and all kinds of civilian infrastructure in a war strategy clearly targeting civilians, Ms Coyne Higgins appears utterly blind to the fact that only the Russians (because they are the invaders!) are engaged in industrial-scale terror against civilians which has left tens of thousands dead and many more wounded. Against that background, it is easy to understand why the Russian ambassador is delighted with her letter, especially when even on the record Putin has made clear in his eyes that Ukraine is unfit to be a stand-alone state and essentially belongs in his empire!
Ms Coyne Higgins should also reflect on how Connolly, Pearse and all of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation declared that all small nations in particular had the right to live in freedom and peace and to determine their own destiny, and even without going to war Ireland can be true to that heritage by continuing to play a very active role in supporting the Ukrainian people in resisting Russia’s illegal aggression. – Yours, etc,
RONAN L TYNAN,
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Dublin 3.
Sir, – I was shocked to read the letter from Sabina Coyne Higgins published in The Irish Times. Her letter seems to take as fact that both parties to the war in Ukraine are equally guilty for the existence of the war and that the onus is as much on Ukraine to stop defending itself as on Russia to stop invading. Not only should she apologise for her naivety but perhaps also listen to Ukrainians who have fled the war and their lived experiences. – Yours, etc,
DIARMUID ANGLAND,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Sabina Coyne Higgins does not condemn Russian aggression in invading Ukraine. Instead, she urges Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
While Ms Coyne Higgins may write in a personal capacity, the fact that she is married to the President of Ireland may allow others to presume that she speaks for the Irish State or people. The swift response of the Russian ambassador compounds the potential for Ireland to be used as propaganda for Russia. Ukraine has the right to defend itself and it is vital that the EU continues vigorous support. – Yours, etc,
RONA FITZGERALD,
Glasgow, UK.
Sir, – We should welcome Sabina Coyne Higgins’s calling for a ceasefire, followed by negotiations, in Ukraine. The current policy of sending in western weapons and resources is leading to more deaths, destruction and refugees, plus fuelling a global energy crisis and inflation. As the conflict becomes more intractable, it has taken on the features of both a civil war and a proxy east-west confrontation. We on the island of Ireland have discovered, in our efforts to come to terms with our powerful neighbour, that there are no absolutes other than that a cessation in armed actions can create conditions for dialogue and an arrangement that all parties can live with while longer-term resolutions are sought. Let the recent UN-Turkey deal with Russia and Ukraine to resume grain shipments be built upon by a determined and universal demand for an immediate ceasefire. Let Ireland, a trusted UN peacekeeper and member of the Security Council, play its part in such an initiative. – Yours, etc,
DOLORES QUINN,
Maynooth, Co Kildare.