Sir, – The recent editorial "The Irish Times view on the UN and climate change: yet again, Moscow says no" (December 14th) pointing out that the veto the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) is anachronistic and is little more than a licence for narrow-minded nationalism is, in my opinion, balanced, coherent and accurate. It elicited an expected reply from the Russian ambassador (December 16th). Of course he does not share The Irish Times's opinion that the structure of the UNSC is anachronistic. Why would he, when removal of the veto would lessen the power Russia has over the rest of the world? Very rarely does a country voluntarily give up a power of veto, especially in this instance, if it is seriously considering an invasion of Ukraine, a neighbouring peace-loving country, something not mentioned in the ambassador's letter to The Irish Times. Sometimes much more is revealed by what we don't say than what we do; this could be one of those times. – Yours, etc,
BOBBY CARTY,
Dublin 6W.