Letters | How the West and Russia could end their dangerous stand-off
- Readers discuss a path forward for Russia and the West, an inconvenient surprise at Hong Kong airport, and a visit to The Peak
In 1939, Winston Churchill famously described Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. More than eight decades later, Russia’s relations with the West remain shrouded in uncertainty.
In Russia, there is much paranoia about Western plots to dismantle its statehood. Its actions in Ukraine are an aggressive, defensive response to perceived threats. Conversely, the West sees Russian revanchism at work.
For Russia, Ukraine’s westward tilt menaces its buffer against Nato. For the West, upholding the international order means securing Ukraine’s territorial integrity. These mutually incompatible positions leave Russia and the West in an intractable stand-off.
Beyond Ukraine, the West perceives broader threats from Russian revisionism. But Russia’s ambitions are primarily limited to recovering lost regional influence, not reconstituting an anti-Western bloc. It craves respect, not conflict with the West.