Don’t waver or Putin will see the weakness in NATO

The West has nowhere to hide in the face of Vladimir Putin’s threats of mobilisation and nuc­lear escalation (“This is not a bluff: Putin deploys nuclear threat”, 22/9). Western nations must not downgrade their support for Ukraine if they are to retain any credibility, or resile from their position that Russia must pay for the costs of rebuilding. If they vacillate, then Xi Jinping has his answer to any misgivings China may have about taking Taiwan by force. If they blink then an unambiguous signal is sent to Putin that might is right, and all those NATO countries sharing a border with Russia suddenly realise the treaty isn’t worth the parchment it’s written on.

John McHarg, Maylands, WA

The similarities between Putin and Hitler are becoming more evident by the day. As with Hitler, Putin’s reversals on the battlefield are causing him to become ever more desperate and paranoid. Similarly, his false pretexts for the annexation of other countries’ territory, and his disregard for the lives of his own people, let alone those of other nations, is destroying the security of the world. Fortunately, Hitler lost the race to develop nuclear weapons. Frighteningly, the tyrant Putin has them and in his increasing paranoia is plainly capable of using them.

Alan Franklin, St Ives, NSW

Claudia Tregoning (Letters, 22/9) likens Russian President Vladimir Putin to “a puffer fish: small, poisonous, dangerous”. Whether toxic puffer fish or enraged Russian bear, Putin has boxed himself into a dangerous corner. What are his options? An ignominious backdown tantamount to defeat, potentially deadly for an increasingly disliked despot? Or a desperate, nuclear-powered assault coupled with mobilisation of Russian society for war? That Putin threatens such warmongering escalation after his tete-a-tete with Xi Jinping is ominous. Is Putin acting in defiance of a more cautious and less conflagrational Xi? Or has he – despite Beijing’s calls for ceasefire and peace talks – been signalled opaque permission to continue his putsch?

Deborah Morrison, Malvern East, Vic

Putin’s ploy of annexing regions within Ukraine in referendums distorted to Russia’s partiality, giving him the justification to use weapons of mass destruction including nuclear to protect Russian sovereignty, displays the depth of psychosis of the man in placing the world closer to war. The US and Britain have already deployed high-mobility artillery rocket systems to Ukraine that have the ability to fire missiles up to 90km with pinpoint accuracy. This has changed the outcome of Russia’s attack on Ukraine dramatically. The US also has a HIMARS missile firing weapon capable of pinpoint accuracy up to 300km, which so far Joe Biden has not allowed for use in Ukraine. For the sake of avoiding war, the US needs urgently to rethink this option before Putin has time to put his gambit into action.

Ian Kent, Renmark, SA

In 1991 Queen Elizabeth II addressed the US congress and said: “Some people believe that power grows from the barrel of a gun. So it can, but history shows that it never grows very well nor for very long. Force in the end is sterile. We have gone a better way. Our societies rest on mutual agreement, on contract, on consensus.” Putin believes otherwise and is being schooled by the Ukrainians, with EU and NATO support, in this matter. Now is the time for Joe Biden, Liz Truss and Emmanuel Macron to be explicit – any use of nuclear weapons by the Russians will incur a nuclear response from NATO. Putin’s adventurism needs to end.

Vaughan Bean, Miandetta, Tas

In the mind of a despot the only things that really matter are image, unbridled power and the eradication of any opposition. In this shrinking world Putin’s determination for warfare has global implications in terms of human suffering, economically and militarily. The Ukraine conflict boils down to a basic right and wrong, and Western allies are right to oppose the wanton actions of Russia to claim Ukrainian territory by force. Putin’s apparent disregard for human life and his statement that he will use any means necessary to achieve his goal must be of serious concern to any sovereign country. It will require diplomatic effort at the highest levels to achieve a ceasefire and an early end to this dangerous situation.

Michael Schilling, Millswood, SA