In this dark time, where the crepuscular pre-dawn light of our mountain valley seems to echo in agreement with the tragic events now unfolding with ever greater calamitous destruction and loss of life in my continent, I felt more strongly than ever that my country of upbringing should have continued to be part of the European Union. That Brexit ever happened is yet another heart-breaking permutation of that word ‘tragic’.

On this subject I have received the following from a friend whose opinions I deeply respect and whose analysis I believe is worth quoting here in full.

Here is what Jim Roberts has to say about the current situation:

***

“Brexit and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

In this posting I ask people to think strategically and to say that these two issues are not separate ones.

1. The invasion of Ukraine was a premeditated action by Putin one which he has been planning for a very long time, at least since the illegal occupation of the Crimea by Russia in 2014 and perhaps longer still.

2. The EU Referendum in 2016 and Brexit has given Russia/Putin a huge opportunity which to weaken NATO and the EU. It is a fact that Russia and Putin interfered in the Referendum to get the result he desired. The public report concerning this interference must now be made fully public and be widely circulated.

3. Both NATO and the EU are powerful European institutions. They are not independent of each other. NATO is the military wing of this united power and the EU is the economic wing. They are two sides of the same coin, for without having a united cause you cannot confront Putin’s Russia. The economic side is required to devise and enforce sanctions against Russia. and the Military alliance is required to enforce a strong defence against nations with other philosophies. Russia has gravely weakened the European alliance and the cause of Western Democracy by Brexit: that is why it/he funded it!!!!

4. Russia has torn up the Minsk Agreements! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_agreements. These agreements are central to the understanding what Putin’s Russia has done.

5. Brexit must be abandoned ASAP. Since the Referendum was held a new world-wide geo-political urgency has occurred to do so!!! The NATO and the EU must formally be declared one united force and international arrangement. This union must include the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). UK cannot be or remain outside the European arrangement. UK is too important for European unity in the face of this aggressive invasion by Russia. Brexit is contrary to this kind of strategic thinking and must be abandoned and reversed ASAP!

6. NATO needs to begin to move naval forces into the Black Sea to isolate and neutralise the Crimea. The same applies to the Arctic Sea in the north.

7. The World Trade Organisation must exclude Russia and rethink its purpose, aim and goals in the light of the new geo-political situation!!”

***

Thankyou Jim. I am in complete agreement with what you say and, like you and so many in this shady world, my heart is bleeding at what is happening although I continue to believe in the redemptive powers of hope and a clearer light of understanding.

Below is a selection of photographs we took during our visit to wonderful Ukraine in 2004 when the Crimea had not been annexed by Russia.

First, Sebastopol and the setting for the Crimean war in which Florence Nightingale founded the modern nursing service.

Second, Livadia palace where the Yalta Conference, which decided the future fate of Europe, was held in February, 1945;

And third, the colossal war memorial in the capital city of Kyiv:

Солідарність з народом України! Нехай їхня боротьба закінчиться перемогою для своєї країни і нехай відновиться благословенний мир у вільній і повністю незалежній Україні!