Michael Meadowcroft on the west’s mistakes after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Anthony Matthew on why proposing a Nuremberg-style tribunal for Vladimir Putin is a bad idea. Plus letters from Tony Wild and Oscar Clarke
Readers should applaud Aditya Chakrabortty’s article (Western values? They enthroned the monster who is shelling Ukrainians today, 17 March). The west’s failure to back Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms and advocacy of reality led to the cataclysmic implosion of the Soviet Union and prevented the more gradual constitutional changes that would have provided stability.
The US, supported by the UK government, rushed to push open the door into Russia and other Soviet republics to enable capitalists to feast on the Russian economy, and particularly its natural resources, when what was needed was a kind of Marshall plan to underpin the rouble and to assist the development of civil society.