Signs of peace?
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been airing his views for some days now about his sudden “disinterest” in NATO and even asking certain world leaders to negotiate with Russia to end the conflict early (Page 1, “Ukraine drops pitch for NATO”, March 9). Seemingly, he is keen to see peace in his country; a realisation that appears to come too late for Mr. Zelensky. He is perhaps irked by the passive role played by NATO. But Mr. Zelensky has drawn Russia too deep into the war for Moscow to relent at this juncture. Negotiating peace may come with tougher terms now, which may even include demands for a rollback of sanctions against Russia.
Manoharan Muthuswamy,
Chennai
The political reality
A political alternative to the party now at the Centre is not going to arise out of thin air (Inside pages, “Mamata rues lack of an alternative at Centre”, March 9). Even at the very nascent stages of an alternative formation, some of our political leaders behave as if they are future Prime Ministers. That being the case, how well a robust alternative can be formed is a million dollar question. By this time, the Opposition ought to have come together and found a ‘winning formula’ — at least in some unwinnable State elections. A weak and divided political Opposition can never become an attractive alternative to the present regime.
A. Venkatasubramanian,
Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu
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