Natalie Nougayrède makes cogent points about Russian policy and Putin’s myopic view of history (Opinion, 27 February). But as ugly as Russian aggression is, she fails to point out the nastiness of US and allied actions in the wake of the cold war. Gorbachev may not have been promised a non-expanding Nato, but where was the effort to make Russia part of a “western” future? In Putin, we have the monster we deserve for inflicting our neocon economic fantasies on the Russian electorate and for our belligerent expansion of Nato.
Joe Boyd
London
• Last week Mr Putin signed a deal with the government of Cyprus, cutting the interest rate on a €2.5bn loan to 2.5% from 4.5% and extending the period from 2018 to 2021. Surely there is a lesson here for the EU and Greece? Granted, the deal secured Putin access to Cyprus ports for the Russian navy (having lost his base in Syria). But perhaps Germany could forgive some debt if the Greek government agreed to resume purchases of tanks? It must have hurt to lose your second biggest customer so suddenly.
Mike Jones
Exeter
• Robert Macfarlane’s wonderful article about collecting words for human observation of the natural world (Review, 28 February) reminds me to thank you for your Country diaries. Day after day, correspondent after correspondent offer us observations to help us notice, and a language to help us express, the intricacies and wonders that are all around us. I often read it first, before the news and commentary, to give myself a more balanced view of what life really is about.
Alison Leonard
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
• A hundred letters, Fr Mitchell / A prodigious use of qwerty / Please leave some space for those of us / Who are struggling to get to 30 (Letters, 2 March).
Michael Cunningham
Wolverhampton
• Tuesday’s page 3 lead? New cafe opens in London. Words fail me...
Barbara Brewis
Newcastle upon Tyne
