THE UN should act to demand an immediate ceasefire in Mariupol, and create a UN military force to escort the Red Cross to get aid into, and civilians who want to leave out of, Mariupol and other besieged Ukrainian towns and cities to which the Russians are currently refusing to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access. If the Russians veto such a proposal on the Security Council, they will publicly shame themselves further and undermine their own propaganda efforts, showing they have no concern for civilian lives. And a vote could still be held in the General Assembly to create one and demand a ceasefire.

The main body of it might be made up of Turkish forces, since Turkey is seen as a neutral party by Ukraine, Russia and Nato, and is already hosting peace talks between the two sides. Turkey is a Nato member, with a strong military, which would make Putin think twice about attacking its forces, but not particularly friendly to the US (which President Erdogan blames for the failed 2016 military coup attempt against him, and which denounced Turkey buying Russian weapons), nor to Russia (as Turkey took the side of Islamist rebels in Syria and shot down a Russian warplane). There are also dozens of Turkish citizens still stuck in Mariupol which would give Turkey a motive to agree to provide troops. And Turkey has already offered to evacuate civilians from Mariupol by ship.

If Nato or Turkey reject this proposal though, there are other possible candidates. India, for instance, is neutral in the conflict.

Duncan McFarlane, Carluke.

* WHY doesn’t UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres take the initiative and lead a delegation of mainly non-aligned countries (but invite Hungary, India and Russia) to investigate the allegations of atrocities? Why would Russia restrict access if there is nothing to see?

Jim McSheffrey, Giffnock.

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING FOR 20 YEARS?

SOME aspects of Putin’s war seem to receive little comment or analysis.

What on earth have the West’s ambassadors, military attachés and other diplomats in Moscow been monitoring, and how have they been advising our governments, since Putin’s regime from 20 years ago became, quite clearly to many outsiders, increasingly authoritarian, undemocratic, paranoid, aggressive and ultimately totalitarian?

Why is there a reluctance to condemn unequivocally the wholehearted support given to Putin from Patriarch Kirill and apparently most elements of the Russian Orthodox Church, based on falsifying 1,000 years of Ukrainian/Russian history and reviving Stalinist fascism and Orwellian Newspeak? Their extremist Russian nationalism (some might use the four-letter German word with which Putin falsely insults Ukraine) seems stronger than their moral compass, basic humanity or Christian witness (if any).

Finally, why on earth was someone as unsuitable as Valery Gergiev, long-term friend since the 1990s of the ex-KGB officer Putin and public supporter of his aggressions, not only appointed Honorary Patron of the Edinburgh Festival back in 2011 but retained that position even after Putin’s earlier invasions? What an insult too to his predecessors – Yehudi Menuhin and Charles Mackerras.

John Birkett, St Andrews.

WILL WE LEARN THE LESSON?

WHETHER written by Tacitus two millennia ago ("Ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant’’) or reported by Lyse Doucet on BBC News (‘‘They create desolation, and call it peace’’), mankind’s tragic vulnerability is a reproach to governments and religion. Is it a forlorn hope that the Russian enterprise in Ukraine will at last leave a mark on men’s souls which no later experience of bloodier fields and more violent scenes of war could efface?

Doug Clark, Currie.

FEW OPTIONS FOR PALESTINIANS

ADAM Tomkins is an academic and jurist of some repute, but his “greetings from Israel” article raises a few questions ("Fears stalks Israel as country faces uncertain future", The Herald, April 6).

The first is the nature of Israel itself: what constitutes its legal, recognised borders? The second is the nature of what Professor Tomkins describes as “the international law of belligerent occupation”. What constitutes Israel’s “belligerent enemy” which forces an armed occupation for 60 years? Is this not just a very transparent fig leaf for usurpations, annexation of the land and the degradation and disproportionate casualty rate suffered by the civilian population within the occupied territory?

As civilians of an occupied territory, Palestinians have rights (including the right to resist) under the international law of belligerent occupation: who is responsible for upholding these rights, and regulating the occupying armed forces? Israel seems to have no plan to escape the consequences of its own long-term actions. It has left the Palestinians so little land to establish a country that their only best option is now to insist on equal rights and citizenship within what in now a de facto “Greater Israel”.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

UTILITY FIRMS MUST DO MORE

THE cost of living crisis has exposed the inequality between those who can follow the utility companies' advice and go online to access information and cheaper rates and those who have no access to online offers. Almost 20 per cent of over-75s have no access to a computer. It is not only the issue of going online to access the utility companies, it is the prolonged wait on the phone. These companies are simply not meeting the needs of their vulnerable customers while charging for their services rises exponentially.

For those living with medical equipment in the house, the utility companies should be reaching out and offering assistance with charges. Too many are being left behind, too many are paying disproportionately and being plunged into fuel poverty. Meantime utility companies are sitting back, soaking up their immoral profits while the Government at Westminster is asleep on the job. Crisis is certainly around the corner and urgent action is needed.

Catriona C Clark, Falkirk.

THE REAL COST OF THE NI RISE

SOME news reports on increases to National Insurance state that contributions will increase by 1.25 per cent this month. In fact, the rise is a 1.25 percentage point increase applied to existing National Insurance rates, not a percentage increase on those rates.

This might sound pedantic, but it does make quite a big difference to the figures. For people currently paying National Insurance at a rate of 12%, this will mean they start to pay at 13.25% instead.

Most people will therefore see a more than 10% increase in the amount of National Insurance they pay after the rise.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh.

SET NET ZERO PROJECT ASIDE

IT is time surely for the net zero project to be set aside. Its time will come, of course, but the priority surely at present requires a major policy U-turn, no matter how unpleasant that may be politically. With energy costs going into orbit and a horrible war raging involving a major supplier and at the same the seemingly senseless and accelerated rundown of our own oil and gas production and exploration, common sense demands we apply the brakes immediately to the net zero plans.

For the next four or five decades, as renewable technology improves and more new technologies emerge, as they have always done with human ingenuity, we should concentrate on first of all retaining what we have and shutting down nothing whatsoever that can help us keep warm in winter and maintain our lights and power. Then there must be full participation in clean nuclear technology, especially the smaller units being pioneered down south. Nor should we ban fracking, which should go ahead when neutral experts deem it safe to do so and not be held up by aggressive here-today-gone-tomorrow climate demonstrators. We should not have our hands tied by zealots. Nor should we be trying to be more holier than thou and battle with others over who can hurt the most people.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh.

PRIVATE CONCERNS

POLITICIANS supporting the privatisation of Channel 4 ("Channel 4 sale to go ahead, bosses reveal", The Herald, April 5 and Letters, April 6) are obviously encouraged by the triumphant success of the electricity and gas industries, the Post Office, Thames Water, the National Grid, the railways and the disability assessment service following their privatisation.

PM Dryburgh, Edinburgh.

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