War on the European continent is the rule, rather than the exception. From the Visigoths and Charlemagne to the Second World War and Kosovo, this corner of the world has endured a near-constant state of fighting. Not for nothing is the ‘list of conflicts in Europe‘ Wikipedia page several hundred scrolls long.
This is not to suggest the Steven Pinker theory of the world – that humans living today enjoy the most peaceful era in our species’ history – is necessarily wrong. But recency bias can breed complacency.
And even that view betrays a particularly American and western European perspective. Just ask Georgians living in South Ossetia or Ukrainians in Crimea and the Donbas region – who have encountered violations of sovereignty at the hands of Russia in recent years – whether wars of conquest are a thing of the past.
With the amateur historical context out of the way, Boris Johnson today addressed the House of Commons, where he unveiled a “first tranche” of sanctions on five Russian banks and three individuals, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise two Moscow-backed breakaway regions of Ukraine and send troops into the country.
The Prime Minister, adopting his best serious tone, warned that Russia’s actions were likely a pretext for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Labour leader Keir Starmer gave his support to the government’s approach, but
urged it to go further and criticised Johnson for what he said were previous failures to “stop the flow of illicit Russian finance into Britain”. Former Conservative Party leader Ian Duncan Smith also called for tougher action.
They echo what Bill Browder, head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, which seeks targeted visa bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers and corrupt officials, tweeted today. He said the UK’s sanctions were “pretty tepid“, noting that the three individuals mentioned have been on the US list since 2018.
The EU for its part is set to unveil a first round of sanctions this afternoon, following the announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he was cancelling the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan, who has enjoyed close ties with Russia, condemned Putin’s recognition of the two breakaway regions as “unacceptable.”
It is unseemly to make parochial domestic political points at a time of danger for Ukraine and the world, but it is hard not to take a moment to imagine what the British response to this crisis would be if Jeremy Corbyn, a former chair of the heroically misnamed ‘Stop the War Coalition’ and former guest on Russia Todaywere in office.
In the comment pages, Anne McElvoy warns there is no version of an independent Ukraine that Vladimir Putin will tolerate.
Meanwhile, from ‘plant-based’ to Olivia Colman and any show with the premise “which of them will win?”, the Standard’s Chief Theatre Critic Nick Curtis is let loose on things he’d cancel. He also delivers an ode to the lost art of the boozy Friday lunch.
And finally, as the largest Roman mosaic in 50 years has been discovered near the Shard, John Darlington says ‘Oh, to be alive when Romans revelled in Londinium.’
