Putin’s options

Sir: I agree with Paul Wood that Vladimir Putin is on the back foot (‘Cornered’, 24 September). His actions, from partial mobilisation to nuclear threats to the rapid referenda in occupied Ukraine, indicate a psychopathic gambler who hopes that one last spin will turn Lady Fortune his way. However, there is a big gap between ‘losing’ and ‘lost’, and that is where the focus on the nuclear threat by the West is unhelpful and dangerous. As well as the partial mobilisation, Putin ordered in August a 10 per cent increase in the size of the military to more than a million combat troops. Combine this with the ‘economy of effort’ effect of withdrawing from parts of Ukraine and come next spring, Putin has the makings of a ground manoeuvre force that gives him options. How he chooses to use them is moot: a ‘coup de main’ assault on Moldova, another attempt to take Odessa, better defences in eastern Ukraine or an attack on the Baltic states – all are possible, with different levels of risk and reward. Putin is cornered and, as Paul Wood concludes, he is dangerous. But let us not be so fixated by the worst case – use of nuclear weapons – that we do not contemplate more likely cases and prepare accordingly.

Colonel (Retired) Simon Diggins OBE

Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

Expanding threat

Sir: Jonathan Sumption is one of the most distinguished minds of this age. I am puzzled to see him concluding that the eastward expansion of Nato was ‘probably’ worth the risk (Books, 24 September). What have we gained that made the risk of war worthwhile, even ‘probably’? Russia is by no means the only European power with an aggressive past. And as the American neo-conservative Robert Kagan has put it: ‘Although it is obscene to blame the US for Putin’s inhumane attack on Ukraine, to insist that the invasion was entirely unprovoked is misleading.’ The pre-Putin Russian leaders who accepted repeated declarations by western statesmen that there would be no eastward Nato expansion were not ‘outmanoeuvred’. They were deceived and betrayed. This treatment discredited Russian democrats at home and created Putinism as we know it. Yegor Gaidar, a Russian liberal of the sort we claim to like, contacted Canada’s ambassador, Chris Westdal, in Moscow in 2004 ‘to beg, to plead’ against further Nato expansion. He warned it would ‘bring out the worst of Russian instincts’. He was ignored.

Peter Hitchens

London W8

Pointe of view

Sir: We write in response to Rupert Christiansen’s article ‘National disasters’ (Arts, 24 September). We appreciate everyone’s right to an opinion, but feel the article does not give an accurate reflection of English National Ballet. The article states that there have been employment tribunals at ENB in recent years. This is incorrect; there have been no employment tribunals under Tamara Rojo’s tenure.

Regarding claims of a lack of ‘British-trained stars’, over 60 per cent of the company have received training in the UK, including three out of our five highest-ranked principals. We are the only company in the UK to tour ballet at our scale and accompanied by a full live orchestra. We take our responsibilities as a publicly funded charity very seriously, delivering a balanced programme combining iconic works with lesser-known titles. Recent tours have featured contemporary programming alongside classical works, including Akram Khan’s acclaimed reimagining of Giselle which premiered in Manchester and is our best-selling production there to date. Our work also extends beyond the stage with programmes that engage local communities, audiences and participants across the country. We have been repeatedly recognised for our work as a creative force, winning Best Response to the Pandemic in 2021 and Outstanding Company at this year’s Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards.

Our artistic choices may not please all, but we see first-hand the impact our work can have, both on stage and off. We look forward to continuing to engage with as many people as possible in the future.

Tamara Rojo CBE, artistic director of English National Ballet

Patrick Harrison, executive director of English National Ballet

Bench mark

Sir: Fiona Mountford’s lament at the loss of pews in churches will strike a chord with many (‘Benched’, 24 September). However, it should be noted that pews were only introduced into Europe in the 1500s, after the Reformation. This was partly due to the new emphasis on long sermons rather than ritual. They soon became a source of status. The rich rented the best pews and the poor paid what they could to sit at the back. Prior to the Reformation, people stood for services, the only available seating being stone benches against the walls for the sick and the lame. To this day, Orthodox churches around the world maintain the practice of having no or limited seating, and some of their liturgies last three hours.

The Revd Larry Wright

Kings Norton, Birmingham

Making of a monarch

Sir: While A.N. Wilson is correct in saying the Queen’s personality was hidden from those outside her inner circle (‘She did not change’, 17 September), it showed itself more often during her earlier years. The photographer Dorothy Wilding was invited to record the coronation of George VI in 1937 and recalled in her memoirs how difficult it was to persuade the princess to stand with one hand holding her train. Princess Margaret was amenable but Elizabeth wanted to fold her hands in front of her. Wilding wrote: ‘I simply couldn’t get Princess Elizabeth to pose as I wished. Clearly this older sister already knew her own mind! … Even at the tender age of 11 a future Queen was showing her determined character.’ Wilding observed that such an attribute in the woman who became Queen was one in which we could rejoice.

Jane Dismore, author of  Princess: The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II

St Albans, Hertfordshire