Lucinda Creighton: It is time to call Putin’s bluff and impose a no-fly zone

It is simply deluded to believe that a policy of non-intervention in Ukraine will stop Putin on his quest to replicate the USSR

‘The policy of appeasement has failed. The weakness and permissiveness of Nato, the US and EU over two decades has only served to embolden Vladimir Putin and confirm his view that he may act with impunity.’ Picture: Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty

Underestimating the malignity of Vladimir Putin was the fatal western flaw that ultimately enabled the Russian leader to invade Ukraine and unleash war. It is that same naive underestimation of this evil man that will embolden Putin and result in tens of thousands more being needlessly slaughtered, unless a concerted and coordinated decision is made to stop him.

The famous phrase that we hear again and again in relation to the Second World War – ...