Those of us who lived through the end of the Cold War 30 years ago will remember Gorbachev’s dream of a “common European home”

This depended on the simultaneous dismantlement of the Warsaw Pact and NATO and the beginning of serious nuclear disarmament. But it was not to be: the West instead of disinterestedly seeing the possibility of the new situation for the promotion of peace and disarmament saw it merely in terms of Western victory and the extension of Western influence into Eastern Europe.

Countries in there were encouraged to move from the Warsaw Pact to NATO. The latter is an offensive alliance as its attack on Afghanistan showed.

Russia will defuse the present crisis if Ukraine - a divided country remember - is not permitted to join NATO just as after the last war Austria was not allowed to join either Cold War bloc. It would be better if this were accompanied with plans to abolish NATO.

Of course, it is claimed that as a sovereign country, Ukraine has the right to join what alliance it wants, but it is perfectly clear that no Western country believes this.

Remember Cuba 1962? There was nearly a world war over the fact that Cuba had installed nuclear weapons. Nobody talked about Cuba’s sovereign right to do so!

I know that with the exception of Jeremy Corbyn all our senior leaders have been and are fools and knaves and will not, under any circumstances do any thing as sensible as I have proposed.

Malcolm Pittock