On 13 June, the Guardian published a collective letter concerning Russia’s war and attacking Dr Fiona Hill, the chancellor of Durham University and one of the principal authors of the UK’s strategic defence review. As UK-based and/or British-educated experts in matters pertaining to Russia, Ukraine and international security, we voice our profound disagreement with the letter by Robert Skidelsky, Richard Balfe, Anthony Brenton, Thomas Fazi, Anatol Lieven, Ian Proud, Geoffrey Roberts, Richard Sakwa and Brigitte Granville.
They say that Dr Hill represents “the warmongering mood of official Britain”. But there is only one warmonger on the European stage, and that is Vladimir Putin. It is neither a “false premise” nor a “mad conclusion” to argue that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has the goal of restoring Russia to the status of a world power, and that the departure of the US would leave Russia “the dominant military power in all of Europe”. In reality, governments and independent experts from across Europe, ourselves included, have reached conclusions very similar to Dr Hill’s, as they are supported by empirical evidence – not least by Putin’s own overtly stated aspirations.
