In wanting peace for Ukraine and for Russia, there are different ways of envisioning what that would look like. Some imagine a dividing line as between North and South Korea, a sort of armed truce that postpones a reconciliation of differences until some indefinite future time for which we might wait for generations to come.

My hope is that Ukraine’s resistance against aggression is a fight for Ukraine, but, also for the Russia we want to see. And that is a Russia whose civil libertarians already have shown a purity of purpose that puts most Americans to shame. It is a Russia perhaps we may only dream of; but, still, dream we must.

Ukrainians and Russians are very close cousins. A distinction between Russia and Ukraine was not always clearly known. Closeness that affords respect for difference is a challenge in many one-on-one relationships that can require a learning curve. Some similar kind of development might be necessary to win the peace that can follow after conflict between neighboring nations.

I do not trust Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to be a leader who can support and enable such a transformation for Russia. I became aware of him during the Syria War, whose causes are still so unresolved that conditions in Syria reportedly are worsening. I saw what Putin did in Syria, and have not forgotten; and that is why I think he will have to leave office, somehow, before his present term of office expires in 2030, in the interests of Russia.

“V.V.” has been very proud of a speech in which he juxtaposed a “unipolar” world, governed by the United States, with a “multipolar” world. I like to chuckle in imagining a North Pole, a Northeast Pole, a South Southwest Pole, etc... I am more comfortable with there being many centers of energy in the world, somewhat as celestial bodies produce gravitational force. For every community or nation that wants to be recognized by others, a goal must then be to nurture the collective energy that is attractive to others.

Striving to aid Ukraine may, I hope, help Russia.

Mary Hall

South Hadley