Nato should help Putin over Ukraine

I can't imagine NATO ever wanting to invade Russia. But what may seem "rational" at a distance may not be so rational to people with a tribal memory of being invaded from the west.

An immediate step would be for NATO to state that Ukraine would not be accepted as a member. This would honour the agreement from three decades ago.

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization – is now getting embroiled in east European affairs, which is outside its geographical area of concern.

NATO has been a very successful treaty organization. It has lasted longer than its long-forgotten sister organizations: SEATO (South-East Asia) and CENTO (Middle East/ south Asia).

NATO has had three purposes: to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down. All three purposes have been met.

The Russians have been kept out of western Europe, the Americans have remained engaged in European affairs (and not returned to the isolationism following World War I), and the Germans have had the fighting spirit beaten out of them and so show no signs of starting another world war.

A second step would be to have a treaty banning low-level warfare, such as cyber-warfare and spreading misinformation.

Finally, the US and Russia need to remember their quarrel is a legacy matter. Russia is a previous enemy of the US. Both need to confront tomorrow's challenge: China.

A lot has been written about China's threat to the US. China expects to be the world's number one country by 2049 – the 100^th anniversary of the Chinese Revolution.

It is worth recalling that China is also a problem for Russia. Another aspect of Russia's tribal memory of invasions is the Golden Horde: the Mongolian invasion of the 14^th century which charged across the Russian landmass (and eventually into Ukraine).

Russians feel very vulnerable about their rear end. Even with the loss of the Soviet Empire in eastern Europe and the Islamic "stans" in the south, Russia remains the world's largest country in geographical terms. It is 11 time zones across.

Most Russians live in the western side of Russia. This means that the rear end of the country has comparatively few people.

Owing to climate change, the permafrost of the Russian Far East/ Siberia is melting. It is now easier to get access to the raw material deep in that land.

Russians fear a Chinese encroachment through their rear end.

Therefore, in the larger scheme of things, the US and Russia ought to be patching up their old disputes and getting ready to deal with China.