Ireland is a small country with little hard power and tenuous connections to Ukraine, but the crisis provoked by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is a moral test for every country in the world, no matter how big or small. The Government's strong defence of Ukrainian soversignty, its condemnation of Russian aggression and its support for the most punitive sanctions against the Putin kleptocracy sent an important signal. It must use its seats on the UN security council and at the EU to speak up in the interests of Ukrainians and to agitate for the tougher financial measures that some EU member states have so far resisted imposing on Moscow. Irish business and civil society have a role to play. No Irish law firms or other professional services companies should be working with Russian oligarchs or those close to them. No sports body should be acting in ways that legitimise the regime.
It is important to distinguish between Putin and Russia. The brave people who took to the streets in Russia this week to denounce Putin's invasion of Ukraine were an important reminder that even the most repressive dictator, after 20 years of gradually constricting the public space for debate and dissent, cannot extinguish the spirit of a great country. That is why it is important to target sanctions in as much as possible at Putin and his networks, and to speak up for those Russians whom he seeks to silence.
At the same time, Ireland must stand with Ukraine. By waiving visa requirements for Ukrainians, the State has moved into line with the Schengen area. Now, as the war intensifies and the death toll rises, as inevitably it will, Ukraine will need significant humanitarian assistance; the State should not be found wanting when that need arises. Ireland may have a policy of military neutrality, but there can be no doubt about its allegiance in the dark new era the world entered this week. In the contest between dictatorship and freedom, between the neo-colonial revisionism of a paranoid thug and the defiance of a vibrant young democracy under siege, there is really no choice to make.