SIR – Christopher Hindle is rather selective in his analysis of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine (letters, September 6 and 10).

He states that ‘the US and EU orchestrated a coup in Kiev’.

So the thousands of peaceful Ukrainian flag-waving demonstrators outside the Parliament in Kiev and other major cities in Ukraine were a figment of my imagination, were they?

The Ukrainian government had been debating the possibility of closer ties with the EU for some time and at one point it seemed this might happen. However, Prime Minister Yuchenko was Mr Putin’s puppet and was told in no uncertain terms that if such an agreement was reached there would be consequences. We now know what these are.

Mr Putin was all sweetness and light at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, suggesting it might be possible to have talks with Ukraine about greater autonomy for the East without aggression.

No, Mr Hindle, the stated aim of the rebels is to take over the whole of eastern Ukraine. Hence the Russian tanks blatantly rolling into Ukraine. I wouldn’t trust Mr Putin as far as I could throw him!

Susan Baxter, Garden Terrace, Bradford