SIR - Re: 'Ukraine needs more than gestures' (T&A letters, March 2). Jerry Gumeniuk laments that the UK and others have failed to honour the Budapest Memorandum to protect Ukraine. Sad, but not surprising.

Most of the world has signed up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which obliges countries to act against others who are committing Crimes Against Humanity, but none in the civilised "West" have acted to protect Palestinians from apartheid practised by Israeli Authorities. More seriously, acts of ethnic cleansing of swathes of Palestine in order to establish Jews-only colonies, roads, and other infrastructure, have gone without attracting any sanctions. Indeed, these have been financed by American subsidies.

It's not a very funny old world.

John Hall, Pennithorne Avenue, Baildon