A conflict fuelled by Russian weaponry and led by eccentric Nationalists has now developed a momentum of its own. There has been no invasion, yet the borders of a European country have been redrawn by force and Eastern Ukraine is now as unstable as a number of other countries undergoing conflict.

Let’s make no mistake; this conflict is going to spread. Ukraine is not the only former Soviet Republic in which the Kremlin feels it has vital military and economic interests, or in which President Vladimir Putin believes ‘Greater Russia’ has claims dating back to the Middle Ages.

There were other countries who suffered the same fate. Russia has created conflicts in Moldova and Georgia as well, complicating their good relations with the West. And the next threat, which is still small but not insignificant, is heading straight towards Kazakhstan with a 30 per cent Russian-speaking population.

There has been much talk in the last decade of fixing ‘failed states’ such as Somalia and others in the Middle East, as well as parts of the Afghan-Pakistan border. But now the ungoverned space is on the edge of Europe and the insurgents are being supported by a country with some of the world’s most sophisticated military equipment.

In the meantime, Nato exercises in Europe are a fraction of what they used to be in the 1980s, which is reckless indeed when one remembers that Nato is duty bound to protect the Baltic states.

Nato should live up to its obligations; nothing less will do, if the alliance wants to deter a repeat of Putin’s actions in Ukraine.