What Finland could teach Ukraine about war and peace

THE TYRANT in the Kremlin claimed it as within his sphere of influence, and demanded an unequal land swap. When that was rejected, he staged a false-flag operation and then invaded, expecting to take the capital in two weeks. The Western democracies promised support, but failed to deliver. Less than five years later the victim was forced to cede a tenth of its territory to Russia, and to promise perpetual neutrality. That was the fate not of Ukraine this decade but of Finland in the 1940s. It is now one of the most successful and prosperous of European states.