William Hague: Ukraine is the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st Century

You couldn’t accuse William Hague of using soft language on the Today programme this morning when he said that ‘it is certainly the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st Century and it will require all our diplomatic efforts, but also a great deal of strength in the western world in order to deal with this satisfactorily’. He urged Russia to ‘return to that situation, to being in its bases, to having its assets in Crimea’ while recognising the ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine’.

But what will the international community do, other than use strong language that Putin may or may not care to ignore? President Obama’s ‘red lines’ now mean very little after President Assad crossed them in Syria.