Ex-MI6 Chief: Our values are under threat

'Western Europe will not find a partner of values and morals in Vladimir Putin', said Sir John Sawers, former Chief of MI6 in his inaugural lecture as Visiting Professor at King's College London. Addressing a packed War Studies annual lecture last night, Sir John offered a rare insight into decades of service for the British diplomatic and intelligence services, and the ongoing battle for 'shared value and order' in an increasingly unstable global landscape. He discussed the ideological conflicts currently faced in Europe, where despite initial glimmers of economic, social and political reform, he said Russia has 'not confronted and overcome its past', and the foundations on which a post-Cold War society led by President Putin could hope to prosper have been undermined by a lack of 'serious moral reckoning, and no assertion of new healthy values.' Sir John warned: 'Russian politics have slipped back: rather less democratic and more autocratic. Managing relations with Russia will be the defining problem in European security for years to come'. Whilst European sanctions in response to the Ukraine have imposed costs upon Russia, Sir John said, 'the crisis is no longer just about Ukraine. It's now a much bigger, more dangerous crisis, between Russia and Western countries, about values and order in Europe. We may end up with a new debilitating frozen conflict in Ukraine..That is a wretched outcome for Ukrainians.