Ukraine War: Those Who Fail to Call for Negotiations, Fail to Understand the Dangerous Predicament that Faces Our Planet!
U.S. Peace Council
January 25, 2023
At no time since the Cuban missile crisis has our
world has been so close to disaster. As the war in Ukraine approaches its first
anniversary, it is being increasingly transformed by the Biden administration
and the “collective west” into a war between NATO and Russia. The danger of
turning into a nuclear confrontation is imminent.
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was a wake-up call in
the midst of Cold War, warning just how close a nuclear World War III could be.
Unlike today, both sides sought accommodation. They understood that a retreat
from war was in their mutual interest. The Anti-Ballistic Missile and the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaties, now scrapped, were negotiated.
Back then, an international peace movement with a
robust US contingent amplified the demand for a peaceful world. Such voices are
much diminished now. Unlike in the past, not a single Democrat in Congress
spoke out for peace, leaving the ideological terrain for war virtually
uncontested. Particularly unfortunate are the voices, including some in the
U.S. “left,” who continue to beat the drums of war by calling for the
continuation of war until the victory of Ukraine. That would only mean the
victory of NATO in an all-out war with Russia.
Negotiated peace agreements are not based so much on
trust as on the mutual understanding that the alternative is in neither side’s
interest. Arguing as some on the “left” do that “Putin’s Russia cannot be
trusted,” disregards the fact that no negotiation between warring parties has
ever been based on trust.
The undeniable reality facing us should make us all
aware of the urgency for negotiations and a diplomatic solution to this war.
The war in and around Ukraine must end. There should
be no dispute about that. All wars end either with negotiations or with the
victory of one side or the other. Given that this war is not merely between
Russia and Ukraine but is between Russia and a Western-backed Ukraine, the
first option — for victory — is impossible. Neither Russia (a major nuclear
power) nor the Western powers (many of them being major nuclear powers) will
tolerate anything near defeat.
If a military victory is not possible, then the only
way forward is for negotiations. War is not an answer. Escalating this war
should not be promoted by those who believe in international cooperation and
genuine peace. Those who fail to call for negotiations in the midst of this
contentious period — with the war ongoing and its impact intensifying a
cost-of-living crisis around the world — fail to understand the dangerous
predicament that faces the planet.
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