Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party stands in solidarity with people in Ukraine and the thousands who have been arrested for protesting the invasion in Belarus and Russia. We call for an immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of Russian military, and engagement in negotiations without preconditions between Ukraine and Russia.
There is no military solution to this conflict. Ukraine has been deliberately caught in the cross-fire between the United States and Russia. These two most militarized countries in the world and the two nations most responsible for the proliferation of nuclear weapons on the planet must reverse direction and recommit to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, committing to verifiable agreements to realize global nuclear disarmament. The survival of the human species is at stake in this regard.
We recognize that the United States and NATO are responsible for exacerbating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the following ways:
1. Breaking the commitment not to expand NATO to include former Soviet republics following the dissolution of the USSR, formalized in an agreement March 1991.
2. Failure to support the Minsk Protocol.
3. The United States and arms dealers internationally have utilized all conflicts involving Ukraine as an opportunity to send or sell weapons to Ukraine and to support the expansion of Ukraine’s military budget, up 6% in 2022.
We demand the cessation of all forms of military aggression. We demand the release of all people who have been arrested for protesting the war. We demand the continued closure and decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear reactors. We demand that all countries accept refugees from Ukraine regardless of race, religion, national origin. We are disturbed by reports of Africans been refused entry to neighboring countries. We request support for mutual aid efforts to provide for all peoples adversely impacted by Russian aggression, including Russian war resisters. Furthermore, we demand reparation for all damages inflicted upon Ukrainian infrastructure and the payment of all medical expenses and disabilities caused by the war from all responsible parties, including Russia and NATO.
In light of everything that humanity is facing and will face as the century progresses, war is a reprehensible waste of time, life, and resources and must be opposed by all sides at every opportunity.