A Global Appeal for More Nations to Support a Way Out of War in Ukraine

 A Global Appeal for More Nations to Support a Way Out of War in Ukraine

The Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres has proposed a ceasefire, urged a negotiated settlement, and met with the President of Russia despite opposition in the West to doing so.

Pope Francis has urged a ceasefire and negotiations, declared that no war can be justified, and encouraged workers to block weapons shipments.

China's Ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun has urged nations' governments to pursue a ceasefire and offered China's assistance.

The President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, speaking to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, has urged pursuit of a ceasefire and negotiated settlement. Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio have even proposed a draft agreement.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged a ceasefire and peace talks.

The President of France Emanuel Macron has proposed a ceasefire, negotiations, and the creation of new non-military alliances.

Brazil's ambassador to the United Nations Ronaldo Costa Filho has urged an immediate ceasefire.

The President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have urged a ceasefire and negotiations.

Chair of the African Union President of Senegal Macky Sall has called for a ceasefire.

South Africa's ambassador to the United Nations Jerry Matjila and Deputy President David Mabuza have called for a ceasefire and negotiations.

We must appeal to all of the governments of the world to back this call for peace.

A war must eventually be ended, either through negotiation or by putting an end to us all through nuclear apocalypse.

The belief by both sides that ending it later will be better is almost always catastrophically wrong. The unwillingness to end wars is driven largely by hatred, resentment, and the corrupt influences that create wars in the first place.

A negotiated settlement must come, and the sooner the better.

A ceasefire need not wait for a resolution of all issues, only for a credible commitment to negotiate by all sides.

Some Perspective

President Biden is half right when he refers to “an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces” — unjustified indeed, unprovoked not in the least. Two sides have been escalating this conflict for years, each claiming to be acting defensively, each provoking the other. The NATO nations’ weaponry and forces that are now imagined as a solution are also the original source of the conflict. It is right to grow indignant now about Ukraine’s “sovereignty,” but so would it have been during the U.S.-backed coup eight years ago that has endangered Russian-speaking Ukrainians.

This is no time for anything other than de-escalation by all sides. The United Nations and the International Criminal Court ought to be upholding the rule of law just as if this were in Africa rather than Europe, exactly as ought to have been done with the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, et alia. Criminal sanctions that violate the Geneva Conventions are not a means of holding warmakers to the rule of law. Prosecutions in courts are.

We need nuclear weapons taken out of service by both sides. We need serious negotiations, beginning with the Minsk 2 agreement, not just empty talk. We need nations other than Russia or the United States to step up and insist on de-escalation and de-militarization, before this slowly spiraling madness reaches nuclear apocalypse.

https://worldbeyondwar.org/ukraine_action/