Peace In Ukraine

Diplomacy, not war.
Negotiate Don’t Escalate.
Aide the Victims of the War.

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Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW! 

joins with other peace and social justice

organizations in and around Philadelphia

as a co-founding group of the Philadelphia Area No More War Coalition and in Florida as Co-founders and steering Committee members of the Florida Peace & Justice Alliance.

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We are mobilizing to end the war in Ukraine.

We condemn the illegal and aggressive invasion by Russia of Ukraine.

The invasion was a dramatic escalation of the violence that started in 2014. The invasion and occupation have created an increasingly dangerous situation for residents of the war zones and the rest of the world. Immediate humanitarian aid is needed for the victims, and any further escalation must be prevented to avoid stumbling into a wider war or nuclear confrontation.

Diplomacy may look difficult today,

but there is no military solution to this crisis. 

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Our movement is calling for all countries to engage in an urgent surge of diplomacy to end this war and achieve a secure and lasting peace Specifically we call for: 

An urgent diplomatic initiative between Russia and Ukraine, with whatever UN or other mediation is necessary, supported by all other nations, is urgent as the longer the war goes on the greater the chance of escalation. 

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Engagement by the US and NATO with Russia to address wider security issues related to the war and improving European security including preventing a nuclear exchange and addressing nuclear disarmament and conflict prevention issues. 

 

We further call for the following should diplomacy work and bring about negotiations to end the war acceptable to all parties.

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A freeze on all military activities including a halt to actions on the ground by belligerents and a freeze on arms transfers to Ukraine. We believe that war funding by all countries would be better spent on addressing the climate emergency, housing food insecurity, economic inequality and promoting the general welfare of all peoples. Global cooperation to rebuild Ukraine and protect victims and refugees from Ukraine and other war-torn nations. This includes debt relief and forgiveness, and a redoubled global humanitarian effort for Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere, and refugee resettlement and assistance for Ukraine and other war-torn countries. 

 

 

Here in the U.S., we can reflect deeply on what the US could have done to prevent this war. Nothing can reduce Russian culpability for the invasion, but brinkmanship, adventurism and military confrontation is dangerous in a volatile world.

 

We must atone for the fact that the U.S. has done more than any other country to undermine norms against invading sovereign countries. Again, and again U.S. and European leaders warned that if Russia wasn’t integrated into a pan-European security arrangement, if NATO kept expanding, that war was inevitable. The Minsk peace initiative was never really implemented. Why? From 2014 through the day before the invasion a spiral of escalation grew with no off ramps. Why?

 

If we want a more peaceful world, we need answers and a radically new approach. 

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 TAKE ACTION 

 

There may not seem to be much we can do about this war, but there is. Our National Organization, Peace Action has a well thought out position and a set of action steps (at the bottom of their policy briefing) that you can take to make a difference, save lives and encourage our elected officials to create the conditions for a diplomatic end to the war.

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