No United States Military Aid to Ukraine!

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section

February 2015

We, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section are opposed to the United States government sending military aid to the Ukraine. The situation is changing daily on the ground and poses the danger of a wider war, even of a nuclear war.  The threat is greater now than during the Cold War. Sending military aid into such an unstable situation, as suggested by many in the US government, is untenable.   

The intense diplomatic activity initiated by President Hollande of France and Chancellor Merkel of Germany recognizes the critical nature of the situation. This is widely understood in Europe, less so in the United States. The crisis reveals old Cold War thinking in its opposition to the former Soviet Union aggravated by the expansion of NATO, economic sanctions, and aggressive rhetoric on the part of the US government.  

Fortunately diplomacy resulted in a cease fire agreement, Minsk II, which went into effect at midnight February 14, 2015. Nevertheless, the agreement is universally recognized to be extremely fragile.

The United Nations Security Council on February 17, 2015 unanimously adopted a resolution initiated by Russia in support of the Minsk agreements on the Ukraine crisis settlement.

The situation is more dangerous now than during the Cold War or the Cuban missile crisis because there are no established channels of communication between President Obama and President Putin. The potential for miscalculation is vastly greater than in 1962, when President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev established and maintained back-channel communications to enable them to keep their countries from stumbling into a nuclear conflict. President Obama has cultivated no such channel and has ignored overtures from President Putin to reduce the level of strategic tension.

We call upon the United States to undo the damage unleashed when representatives of the United States engineered the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine last year – after it agreed to hold new elections. In doing so, the United States aligned with avowed and unabashed followers of WWII Nazi collaborator, Stephan Bandera – the Svoboda and the Pravy Sektor (The Right Sector) party led by Dmitry Yarosh. These elements in the Kiev government are an internal obstacle to a cease fire and durable peace in Ukraine. The militias of the Pravy Sektor constitute a major part of the Kiev government military assault on Ukrainian civilians. The Right Sector militias have vowed not to honor the cease fire.

Civilians are suffering under military attack in eastern Ukraine – as are the young men conscripted by the Kiev government. Both sides are tired of the fighting. Ukraine recruits are refusing to serve. Huge numbers of refugees continue to leave the country. The economy is falling apart.

If the United States truly wishes to be part of the efforts to achieve stability in the region, it must disavow its association with the Svoboda and Pravy Sektor elements in the Ukrainian government. The United States must eschew the use of military options to solve diplomatic problems. If we wish to provide aid, let it be humanitarian aid for the civilians. If we wish to be part of the solution, it must be through dialogue.  Achieving peace, stability and prosperity in Ukraine, as anywhere, requires multi-lateral collaboration. As a world leader, the United States must foster cooperation with Russia and other countries.  Let us use our influence to lead the world towards cooperation and collaboration, rather than instigating conflict.

Photo: Ukraine: UNICEF and ECHO assist children and families in bomb shelters. Natalia and her little brother Ivan spend all night and major part of the day inside the bomb shelter in Donetsk. Their mother is afraid to let them go outside because of the shelling. September 28, 2014.   ©UNICEF/Ukraine/2014/F.Volpi