Negotiate for peace! End the war in Ukraine NOW!

A statement from the Canadian Peace Congress

Two months after Russia began its military intervention in Ukraine, there is still no real movement toward a negotiated settlement. Over the past weeks, the international campaign of the U.S., Canada and other Western governments to demonize Russia and funnel more and more weapons into Ukraine is only fueling the conflict, and the increased war intensity could explode into a global catastrophe.

Instead of implementing the Minsk agreements to grant autonomy to the Russian-speaking population in the Eastern Donbas region, the Zelenskyy government, with the active support, encouragement and weaponry from Washington and NATO, has sought a military solution to the crisis, relentlessly bombing the fledgling enclaves in Donetsk and Luhansk and causing the death of thousands of civilians over the past eight years. That is the real backdrop to the current war. However, in order to end this crisis, a negotiated diplomatic solution must be found. The Canadian Peace Congress calls on the Canadian government to stop fanning the flames of war and instead pursue a policy of peace between the two countries. 

In this respect, the recent federal budget, which adds an additional $8.5 billion dollars in new military spending to the already bloated defence allocation, is completely unjustified and dangerous. To bring down a ‘war’ budget – at the expense of social spending for housing, healthcare, action on climate change and other pressing needs of the Canadian people – is absolutely deplorable.

One cannot overstate the importance of negotiated peace at this moment of time. The West – driven by the imperialist ambitions of the United States and its NATO allies including Canada – has not played a neutral role in this conflict, and in fact has provoked the actions of the Russian government. Should tensions begin to boil over, there is a real danger that the world could get dragged into a global and possibly thermonuclear war.

Advances in thermobaric weaponry, hypersonic missiles, directed energy technology, cyberwarfare, and new chemical and biological weapons are all real threats facing humanity. In a manner of a few weeks, cities can be razed to the ground. In addition, the nuclear arsenals of the world’s biggest superpowers hold the potential to wreak global devastation in a matter of minutes, even seconds. With such a threat facing humanity, now is not the time to childishly play team sports between the major nuclear powers of the world; we must act with maturity. Here in Canada, we need to put pressure on the Trudeau government to pursue a policy of negotiated peace. No NATO war with Russia!

The Canadian Peace Congress demands that the Canadian government push for a negotiated peace settlement rather than continuing to escalate tensions. We call for dialing back the pro-war rhetoric, respecting the security interests of all countries involved, withdrawing Canadian naval and ground forces from Eastern Europe, ending “lethal aid” and military exports (including artillery and other weapons, training personnel, etc.) to Ukraine, and ensuring the exodus of Canada from the NATO imperialist alliance.

We recognize the difficulty in promoting peace and solidarity in moments of crisis and in an atmosphere of pro-war frenzy and propaganda. It takes courage, but there is no other alternative if we are to avert catastrophe. Progressive forces in Canada need to strengthen coalitions and working class networks around a program for peace at this critical moment in history.

Executive,

Canadian Peace Congress

April 22, 2022