STATEMENT ON UKRAINE: DIPLOMACY AND DE- ESCALATION, NOT FURTHER MILITARIZATION

New Jersey Peace Action joins Peace Action National in condemning Russia’s invasion and occupation in Ukraine. We have long opposed these types of illegal and unilateral military interventions, often by our own U.S. government, as fundamental threats to a more peaceful world.

To date, the conflict continues to destroy civilian neighborhoods, impacting millions of Ukrainian lives as it settles into a grim war of attrition. Beyond the conflict zones, the war is fostering a global economic crisis. In the worst-case scenario, it risks a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The underlying tensions driving this conflict are complex and longstanding. All of the parties must engage in serious and sustained diplomacy to get to the bottom of this conflict. This diplomacy should urgently implement a cessation of hostilities in the Donbas, and get back on the diplomatic track of resolving the regional conflict represented by the Minsk II agreements and the Normandy format. The Minsk II agreement would have, if implemented, demilitarized the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine and guaranteed meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders. At the same time, serious and sustained diplomacy is needed to address the conflict between Russia and NATO and the U.S. over wider security issues. 

Nobody should oversimplify the current situation. While no one but Russia is responsible for the decision to send troops and tanks into Ukraine, many decisions led to this day. Russia–Ukraine relations and history are complex. The decisions made by the U.S. and NATO to expand NATO without fully addressing Russian security concerns were a risky sort of post-Cold War triumphalism. Many military and foreign policy leaders have pointed this out throughout the last two decades. Also the Minsk agreements were signed in 2015, seven years went by, and the failure to implement those agreements was also fateful. 

Ultimately, however, there is no military solution to such an intractable and complex global crisis. The longer the conflict goes on, the more bloodshed there will be. The United Nations has warned of years of global hardship that include a refugee crisis, and severe disruptions to trade, food security, and human development, which are already happening. The UN calls for urgent action to address this crisis, warning of a looming catastrophe that could bring global destabilization, starvation, and mass migration on an unprecedented scale. President Biden was right when he said that “at some point along the line there is going to have to be a diplomatic settlement.” But how long will it take for “some point” to arrive? Wars of attrition can grind on for years, as the belligerents seek to gain territorial advantage and put off inevitably negotiated solutions. Members of Congress can start to foster political space for diplomacy despite ongoing military dynamics. There’s no time to waste. It’s time for diplomacy to become a centerpiece of our Ukraine strategy, not just a tool to rally countries to levy sanctions and transfer arms.

We also demand no more arms shipments of any kind, particularly cluster bombs, to Ukraine. Cluster bombs are so dangerous to civilians that they are banned in over 100 countries, including NATO countries. These bombs leave behind unexploded bomblets that harm civilians indiscriminately long after the bombs are dropped. They are especially dangerous to children who pick up the bomblets thinking they are toys.

We urge the U.S. to take the following important, crucial steps to help bring the war to an end: making vigorous diplomatic efforts in support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire; engaging in direct talks with Russia on nuclear and other common security issues, exploring prospects for a new European security arrangement acceptable to all parties that will allow for a sovereign and independent Ukraine; and, in coordination with Ukraine, seeking a rapid end to the conflict.