WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders called on the Biden administration to immediately cease escalating military tensions and pursue a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis.

In response to fear of Russian military incursion into Ukraine, this week U.S. troops from a number of bases across the country have been put on high alert for possible deployment to Europe, and the U.S. has sent a second batch of weapons to Ukraine. Paramilitaries trained by the CIA in the U.S. are reportedly advising counterparts in eastern Ukraine, even while Democrats in Congress are fast-tracking for passage this week a bill for $500 million more in weapons for Ukraine.

The Biden administration’s threats of military buildup and sanctions against Russia are escalating this crisis to an increasingly dangerous level. The one-upmanship and nuclear and military rhetoric must cease immediately. The only gains in a military clash are for military contractors. 

“The risk of this conflict erupting into a disastrous large-scale war is too great to ignore in order to please arms makers and bellicose politicians,” said Madelyn Hoffman, 2020 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from New Jersey and a member of the Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX). “Specifically, in the matter of Ukraine, the U.S. should negotiate a reduction of military forces in the conflict zone. We call on the Biden administration to pursue a diplomatic solution. We urge the Biden administration to heed European Union allies France and Germany calling for diplomacy, to acknowledge that Ukraine leaders believe Russian invasion is not imminent, and to pursue possible grounds for talks on secondary issues. The United States must also respect Ukraine’s right to self-determination.”

The Green Party supports the recognition by the U.S. of the sovereignty of nations and their right to self-determination, and our obligation to take disputes with other nations to the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly for negotiation and resolution. The Green Party urges both the U.S. and Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“The U.S. should restore the security guarantees it gave to Russia in return for German unification 30 years ago and instead use this crisis as an opportunity for nuclear disarmament negotiations,” stated Howie Hawkins, Green Party 2020 presidential nominee. “U.S./Russia talks in this crisis should expand to include nuclear disarmament along the lines of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. (86 nations - all non-nuclear - have signed the treaty. The U.S. has not yet ratified it.)

MORE INFORMATION

Ukraine Crisis: US ‘Toolboxes” Are Empty, Ritter, Scott, Consortium News, January 23, 2022

Democrats Are Rushing Through a Massive Ukraine Defense Bill, Sirota, Sara. The Intercept, January 25, 2002

Ukraine receives second batch of U.S. weapons in Russian stand-off, Reuters, January 23, 2022

Ukraine crisis updates: what to know as tensions rise, Gera, Vanessa. Associated Press, January 27, 2022

How the US and NATO Could Settle Dispute Over Ukraine Without War, Gerson, Joseph.

Common Security Approaches to Resolve the Ukraine and European Crises, Gerson, Joseph. Abolition 2000, January 23, 2022

Scholz, Macron say diplomacy can fix Ukraine-Russia standoff, Deutsche Welle, January 25, 2022

Ukrainian leaders: Stay calm, Russian invasion not imminent, Karmanau, Yuras. Associated Press, January 24, 2022

Green Party Platform: Foreign Policy - Peace and Disarmament

1. D. 1.c. “The U.S. must recognize the sovereignty of nation-states and their right of self-determination.”

Foreign Policy, D. 1.a.  “…We demand that our government adhere to international law, including the Kellogg-Briand Pact, Nuremberg Charter and United Nations Charter, which prohibit any and all preemptive wars or first strikes with any and all weaponry, nuclear and non-nuclear.”

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