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THE INTERNATIONAL LEFT ISSUES A ‘PLEA FOR PEACE’  
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Pauline Jäckels
September 5, 2024
Transform!Europe
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_ We stand with the people of Ukraine and all victims of this war,
who deserve peace, reconstruction and freedom as soon as possible.
Nevertheless, one thing is clear: neither peace nor reconstruction and
freedom will be possible without negotiation. _

Red roses for peace: Leftists from over ten different countries have
come together to talk about peace prospects for Ukraine , (source:
nd/Pauline Jäckels).

 

This weekend in Berlin a group of left personalities published
a ‘Plea for Peace in Ukraine
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BELOW]. Among the signatories were politicians and activists from
different corners of the world who had come together for the
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung ‘Diplomacy Now!’
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Among them were Linke co-chair Janine Wissler, the ex-head of the
UK’s Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, the Italian left politician Luciana
Castellina, Mónica Valente of Brazil’s Workers’ Party, and Kazuo
Shii of the Communist Party of Japan. Their demand: Western
governments need to ‘invest in diplomacy, not in weapons’.

The left representatives from more than ten countries spent the
greater part of the conference days exchanging ideas about already
existing diplomacy initiatives from Brazil, India, China, and South
Africa. Ines Schwerdtner, the conference’s moderator, told _Neues
Deutschland_ that this was the first time a left exchange dedicated
to this topic has occurred.

In the morning session, the Ukrainian peace activist and conscientious
objector Yurii Sheliazhenko and the Russian politician Yevgeny Stupin
offered the participants some perspectives on a possible peace
resolution after the Russian war of aggression.

At the end of the conference, Heinz Bierbaum, the director of the
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, and Luciana Castellina read out the jointly
established peace appeal in German and English: ‘We stand by the
Ukrainian population and all victims of this war who deserve peace,
reconstruction, and freedom  as soon as possible.’ ‘However, it
is clear that without diplomatic negotiations nothing is achievable.
Therefore civil society and the international community must make all
efforts to pave the way for a ceasefire to be followed by negotiations
for a “lasting peace”.’

Instead of focusing on which ‘weapon should be sent to Ukraine
next’, participants said the left should develop strategies for how
European and western governments could contribute to making peace
negotiations possible. This requires ‘taking up the diplomatic
initiatives from China, Brazil, and African and other countries to
move the warring parties to end the war.’

Despite diverse positions within the left on the question of Ukraine,
the signatories believe that a common position is possible: ‘a
common appeal for negotiations and pressure on the western governments
to invest not in weapons but in diplomacy.’

Apparently, there were different views on the question of weapons
deliveries even among conference participants. In the English version
of the appeal, the wording is: ‘not only in weapons, but also in
diplomacy’ instead of ‘not in weapons but in diplomacy’.
However, according to Heinz Bierbaum, the German version without
‘only’ is the final version.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN GERMAN AT _«ND – AKTUELL»_.
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Diplomacy Now!
A Plea for Peace in Ukraine
_31st August 2024, Berlin
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation & International Peace Bureau_

We – political activists, intellectuals and citizens – who have
signed this plea for a coherent, universal and international
diplomatic initiative for peace in Europe and the world are convinced
of the following:

The bloodshed and destruction in Ukraine must end. We stand with the
people of Ukraine and all victims of this war, who deserve peace,
reconstruction and freedom as soon as possible. Nevertheless, one
thing is clear: neither peace nor reconstruction and freedom will be
possible without negotiations. Only 20 percent of all inter-state wars
end in clear victory or defeat, and even then, often only after many
years. Civil society and the international community must therefore
make every effort to pave the way for armistice, followed by talks for
a lasting peace.

Even if negotiations ended early on during the war and even if, ever
since, neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian government have shown
their willingness to negotiate beyond prisoner exchanges, the export
of agricultural produce and the like, an end to the violence and
negotiations for peace can also be brokered. It is not enough to wait
for the governments in Kyiv and Moscow to come to the table on their
own or for the fatigue of those caught in this bloody war of attrition
to force them to do so. We here in Germany, Europe, and the West are
tired of only discussing which “game-changing” weapons to deliver
next — we want to develop ways of how Western governments can help
to actually facilitate peace talks.

It is important to take up the diplomatic initiatives from China,
Brazil, the African and other countries in order to move the warring
parties towards an end to war. We must push Western governments, which
are currently more preoccupied with paving the way for a new bloc
confrontation with China and Russia instead of demonstrating genuine
solidarity with people in Ukraine.

As we all know, perspectives on the current war vary considerably
across the international left. Nevertheless, we believe that a common
position is possible: a united appeal for negotiations and pressure on
our governments to invest not in weapons but in diplomacy — because
what is at stake is peace, freedom, countless lives and also the
democratic prospects of Ukraine and Russia. We must take up the
question of how to ensure peace and security in Europe without further
rearmament and a new militarist Cold War mentality. In the interest of
addressing humanity’s great historic challenges – social justice,
climate change, and democratic participation – we must act today and
prevent a new bloc confrontation. Ending the war in Ukraine and
creating peace is the starting point for this.

_Pauline Jäckels studied political science, economics, and
international relations in Berlin and London. After working for a
Member of the German Bundestag, she joined «nd» in 2023, where she
has been responsible for parliamentary reporting since. In addition,
she volunteers for the magazine dis:orient._

_transform! europe is a network of 38 European organisations from 22
countries, active in the field of political education and critical
scientific analysis, and is the recognised political foundation
corresponding to the Party of the European Left (EL)._

_This cooperative project of independent non-profit organisations,
institutes, foundations, and individuals intends to use its work in
contributing to peaceful relations among peoples and a transformation
of the present world._

* Ukraine
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* peace movement
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* arms sales
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* diplomacy
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* left parties
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