Various communist parties across the world have criticized the US and NATO for flaring up tensions between Ukraine and Russia and called on the two countries to de-escalate tensions and resort to peaceful negotiations to end the conflict. On Thursday, February 3, Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), stated that the conflict in Donbass region should be resolved peacefully at the negotiating table. On Wednesday, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) Gennady Zyuganov said that Washington does not cease to claim that there is a threat of ‘imminent’ war between Russia and Ukraine. He said that the people of Russia and Ukraine will not surrender to the provocateurs who incite enmity and hatred.
The imperialist expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe with the open support of the European Union and the large-scale movement of troops and ammunition amid the pandemic has left the region in turmoil. Despite repeated calls by the Russian and Ukrainian leadership for restraint, the US, UK and other war hawks in NATO continue their strategy of military brinkmanship to provoke Russia in order to facilitate the agenda of expansionism in Eastern Europe.
Read: Stop the war posturing – Ukraine is a tinderbox
Symonenko told Golos.ua, “over the past seven years, why has the UN Security Council not invited the Ukrainian president at least once, so that they could report on what has been done on the peaceful settlement of the conflict? Why do American and British planes loaded with weapons fly to Kiev, do they want peace here?”
He added that it is necessary to extinguish the fire through peaceful means at the negotiating table and develop a common concept for preserving the integrity of Ukraine and the interests of the citizens of Donbass region.
Following the Euromaidan coup in Ukraine in 2014, the Russian-majority regions in the country had called for secession, with backing from Russia. The regional parliament of Crimea decided to join Russia, while Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbass region declared their independence from Ukraine and proclaimed the establishment of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. Ukraine’s attempt to militarily crack down on the uprising in Donbass was resisted by rebels with Russian aid, resulting in frequent confrontations and simmering tensions in the region which has led to the death of over 10,000 people.
On Friday, February 4, Egon Krenz, former Chairman of the erstwhile German Democratic Republic (GDR) State Council, wrote in the German communist newspaper Unsere Zeit (UZ) that “the Russian Federation is untruthfully accused of wanting to invade Ukraine. This despite the fact that the Russian president has repeatedly credibly asserted that Russia does not want war. Nevertheless, German politicians and their media are almost afflicted by Russophobia, which is increasingly fueling the fear of war among the population.”
In the backdrop of the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Georgios Marinos, MP from the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), stated that “Greece’s participation in the dangerous plans of the United States, NATO and the EU pushes our country, our people into the jaws of the wolf.”
“It is especially important to realize today, since we see that competition on the Ukrainian front between the Americans, NATO, the European Union, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, is escalating,” he added.
The Young Communist League (YCL) of Britain has also condemned the reckless and aggressive warmongering and provocation of Boris Johnson’s Tory government and NATO — at the command of their US puppet masters in the White House and the Pentagon — in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe in recent weeks.
The Communist Party of Canada and the Young Communist League of Canada organized demonstrations in the country to bring back all Canadian troops home from Eastern Europe. The protesters urged the Canadian government to not send arms to Ukraine and to move Canada out of NATO. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) and Young Communists have also condemned the Czech government’s plans to dispatch ammunition to Ukraine.
