A call initiated by the International Workers’ League – Fourth International (IWL-FI, or LIT-CI) and International Workers’ Unity-Fourth International (IWU-FI, or UIT-CI) and signed by the Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment, of which the Freedom Socialist Party is a member.
We call on a big international campaign of support and solidarity with the Ukrainian resistance, for the defeat of the invasion of the Russian army! No to NATO!
The government of Vladimir Putin unleashed an invasion of the Russian army into Ukraine. With methods of extreme cruelty, it attacks and destroys cities, including “targets” such as hospitals and women’s hospitals, with the ultimate goal of seizing Kyiv (the Ukrainian capital) and thus dominating the whole country. Despite Russia’s immense military superiority, the invaders face greater resistance than expected from the Ukrainian people, often heroic ones.
Regardless of different considerations we may have about the global context in which this war is taking place, the undersigned organisations fully agree in defining its origin as the aggression of a much stronger nation (Russia, one of the world’s major military powers) against a weaker one, with the aim of subjugating it. This takes place in a framework in which, except for a short period at the beginning of the Soviet Union (when Lenin’s policy, now heavily criticised by Putin, was applied), both Stalinism and the Russian capitalist government always considered Ukraine as “their backyard.”
Therefore, we support the resistance of the Ukrainian workers and people against the invasion and we are for the defeat of the Russian troops in this war, without this representing any support or political trust in the Zelensky government or in the Ukrainian bourgeoisie who call to resist the invasion.
We expose the role of NATO as the military arm of imperialism and fight for its dissolution. But this is not a military invasion of NATO against the Russian territory, nor against the Ukrainian people. At the same time, there are no NATO soldiers fighting Russian troops in Ukraine (or, as far as we know, anywhere else). It is the Russian army that is attacking Ukraine today. On the other hand, we reject all imperialist interference in Ukraine, be it Russian, North American, European or NATO. We demand the dismantling of all Russian and NATO nuclear weapons.
Our proposals
On the basis of these agreements, we propose to develop and promote common activities with the aim summed up in the title of this statement. There are, of course, several possible levels.
Firstly, to disseminate this statement among the activists and the workers, to hold talks and debates to help clarify the confusion that exists about the character of the war.
Secondly, to push for public mobilisations to demand: Putin’s troops out of Ukraine, support for the Ukrainian resistance, No to NATO; as has been happening in Europe and elsewhere. In this context, it is possible and necessary to set up solidarity committees to turn it into reality. We also support the local mobilisations against the invasion which are fighting back against Putin’s government and have been harshly suppressed.
Thirdly, to promote, with trade unions, student and community organisations, the collection of all kinds of aid for the Ukrainian people, which can be delivered through convoys of workers’ and people’s aid.
Finally, but as one of the most important issues, we promote and support the actions that the working class decides to take through their organisations. For example, workers at the Ellesmere refinery port in Cheshire, England, refused to unload oil from Russia, replicating what workers at the gas terminal in Kent and at ports in the Netherlands had done. According to the report, “a wave of such protests is spreading through European ports in response to the invasion of Ukraine.”
In the face of the war in Ukraine and the common position we have set out, these are the tasks we propose to the workers and masses of the world.
Putin’s and Russia’s troops out of Ukraine!
Support the mass resistance of the Ukrainian people!
No to NATO!
For the breaking of diplomatic relations with Russia by all governments!
Liga Internacional de los Trabajadores – Cuarta Internacional (LIT-CI)
Unidad Internacional de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores – Cuarta Internacional (UIT-CI)
Corriente Comunista Revolucionaria Internacional (CCRI)
Comité por el Reagrupamiento Internacional Revolucionario/Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR)
Partido de la Izquierda Democrática Siria
Opinión Socialista de Argentina
Corriente de los Trabajadores Revolucionarios Argentina
Movimiento Alternativa Socialista de Portugal
P.S. We invite the organisations that agree with this statement and campaign to join us.
