[E-rundbrief] E-Rundbrief 2156 - Ukrainian Pacifist’s Message to the World: U.S., NATO & Russia Share Responsibility to Avoid War
Matthias Reichl
info at begegnungszentrum.at
Mi Feb 16 21:37:34 CET 2022
E-Rundbrief Info 2156 - Democracy Now! (Radio, USA): Ukrainian
Pacifist’s Message to the World: U.S., NATO & Russia Share
Responsibility to Avoid War. Aktion Menschenkette in Berlin zwischen US
- und Russland Botschaften. 17.2.2022, 15:00
Bad Ischl, 16.2.2022
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at
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Democracy NOW (USA): Ukrainian Pacifist’s Message to the World: U.S.,
NATO & Russia Share Responsibility to Avoid War
<https://www.democracynow.org/2022/2/16/yurii_sheliazhenko_russian_invasion_ukraine>.
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/2/16/yurii_sheliazhenko_russian_invasion_ukraine
NATO officials have joined the U.S. and other Western nations in saying
they have yet to see evidence that Russia is pulling back some troops
near the shared border with Ukraine, as Russia claimed earlier this
week. We speak with Yurii Sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the
Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, who says, “Both great powers of the West
and the East share equal responsibility to avoid escalation of war in
Ukraine and beyond Ukraine.”
P.s. also I announced that our friends in Berlin are making a "Human
chain" between the embassies of the United States and Russia, it is the
best symbolic way to show that bonds of humanity between people should
prevail over fear, hatred and hysterical warmongering.
/Aktion „Menschenkette“ zwischen der US-Botschaft und Russischen
Botschaft in Berlin -- Donnerstag, 17.2.2022, 15.00 Uhr, Berlin,
Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz / Action "Human Chain" between the US
Embassy and the Russian Embassy in Berlin -- Thursday, February 17,
2022, 3 p.m., Berlin, Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz
https://www.kulturdesfriedens.de/2022/02/aktion-menschenkette-zwischen-der-us-botschaft-und-russischen-botschaft-in-berlin/
/
/---------------------------------/
//
Ukrainian Pacifist’s Message to the World: U.S., NATO & Russia Share
Responsibility to Avoid War
StoryFebruary 16, 2022Watch Full Show
<https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2022/2/16?autostart=true>
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/2/16/yurii_sheliazhenko_russian_invasion_ukraine
Topics
* Ukraine <https://www.democracynow.org/topics/ukraine>
* Russia <https://www.democracynow.org/topics/russia>
* Joe Biden <https://www.democracynow.org/topics/joe_biden>
* NATO <https://www.democracynow.org/topics/nato>
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Guests
*
Yurii Sheliazhenko
<https://www.democracynow.org/appearances/yurii_sheliazhenko>
executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, board member
of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, member of the
board of directors at World BEYOND War and a research associate at
KROK University in Kyiv, Ukraine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Links
* Yurii Sheliazhenko on Twitter <https://twitter.com/sheliazhenko>
NATO officials have joined the U.S. and other Western nations in saying
they have yet to see evidence that Russia is pulling back some troops
near the shared border with Ukraine, as Russia claimed earlier this
week. We speak with Yurii Sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the
Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, who says, “Both great powers of the West
and the East share equal responsibility to avoid escalation of war in
Ukraine and beyond Ukraine.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
*AMY GOODMAN:* This is /Democracy Now!/ I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
We end today’s show in Ukraine, where the nation’s president, Volodymy
Zelensky, has declared a national unity day. The United States is
warning allies Russia could invade Ukraine as soon as today, prompting
Ukraine’s president to declare Unity Day. On Tuesday, Russia announced
it was pulling some troops from the Ukraine border, but the United
States and NATO have voiced skepticism about the claims.
We go now to Kyiv, to the capital, where we’re joined by Yurii
Sheliazhenko, the executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement
and a board member of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection,
also member of the board of directors at World BEYOND War and a research
associate at KROK University in Kyiv.
We welcome you to /Democracy Now!/ Can you describe what this day is
like for you in Kyiv today, what Unity Day means? And what you are
calling on your country, Russia and the West to do?
*YURII SHELIAZHENKO:* Well, thank you for having me.
Today Ukraine celebrates Unity Day, which is not real national holiday,
but it is a patriotic rally ordered by President of Ukraine Volodymyr
Zelensky, who said, “We are being intimidated by the great war, and the
date of the military invasion has been set.” And this is his message
expressed by current command to officials and loyalists to wave national
flags and sing national anthem. Zelensky formulated the message as
following: quote, “We are confident in our armed forces, but our
military must also feel our support, our cohesion and our unity,” end of
quote. But I represent Ukrainian pacifist movement, and I don’t buy
this. We can’t put our trust into Ukrainian army, because there is no
military solution to current crisis.
Russia is amassing troops on their territory near Ukrainian border,
while NATO countries increase its military presence near and around
Ukraine. Both sides are saying it is just a drill. Russia denies any
intentions to invade but warns it will not allow attempts of Ukraine to
establish control over Crimea or Donbas by military force.
Western media predict imminent war, fail in predicting. My friend David
Swanson even put a counter on these lies about imminent Russian invasion
at the website WorldBeyondWar.org <https://worldbeyondwar.org/>. Western
governments call back their diplomats and citizens and even military
advisers to leave no fingerprints on the predicted massive bloodshed.
Russian media reports Putin have at the table a proposal to recognize
independence of Donetsk and Luhansk separatist republics, which would be
the end of Minsk agreements and will lead to escalation. And Russian
media blame Ukraine for noncompliance with Minsk agreements. They say
there are signs that Ukrainian Armed Forces, encouraged by military aid
and political support of United States and NATO, are preparing to regain
control over Donbas by force.
President Zelensky, elected in 2019 after promising peace, stated that
peace should be on our terms. He continue to refuse to enter meaningful
negotiations with pro-Russian separatists of Donbas. According to Minsk
agreements, it causes military escalation in Donbas. He shut up
pro-Russian media in Ukraine, like his predecessor Poroshenko blocked
Russian social networks and pushed official language law, forcibly
excluding Russian from public sphere. All these measures are killing any
possibility of public dialogue about peace and justice, replacing
democratic deliberation with blind trust to army, to delusions of
restoring national unity in divided society by a brutal military force.
Zelensky’s party, Servant of the People, committed to increase military
spending to 5% of GDP. In 2022 budget, they increased military spending
to 6% of GDP. They welcomed 10 NATO military drills in Ukraine this year
and welcomed buildup of United States and the United Kingdom military
bases in Ukraine. With the majority in parliament, presidential
political machine concentrates political power in Zelensky team’s hands
and multiplies militarist laws, such as draconian punishments for
evaders from conscription and creation of new national resistance force,
increasing personnel of Armed Forces in Ukraine by 111,000, creating
military units in local governments for mandatory military training of
millions of people, aimed to mobilize whole population in the case of
war with Russia.
According to annual report
<https://wri-irg.org/sites/default/files/public_files/2021-02/2021-02-15-ebco_annual_report_2020.pdf>,
“Conscientious Objection in Europe 2020,” those who refuse to kill have
a little chance to legal recognition and protection of their beliefs
during conscription in Ukraine and in Russia, too, not to say in
separatist people’s republics, as they also have mobilization.
Alternative nonmilitary service arrangements are hardly accessible,
discriminatory and punitive in nature. So, current military buildup and
Zelensky’s attempt to mobilize whole population of Ukraine to war with
Russia gravely undermines democracy and human rights in our country.
The escalation towards major war in Ukraine is unnecessary. Our
government became part of it when we recklessly took side of the West in
global power struggle. And instead, we should be neutral country. We
should commit to universal peace. People of Ukraine, as well as all
people in the world, want to live in peace and be happy. Both great
powers of the West and the East share equal responsibility to avoid
escalation of war in Ukraine and beyond Ukraine and give up nuclear
stockpiles threatening to kill all life on the planet because of these
absurd political quarrels. I believe all governments should join Treaty
on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. If global leaders fail to
negotiate sustainable peace in good faith, instead of blame game and
violent settlement of their power dispute on the local battlefield in
Ukraine, it will be a shame. But, unfortunately, Ukraine became a
battlefield of the new Cold War between the United States and Russia.
*JUAN GONZÁLEZ:* Well, Yurii, Yurii Sheliazhenko, I wanted to ask you,
in terms of the — you’re making the point that all the militaries of
these countries are seeking to justify their own existence. I’m
wondering your sense of how nationalism is playing into this drumbeat
for war, especially nationalism within the Ukraine or from right-wing
groups within Ukraine.
*YURII SHELIAZHENKO:* Well, it is part of the influence of — both great
powers created social networks of clientele, nationalist clientele of
Russia and nationalist clientele of the West. So, when Ukraine became
battlefield of the new Cold War between United States and Russia, these
two great powers are competing for control over Ukraine, using and
inflating in their global power struggle militant nationalism of
Ukrainian government and similar militant nationalism of pro-Russian
separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk. Peaceful life of Ukraine was
destroyed by these militant nationalisms and great power struggle.
Eight-year bloodshed took thousands of lives of civilians, turned
millions into refugees and internally displaced persons, devastated our
economy and debilitated our society.
That’s why we are grateful for all people supporting peace in Ukraine
and around the world. There are wonderful CodePink actions in United
States, and we do a report with Medea Benjamin, against the war in
Russia. And tomorrow our friends in Berlin, in Germany, with call for
deescalation of conflict between Russia, Ukraine, United States and NATO
countries. Our friends in Berlin are making human chain between the
embassies of United States and Russia. It is the best symbolic way to
show how bonds of humanity between people should prevail over fear,
hatred and hysterical warmongering. All conflicts —
*AMY GOODMAN:* Yurii, we want to thank you so much for being with us,
and we will be revisiting you soon. Yurii Sheliazhenko is the executive
secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, board member of the
European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and World BEYOND War.
By the way, all of our transcripts are online of every show, of every
segment, at democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. Stay
safe.
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative
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--
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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
Impressum in:http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
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