The Socialist Party calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and suspension of foreign military involvement in the country. We further call for an immediate end to US, EU, and NATO provocations against Russia and an end to efforts for Ukraine to join NATO.

Statement by the SPUSA National Executive Committee

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), conceived as the collective military arm of western imperialism to counter the Soviet Union, has spent the last thirty years without its Warsaw Pact counterweight. In concert with the European Union (EU), it has increasingly encroached into Eastern Europe and brought several former Soviet republics and allies into its sphere of capitalist influence. With NATO membership larger than ever and continuing to expand, Ukraine has become its next frontier for western imperialism.

To secure control in Ukraine, NATO and the EU initially sought regime change by backing a coup against the Russian-allied Ukrainian government in 2014. With EU flags fluttering on the streets of Kyiv, protesters toppled the government and opened the door for the ascension of the far-right in Ukraine for the first time since the Nazis were driven out in World War II. First with a billionaire businessman as president and now with an actor-turned-politician, resumes we are no stranger to with Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan and the severe consequences of their presidencies, Ukraine has been made fertile ground for Nazism and western imperialism to grow.

The resulting situation created by the western-backed, Ukranian far-right gaining power, coupled with the independence of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea from Ukraine, led to a stalemate that recently broke wide open with the rapid armament of Ukraine by NATO countries and subsequent military response by Russia.

For years, the United States and its NATO allies have taken increasingly provocative steps to antagonize Russia and create new crises. Promises made about NATO not expanding into Eastern Europe have been repeatedly broken. Successive US presidents, Democrat and Republican alike, have chosen to apply military pressure rather than seek lasting peace. From Barack Obama authorizing a trillion dollar upgrade and modernization to the US nuclear arsenal to Donald Trump tearing up several key arms control treaties, the United States has never demonstrated a sincere desire to pursue peaceful coexistence with Russia. For President Biden to say now that Russia “chose this war” is a one-sided rewrite of the last thirty years of history between the United States and the Russian Federation.

In the face of this crisis, created by their own gluttony, politicians in the United States have predictably sided with capitalist interests over the interests of the international working class. Rather than reverse the deadly decisions that lead to this point, they are focused on saber-rattling and generating war profits for corporations like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. Congress has failed to produce any meaningful response and is more interested in President Biden seeking congressional approval for military action than actually opposing US military action. While Congress focuses on rearranging the deck chairs and President Biden brings us closer and closer to war, socialists in the United States must exercise our collective duty to unequivocally oppose further US military involvement in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Additionally, we oppose the tragic deaths of innocent civilians in Ukraine and call for an immediate ceasefire.

As this crisis continues to develop, we must remember that the cycle of bloodshed ultimately started with the United States and its NATO allies’ insatiable desire for control. As they seek to represent the interests of capitalism, we must stand up for the interests of the international working class in both Russia and Ukraine, as well in the United States where countless people will be sent to fight and die in the name of western imperialism if this conflict descends into a global war.

From the Socialist Party Statement of Principles:
People around the world have more in common with each other than with their rulers. We condemn war, preparation for war, and the militaristic culture because they play havoc with people's lives and divert resources from constructive social projects. Militarism also concentrates even greater power in the hands of the few, the powerful and the violent. Solidarity with the people of a nation and a belief that they should be free from the threat of imperialism does not require support for the government of that nation. We align with no nation, but only with working people throughout the world.

From the Socialist Party 2021-2023 Platform:

• We call for the closing of all U.S. military facilities at home and abroad that train foreign military and paramilitary personnel.

• We call for the abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and all other institutions of covert warfare.

• We stand for unconditional disarmament by the United States.

• We call for an international treaty outlawing all weapons of mass destruction, including all nuclear weapons and use of depleted uranium in conventional weapons.

• We call for an immediate 50% cut in the military budget, followed by additional cuts, with the aim of rapidly reducing the military budget to less than 10% of its current level, with the "peace dividend" directed to essential social services and to the cost of cleaning up contaminated military sites.

• We call for the disbanding of NATO and all other aggressive military alliances, and the closing of all overseas bases.

• We call for an end to U.S. arms sales throughout the world.

• We call for a constitutional amendment requiring a binding vote of the people on all issues of war or military intervention.

• We call for the end of manufacturing and the use of Unmanned Aerial Devices (drones) for the purpose of domestic and international spying and warfare.

• We call for repeal of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).