Urgent Letter on Ukraine to World Presidents

By the Undersigned Organizations, April 27, 2023

To the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin
To the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky
To the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres
To the President of the OSCE 2023, Bujar Osmani
To the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden
To the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping
To the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Ignàtio Lula da Silva
To the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa
To the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi
To the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
To the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola
To the President of France, Emmanuel Macron
To the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz
To the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Rishi Sunak
To the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni

Subject: Urgent Appeal with Requests

Honorable and distinguished Presidents,

We are women and men who belong to nonviolent, secular and religiously inspired pacifist associations in Italy and internationally (some awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) who are appalled by the escalation of the war in Ukraine, which is leading us towards a nuclear world conflict.

After more than a year, we find ourselves embroiled in a war that could culminate in the worst humanitarian and environmental catastrophe humanity has ever endured! With hundreds of millions dead and the destruction of our homes, our cities, with no future left for us and our children and grandchildren.

We are all shocked that there is so little talk of peace talks today, but a chimerical victory on the ground continues to be pursued, through the use of increasingly lethal weapons, until the supposed complete destruction of the enemy.

The UN was born out of the trauma of World War II to “liberate peoples from the scourge of war”, and it repudiates the use of military force to resolve international disputes; therefore, it is necessary to recover this principle, which sees negotiation as the only non-self- defeating solution for all actors engaged in armed contention. There is no shortage of resources and intelligence to come together and with scrupulousness reach, a compromise solution. Conversely, the longer the conflict goes on, the more crimes will be committed, as the distance between Ukraine and Russia, between the European Union and Russia, and between the United States and Russia will also increase. This polarization will create the conditions for more conflicts and planetary rifts, as always happens when instead of resorting to arbitration between two parties in conflict, one chooses to become an ally of one or the other. We cannot betray the spirit of the United Nations to this extent by giving in to the temptations of military alliances. We must have courage and set a virtuous example, to inspire other peoples and other states in conflict.

Mail to: comitatopaceenonpiuguerra@gmail.com

As Jane Addams wrote in “Peace and Bread in Time of War” (1922): “What after all, has maintained the human race on this old globe despite all the calamities of nature and all tragic failings of mankind, if not faith in new possibilities, and courage to advocate them?” – Where is now the courage and pride of women as mediators, recognized by UN Security Council Resolution 1325/2000?

Another principle to be taken as foundational is the pre-eminence of human rights, the right to Life of people, the right of Humanity and Nature to PEACE. Today there are no “just” wars, as Pope Francis reminds us.

We appeal to all of you who are directly or indirectly involved and who have the power and responsibility to bring an end to this terrible conflict, to challenge your consciences with this Urgent Appeal:

Considered that the majority of European and world citizens do not want war, as is demonstrated

• –  by the thousands of demonstrations organized in this year of conflict around the world;
• –  by the hundreds of thousands of European citizens who have signed petitions against the war, against the continued shipment of increasingly lethal weapons and in favour of the resumption of peace talks.
• –  by the countless appeals made by people from all over the world, from the aforementioned Pope Francis to distinguished personalities from politics, economics, diplomacy and the strategic and military sectors themselves; from artists to hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens: a human tide is calling for peace talks and an end to the war in Ukraine and beyond.Considered the following critical situations:

• –  Ukraine’s right to defend itself against Russian invasion and its desire to want to regain lost Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia,
• –  Russia’s claims to Ukrainian territory that is mainly inhabited by a Russian-speaking population that has been militarily attacked by the Ukrainian army for more than eight years,
• –  The violation of the Minsk agreements by both the Kiev and Russian governments,
• –  Russia’s fear for its national security due to NATO’s expansion toward its borders with installation of military bases often equipped with medium- to long-rangemissiles,
• –  The fear of the U.S. of losing control and global economic and commercial dominance, challenged by new global geopolitical balances and in particular by the progressive and continuous development of the BRICS, accelerated also by the trade rebalancing derived from the same sanctions on Russia
• –  The massive financial investments by Western bloc countries for military logistical support to Ukraine, normally followed by a willingness to exert influence over the aid recipient country.Considered the risks of the conflict widening every day and the ever narrower time window marked by the ‘Apocalypse Clock’ monitored by the scientists of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, also considering the other ongoing war scenarios and the continuous provocations on various fronts,

Mail to: comitatopaceenonpiuguerra@gmail.com

We ask you all

To respect the pre-eminence of the right to life of people and peoples and therefore to strive to the limit of your strength and possibilities to resume diplomatic initiatives aimed at the opening of a dialogue between ALL parties involved, so that negotiations can be initiated that can quickly lead to an armistice between Russia and Ukraine and subsequently to constructive international negotiations to achieve a lasting and shared Peace.

The NEGOTIATIONS, building on the Helsinki conference from which the OSCE was born, could start precisely from the proposals for peace put forward by China, balancing the demands of all countries involved directly and indirectly, and seeking new cooperation between peoples and countries, in order to halt the current escalation of war towards a third world war, which will inevitably be nuclear.

We end our appeal by quoting the last sentence of the Einstein-Russell Manifesto:

“In view of the fact that in any future world war nuclear weapons will certainly be employed, and that such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind, we urge the governments of the world to realise, and to acknowledge publicly, that their purpose cannot be furthered by a world war, and we urge them, consequently, to find peaceful means for the settlement of all matters of dispute between them”

With the hope that our demands may be heard, we send you our warmest regards

Comitato Pace e non più Guerra *
La Comunità per lo Sviluppo Umano**
Costruttori di Pace***
Europa per la Pace +
WILPF Italia++
Disarmisti Esigenti+++
Associazione Beni Comuni “Stefano Rodota’” °
Partito della Rifondazione Comunista -Sinistra europea°° Associazione FareRete InnovAzione BeneComune APS °°° GRIDAS – Gruppo risveglio dal sonno §
Rete Pangea – Scampia §
Arci Cuba Insieme §§
Energia per i Diritti Umani §§§
Argonauti per la Pace di Mondo senza Guerre e senza Violenza#

Mail to: comitatopaceenonpiuguerra@gmail.com

Associazione MELITEA ##
Comitato Contro La Guerra Milano
Comitato per la Liberazione di Julian Assange Italia
Associazione EQUA
Associazione Vita Nova di Finale Ligure ###
Comunità Monsignor Romero Milano “
UN PONTE PER “”
Ricostruire Pace, Artisti, Donne e Uomini di Pace di Piazza della Scala Milano””” Respirando Poesia $
Un’ Altra Storia -$$
Assolei APS – $$$
AWMR Associazione Donne della Regione Mediterranea ^
CULTURA È LIBERTÀ. Una campagna per la Palestina ODV ^^ MSGV-Biodiversità Nonviolenta
Rete Toscana in Movimento ^^^

*Cristina Rinaldi – **Federica Fratini – *** Claudio Mazzoccoli – +Gerardo Femina – ++Patrizia Sterpetti – +++Alfonso Navarra – ° Antonella Trocino – °°Maurizio Acerbo – °°°Rosapia Farese -§Martina Pignataro – §§Moreno Bacchieri – §§§ Marco Inglessis – -# Andrea Bulgarini – ##Edgardo lozia – ### Rosanna Rossi – “Carlos Cardona – “”Angelica Romano – “””Angelo Gaccione – $Patrizia Varnier – $$Pina Ancona- $$$ Dalila Novelli – ^Ada Donno – ^^Alessandra Mecozzi – ^^^Marcello Pianigiani

Mail to: comitatopaceenonpiuguerra@gmail.com

Sign avaaz petition here.