"All wars end one day, and negotiations to end them are welcome. But a just and lasting peace will not be established without conditions, it can only be envisaged on the basis of respect for certain elementary principles.β Open letter signed by numerous French political figures, associations and trade unions, intellectuals, artists and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora, including a good number of members and friends of RESU in France.
An unprecedented humanitarian crisis is threatening the population of Ukraine this winter. The conflict situation that has prevailed in eastern Ukraine since 2014 became an all-out, "high intensity" war, when Putin's troops invaded Ukrainian territory on 24 February 2022.
The explicit aim of this 'special operation' was to overthrow the Ukrainian government and destroy the Republic of Ukraine as an independent entity. The failure of this first objective led the government of the Russian Federation to modify its objectives and to prolong a brutal war of conquest with the proclamation of the annexation of a large part of Ukrainian territory.
The victims are counted in the tens of thousands, the displaced in millions, the damage in tens of billions of euros. The invading forces are committing war crimes, and systematically committing crimes against humanity - such as the destruction of vital infrastructure, forced displacement and deportation of people - including children. Not to mention the mass rapes.
In Russia, people are willingly recruited or forcibly conscripted to fight a war, which hundreds of thousands of people in various ways rightly want to avoid or courageously oppose head-on.
Every war ends one day, and any negotiation that brings it to an end is welcome. But a just and lasting peace will not be established without conditions; it can only be envisaged on the basis of respect for certain elementary principles:
The withdrawal of all invading troops from all the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders; The return of all refugees and displaced persons in conditions of guaranteed safety; Respect for international law, both in terms of the laws of war (release of prisoners of war) and humanitarian law and the principles of the UN Charter and other international documents (including the European Convention on Human Rights and the founding principles of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe).
Other issues, such as reparations for war damage, possible criminal prosecutions before competent national and international courts, and guarantees of safety, freedom of expression of the population and the exercise of their individual and collective rights, can be clarified once the above principles have been affirmed and put into practice as soon as possible.
Support for these objectives from opinions around the world will be an essential element for a just and lasting peace for the peoples of Ukraine and Russia.
The list of signatures and link to add your name is at: https://blogs.mediapart.fr/les-invites-de-mediapart/blog/091222/une-paix-juste-et-durable-pour-l-ukraine