« War will never make peace: restoring peoples’ right to self-determination »

It is infinitely naive to believe that war leads to peace. Neither Putin, nor Trump, nor Zelensky, nor the European leaders have been able to bring the most important thing to the people: peace. Calculations based on military victory have collapsed, as have attempts at « bargaining » between leaders behind the backs of the people. Today, not only the left, but every democratic force must unite not around a program of militarization and violence, but under the banner of immediate peace.

We, Russian and Ukrainian peace activists, have been deprived of our homeland by this war. Hundreds of thousands of our compatriots have been killed, millions maimed, tens of millions reduced to despair and deprived of hope. Each day of this carnage multiplies the suffering and robs us and our countries of any future.

Our comrades are imprisoned, and any dissent is brutally suppressed. We know the price of war: it has deprived us of our voice and the right to decide our destiny. The only chance to end this nightmare is to restore this right, the right to self-determination, to our people.

Putin’s dictatorship, which started the war, relies on fear, violence, and inequality to turn tens of thousands of poor people into cannon fodder for its imperial ambitions. But this monstrous machine cannot be defeated by its own methods. In Ukraine, a veritable manhunt is being carried out against the poor: they are arrested, beaten, and forcibly sent into the trenches. In the name of « independence »? But Zelensky’s government is signing onerous deals with Trump that hand over all the nation’s wealth to a foreign power. In the name of « freedom »? But Ukraine holds hundreds of political prisoners. Communist ideas are forbidden, and any dissent can lead to repression or violence from the far right. In the name of « dignity »? But while the poor are dying at the front, officials and businessmen close to power are sinking deeper into corruption and luxury.

Putin’s dictatorship threatens all the peoples of Europe. But war is making Western countries resemble Putin’s Russia. European leaders are signing humiliating and unequal agreements with Trump, transforming their countries into proxies for Washington, just as Putin turned Russia into an instrument of Chinese policy.

Governments are openly preparing to sacrifice the social model on the altar of the war economy, just as the Kremlin dictator did. German and French politicians complain that Europe could become the victim of a deal between Trump and Putin, but they forget that they themselves were the architects of this catastrophe.

On the one hand, for decades they have considered the Russian regime a « socially close partner » in the neoliberal race for profit; on the other, they have enthusiastically fueled the mechanics of Atlantic domination. This unpopular policy of inequality and militarization is leading to a decline in democratic rights: governments and the media persecute dissidents and refuse to recognize election results. How does this differ from Putinism?

A striking example of this persecution is the irrelevant criticism that fell on Jean-Luc Mélenchon and LFI after his speech on August 22. Mr. Mélenchon formulated theses with which we fully adhere, and which we even consider obvious: the policy of France and Europe must aim at peace and not at military victory; lasting peace is impossible without deep democratization, without the direct participation of peoples in deciding their destiny; the will and self-determination of peoples take precedence over borders drawn by dictators or politicians; resisting dictatorship is unthinkable with dictatorial methods; Ukraine and Europe themselves need profound democratic transformations; instead of paying tribute to the American military-industrial complex and building a war economy, France needs social reforms and reducing inequality; security guarantees are needed for both Ukraine and Russia, and NATO has played a tragic role in Russia’s authoritarian transformation as well as in legitimizing Putin’s policies; a return to international law requires abandoning bloc logic and imperial pretensions to Western hegemony, etc. In response, even left-wing media accused Mélenchon of « campism » and « using Putinist narratives. »

It’s not just the shameful attribution of infamous labels to his opponents (a propaganda technique dear to Putin!). It’s also an obvious manipulation. Campism could rather be attributed to those who call for « war until final victory, » to those who demand the victory of « their » side over the opposing side. Campism denies the internal complexity of a society, its contradictions, and reduces everything to a struggle between states and coalitions of states. Mr. Mélenchon calls precisely for rejecting this framework, by giving people the possibility of acting, rather than corrupt and disconnected politicians speculating on « the interests of the people. »

Those who attack Mélenchon and LFI in such a dishonest manner are infinitely naive. They believe that the war can be won by injecting a few more hundred billion into the military industry. But this is only a way of legitimizing the same approach of the opposing camp. They believe that one can take refuge behind constitutional formulas and journalistic speculation, proclaiming the democratic integrity of the Ukrainian regime.

Their words will be powerless to stop the tens of thousands of Ukrainians deserting the front lines. Millions of Ukrainians do not want to fight and do not feel that their country belongs to them. If you want to strengthen their courage, help them regain their voice, their right to decide, and yes, give them social equality.

Anyone who wants Putin’s imperialist project to fall must consider how to rally hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers and millions of Russian workers behind the lines to their cause.

Because, ultimately, the Kremlin’s fate is in their hands. What you are offering them today is nothing but bombs and endless war. Jean-Luc Mélenchon was the first to invite them to a peaceful conversation on equal terms. And for the dictatorship in Moscow, this is more dangerous than NATO missiles and shells.

Liza Smirnova, Russian left-wing activist

Andrii Lebediev, Ukrainian left-wing activist

Viktor Sydorchenko, Ukrainian left-wing activist

Andrii Konovalov, Ukrainian left-wing activist

Aleksei Sakhnin, Russian left-wing activist

Alexander Voronkov, left-wing activist, member of the « Post-Soviet Left » movement