Ending Wars

Mar 06, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor

“You can always rely on the Americans to do the right thing, after they tried everything else.” Those words are attributed to the (in)famous former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. Churchill was known for his quick wit.
However, recent events seem to be proving that to be true. On Friday 28, February 2025 in the White House President Donald Trump got angry because the Ukrainian President Zelinsky seemed very reluctant to make a deal for peace. He charged Zelinsky of gambling with millions of lives and with a Third World War.

President Trump is right. The Russian Special military operation in Ukraine has already cost the lives of more than a million persons, mainly Ukrainian soldiers.

Since the sharp exchange in the White House, the mainstream media in the US and Western Europe have been working overtime to criticise President Trump. They have sided with some European leaders and Zelinsky to continue the war against Russia to the last Ukrainian. They seem oblivious to the tremendous sufferings of ordinary people.

One of the propaganda lines they are using to justify their support for continuing the war goes like this. “If Russia wins President Putin will attack and conquer the rest of Europe.” Those who do not know the recent history of this conflict, and, there are many whose minds have been poisoned by the mainstream media, would easily fall for this propaganda.
The fact is President Putin did almost everything to avoid this situation.

This war did not begin in February 2022 as it appears. It actually started since 2014 when the democratically elected government Victor Yanukovych was overthrown in a coup. This was the day after the parties in Ukraine and the International Community had agreed that an early election would have been called.

The coup was instigated and financed by the United States. The reason for the US involvement was, firstly to get their hands on the rich resources in Ukraine (already the multi-national giant Black Rock was given huge tracks of Ukrainian lands.) The other reason was to get Ukraine into the Western Military alliance, NATO and to place nuclear weapons on its border with Russia. That was a huge security threat to Russia and violated the established principles of the UN that no country should increase their own security at the expense of another.

These measures of the US/NATO came just after the US had walked away from all the negotiated arms control measures that were made between the US and the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.

We can also recall the U.S. reaction to a similar event when the Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba to protect the island from constant US intervention. President Kennedy was ready to go to war. Indeed, the world was on the brink.
The new pro-US government that was installed in Kyiv, headed by Petro Poroshenko immediately began to take many hostile actions against opposition to him. That opposition came from Eastern Ukraine where the population was mainly Russians.

The hostility increased when those areas refused to accept the coup and held referenda which voted overwhelmingly to establish independent states.

The Poroshenko regime then began a military operation against the break away states. The civilian population was subjected to daily shelling and bombing by the newly minted Kyiv regime.
Poroshenko’s attack was not confined to the military field but extended to the cultural life of the people. This included banning the Russian language, burning books printed in Russian among other things.

The breakaway states appealed to Russia to recognise them and/or take them as part of Russia.

Russia only acceded to the demand of the population in the Crimea. They did this after the population voted overwhelmingly to link up with Russia in a free and fair referendum. Moreover, the local Parliament met and also voted to join Russia. Russia embraced them because its navy’s headquarters was in the Crimea.

It did not recognise the other states of Donetsk and Ludanks. Instead, it worked with the international community to allow greater autonomy for the areas where the population was Russian. Moreover, the ban on the Russian language was to be removed. (Does this sound as if President Putin wanted to expand and take over Europe?)
Two such agreements were signed in Minks, the capital of Belarus, known as Minks 1 and 2. Those agreements were guaranteed by France and Germany.

Unfortunately, France and Germany played a treacherous role. Later they themselves admitted that they signed that agreement to have more time to pour in more weapons into Ukraine to fight Russia. Clearly therefore, they were preparing Ukraine to attack Russia to get her into a war so that they would try through military support and economic sanctions to weaken and destroy Russia.

We have heard many US and other Western leaders saying this was a good war because their soldiers were not dying, it was Ukrainian soldiers for Western powers’ benefit. The old divide and rule tactics, was clear in evidence
President Donald Trump has recognised that the war of attrition was really costing too many lives and had expressed his intentions to put a stop to it.

Instead of being praised and congratulated he has become the target for great attacks from the alliance of the deep state and the military industrial complex.

On the issue of the need for peace he is right! He stands on the side of justice and is on the moral High ground. His stance is exposing the European Union, Turkey, Canada for what they are, warmongers who care little for human lives and more on the side of profits and power.

Churchill comments were spot on. Let me hope that the US will adopt the right position in the middle east and stop the Israeli land grab and genocide. We hope that this will come sooner, rather than later. In the meantime, let’s continue to demand and work for Peace and Justice for all!
Regards

Donald Ramotar
Former President

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