NATO

Russia temporarily suspends its participation in New START treaty

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From Strategic Stability

Report # 207. Presidential Address to Federal Assembly on February, 21

February 22, 2023

1. Moscow has suspended its participation in the New START

“Colleagues, I will talk about one more issue.

In early February [2023], the North Atlantic alliance made a statement with actual demand to Russia, as they put it, to return to the implementation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, including admission of inspections to our nuclear defence facilities. I don’t even know what to call this. It is a kind of a theatre of the absurd.

We know that the West is directly involved in the Kiev regime’s attempts to strike at our strategic aviation bases. The drones used for this purpose were equipped and updated with the assistance of NATO specialists. And now they also want to inspect our defence facilities? In the current conditions of confrontation, it simply sounds insane.

I would like to draw your attention specifically to the fact that they are not letting us conduct full-scale inspections under this treaty. Our repeated applications to inspect different facilities remain unanswered or are rejected under formal pretexts, and we cannot verify anything on the other side.

I would like to stress that the United States and NATO are openly saying that their goal is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. And what, after such statements they are supposed to tour our defence facilities, including the latest ones, as if nothing happened? A week ago, I signed an executive order putting new land-based strategic systems on combat duty. Are they going to poke their nose there as well? Do they think we will let them go there just because?

Having made this collective statement, NATO actually claimed to be a participant in the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms. We agree with this, please go ahead. Moreover, we believe this framing of the issue is long overdue. Let me recall that the US is not the only nuclear power in NATO. Britain and France also have nuclear arsenals. They are developing and upgrading them and these arsenals are also directed against us – they are also directed against Russia. The latest statements by their leaders merely confirm it – listen for yourselves.

We cannot just ignore this and have no right to do so especially now. Nor can we forget that the Soviet Union and the United States initially signed the first Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms in 1991 in a completely different situation – in conditions of abating tensions and growing mutual trust. Subsequently, our relations reached a level that allowed Russia and the US to say they no longer considered each other enemies. Wonderful, everything was going very well.

The Treaty of 2010 that is in force contains critically important provisions about indivisible security and the direct link between strategic offensive and defensive arms. All of that has long been forgotten. The United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty. It is now a thing of the past. Importantly, our relations have degraded which can be credited entirely to the United States.

After the Soviet Union broke up, they began to revise the outcomes of World War II and to build an American-style world ruled by one master. To do this, they began to rudely destroy the foundations of the international order laid down after WWII in order to cross out the legacy of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Step by step, they proceeded to revise the existing international order, to dismantle security and arms control systems, and plotted and carried out a series of wars around the world.

To reiterate, all of that was done for the sole purpose of dismantling the post-WWII architecture of international relations. This is not a figure of speech. This is how it all unfolded in reality. After the Soviet Union collapsed, they sought to perpetuate their global dominance regardless of the interests of modern Russia or other countries for that matter.

Sure enough, the international situation changed after 1945. New centres of growth and influence have been formed and are rapidly expanding. This is a natural and objective process that cannot be ignored. But the United States trying to refashion the international order to suit exclusively its own needs and selfish interests is unacceptable.

Now, they are using NATO to give us signals, which, in fact, is an ultimatum whereby Russia should, no questions asked, implement everything that it agreed to, including the New START Treaty, whereas they will do as they please. As if there is no connection between strategic offensive weapons and, say, the conflict in Ukraine or other hostile Western actions against our country. As if there are no vociferous claims about them seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on us. This is either the height of hypocrisy and cynicism, or the height of stupidity, but they are not idiots. They are not stupid after all. They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and also to get to our nuclear sites.

In this regard, I am compelled to announce today that Russia is suspending its membership in the New START Treaty. To reiterate, we are not withdrawing from the Treaty, but rather suspending our participation. Before we come back to discussing this issue, we must have a clear idea of what NATO countries such as France or Great Britain have at stake, and how we will account for their strategic arsenals, that is, the Alliance’s combined offensive capabilities.

Their statement comes, in fact, as a request to join this process. Well, come onboard, we do not mind. Just try not to lie to everyone this time and present yourselves as champions of peace and detente. We know the truth. We are aware of the fact that certain types of US nuclear weapons are reaching the end of their service life. In this regard, we know for certain that some politicians in Washington are already pondering live nuclear tests, especially since the United States is developing innovative nuclear weapons. There is information to that effect.

Given these circumstances, the Defence Ministry and Rosatom must make everything ready for Russia to conduct nuclear tests. We will not be the first to proceed with these tests, but if the United States goes ahead with them, we will as well. No one should harbour dangerous illusions that global strategic parity can be disrupted”.

Conclusion

“Today, we are together living through challenging times and overcoming all difficulties together as well. It could not have been otherwise because we have been raised on the example of our great ancestors and must be worthy of their behests that are passed down from generation to generation. We are moving only forward owing to our devotion to our Motherland, our will and our unity.

This cohesion was on display from the first days of the special military operation – hundreds of volunteers, representatives of all ethnicities of our country came to recruitment offices. They decided to stand by the defenders of Donbass, to fight for their native land, for their Fatherland, for the truth and justice. Today, warriors from all regions of our multi-ethnic Motherland are fighting shoulder to shoulder on the frontlines. They pray in different languages, but they all pray for victory, for their fellow soldiers and for the Motherland. (Applause.)

Their difficult military labour, their exploits are finding a powerful response all over Russia. People are supporting our fighters. They don’t want to stay on the sidelines. The front is now passing through the hearts of our people in their millions. They are sending medicine, communication devices, transport, warm clothes and camouflage nets, to name a few – everything that helps protect the lives of our fighters.

I know the comfort letters from children and schoolkids give to our soldiers at the front. They take them into battle as a cherished possession because the sincerity and purity of children’s wishes bring tears to their eyes. They feel more forcefully for whose sake they are fighting and whom they are defending.

Warriors, their families and civilians greatly appreciate the care with which volunteers are surrounding them. They have been acting boldly and decisively from the very start of the special military operation. Under fire and shelling they are leading children, elders and all those in trouble out of basements; they were and still are bringing food, water and clothes to hot spots; they are setting up humanitarian aid centres for refugees and helping doctors in field hospitals and on the combat contact line; they continue to risk their lives to save others.

The Russian Popular Front alone raised over five billion rubles as part of the All for Victory initiative. The flow of donations does not stop. Every contribution is important and this applies to those made by large companies and businesspeople. But especially touching and inspiring are the donations of people with modest incomes, which are contributing part of their savings, salaries and pensions. This coming together to help our warriors, civilians in the zone of hostilities and refugees is worth a lot.

Thank you for this sincere support, cohesion and mutual aid. It is impossible to overstate their importance.

Russia will meet any challenges because we are all one country, a big and united nation. We are confident in ourselves and confident in our strength. The truth is on our side. (Applause.)”

[Note: these are selective parts of the Address that has lasted for nearly two hours; the full text in English can be found at: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70565%5D

2. Lawmakers approved Putin’s SOA treaty decision

Russia’s Parliament has passed legislation suspending Moscow’s participation in the New START agreement

Both houses of the Federal Assembly – the Russian Parliament – approved a bill on February 22 submitted by President Vladimir Putin, by which Moscow will temporarily suspend its participation in the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (New START) – the last existing nuclear accord between Russia and the US.

In an explanatory note attached to the bill, the lawmakers state that the agreement, which was meant to cut in half the number of nuclear weapons deployed around the world, was supposed to allow both parties to carry out inspections in order to ensure compliance. The US, however, “deliberately fails to fulfill its obligations under the treaty in this area of activity,” the note states.

Because of this, and in accordance with federal law, the Russian president has made a proposal to suspend the agreement, the note reads, adding that the decision to resume Russia’s participation in the treaty will also be made by the president.

The bill will enter into force once signed by the president and published.

Why does the collective West wage a direct war against Russia?

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From Strategis Stability
January 31, 2023

Report # 197.

1. NATO and non-NATO countries are waging a multifaceted direct war against Russia

The bellicose and provocative statement made publicly by Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister, at the PACE session on January 24 that “… we are fighting a war against Russia …”, where “we” can be interpreted as the FRG or NATO or Europe, evoked many debates as to what is really happening in Ukraine. No doubt that such countries that regularly supply heavy weapons to ultra-Nazi regime in Kiev may well be characterized as “aggressors” or as countries that are waging a multifaceted direct war against Russia. They include the majority of NATO member-states (29 from 30 in the full list), and nearly 20 that are not considered as NATO participants.

Earlier it was called as ‘undeclared war” against Russia. Since Baerbock’s statement it clearly became as “a declared war’ against Russia.

Why such war is called as a multifaceted direct war?

A) In terms of military-technical and military-political factors:

It is called as such because it is unleashed with the use of heavy NATO-made offensive weapons. It is coordinated by NATO HQ. It is supplied with NATO intelligence, including that of collected by space-based assets. It is financed by NATO money. It is staffed with NATO military men. E.g. all US-made MLRS HIMERS are operated by exclusively the US GIs. The German and the US tanks that are be sent to Ukraine in violation of the OSCE rules will be operated by the FRG and the US servicemen.

B) In terms of other factors, it is called as a multifaceted direct war because it is a religious war against Russia conducted by Ukraine against Orthodox Christianity.

It is also an information war against Russia because it is waged by a huge NATO and the EU propaganda machine using distortions and lies across the globe.

It is a genocide war against Eastern Slav nations – Ukrainians and Russians. Ukrainian and NATO leaders intend to kill more and more Ukrainians and Russians only because they speak Russian language, profess Orthodox Christianity, have their own ethnic culture and traditions, different assessment of historic events in the past, and bravely fought [against] Nazi Germany in 1941-1945.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, noted “the direct participation of the USA in combat operations in Ukraine.” He argued that the US military instructors and mercenaries are there in order to save the Kiev regime and for fear of losing its colony in Europe.

2. What are the phases of the NATO/non-NATO aggression against Russia?

The first stage began since April 2014 when Kiev decided to attack Donbass, the second took place after the second part of the Minsk Agreement was reached in March 2015, and the third stage started on February 14, 2022.

A proxy war involving Ukraine started since April 2014.

A combined direct Ukrainian-NATO aggression (or war) against Russia began on February 14, 2022, when Zelensky ordered to attack Donbass on a massive scale. On February 18, 2022, millions of Ukrainian refugees rushed into Western Europe and Russia seeking shelter and escaping from Ukrainian attacks.

Russia launched the Special Military Operation (SMO) in response to Ukrainian aggression on February 24, 2022.

3. Can Russian again win Western aggression against it?

Yes, it can, and it will. Offsetting Ukrainian-NATO aggression against Russia became the nation’s major goal. The country is united. All confessions are fighting together against attackers. All political Parties sitting in the Parliament and the rank-and-file citizens are supporting Russian Armed Forces. Mobilization targets were fully reached. Russian defense-industrial complex operates in three shifts during 24 hours.

If one counts a large-scale foreign multilateral armed aggressions against the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation since the Napoleonic War in 1812, any person will find out that since that time the country won all five major wars: the Napoleonic War (1812), the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Allied 14 States War (1918), and Nazi War (1941-1945).

The current Ukrainian- NATO war against Russia began initially against Donbass in April 2014 when Ukrainian neo-Nazi and Banderists started attacking two Republics in that region – the DPR and LPR wishing to separate from newly-entrenched ultra-nationalist regime in Kiev due to direct moral, financial and military support of the USA that spent by February 2014 ten billion dollars to engineer a military coup in the capital Kiev, including $ 5.0 billion spent by the US State Department, and the rest – by the CIA – mainly by bribing Ukrainian opposition leaders and by using widely and effectively the local NGOs created with the purpose of making a radical regime change in Ukraine.

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3 February. Montenegro: NATO troops arrived last night on the mountains we’re trying to protect from them — Save Sinjajevina

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By World BEYOND War,
February 3, 2023

The people of Montenegro, led by the Save Sinjajevina campaign, have done everything people can do to prevent atrocities in so-called democracies. They’ve won over public opinion. They’ve elected officials promising to protect their mountains. They’ve lobbied, organized public protests, and made themselves into human shields. They show no signs of planning to give up, much less to believe the UK’s official position that this mountain destruction is environmentalism, while NATO has been threatening to use Sinjajevina for war training in May 2023!

Last night, 250 NATO soldiers arrived in Sinjajevina. They claim that they will do no artillery shooting, just alpinistic exercises.

The Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazovic had promised on television two weeks ago that there would not be any military activities in Sinjajevina. He’s broken another promise.

Six members of Save Sinjajevina are now in place where they had a large resistance camp in 2020. Despite temperatures of -10ºC they are organizing a nonviolent resistance effort yet again.

The place where the people are gathering is called Margita. They have celebrated the anniversary of their resistance at that spot. They have engraved on a rock there with golden letters a phrase of legend dedicating it to resistance.

For background information, a petition to sign, a form to donate, and more photos and videos, go to https://worldbeyondwar.org/sinjajevina

Photos of the NATO troops are on this page:
https://www.facebook(dot)com/savesinjajevina?fref=nf

Okinawa faces a crisis. Citizens appeal for your support 26 February.

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Posted on Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space

February 11, 2023

To: All you folks who think peace is the better option
From: No More Battle of Okinawa: Nuchi du Takara (Life is a Treasure) People’s Association
Co-representatives: Hiroji Yamashiro; C. Douglas Lummis (and others).
Contact address: Ideaspeddler(at)gmail.com

As you may know, The US and Japanese governments have announced that, in the event of a “Taiwan contingency”, the “Southwest Islands” will become a war zone. “Contingency” is a softer way of saying “war”, and “Southwest Islands” means the Ryukyu Archipelago: Okinawa.

The two governments are not simply predicting that will happen. They are arranging so that it will happen. That is, all along the outer islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago they are building new missile launching sites, targeting China – this in addition to the formidable attack bases already on Okinawa main island. Should any of these missiles actually be fired on the Chinese mainland or against Chinese naval vessels, the Chinese military will have the right, under the international law of war, to return the fire. The Mayor of Naha [Okinawa] has already begun carrying out civil defense drills.

This is not an issue only for in-principle pacifists, who believe all war should be abolished. To fight a war in a neutral country is a violation of the law of war itself. Okinawa is not merely neutral, it is not a party to this war in any way, shape or form. Okinawa has no quarrel with China. Many see this as a replay of the Battle of Okinawa, and are asking, Are we to be the sacrificial pawns (sute-ishi in Japanese) – again?

There is a new movement forming now in Okinawa to point out the grotesque absurdity of fighting this war in Okinawa and to call for a negotiated peace. Please understand: This is a movement that can include people who accept the necessity of some wars, but not this one. (Even dedicated soldiers can, with perfect consistency, call for a negotiated peace.)

A large gathering to voice opposition to Okinawa becoming again a war zone and to demand negotiations is being planned for 26 February, Okinawa time. It would be very encouraging if you could support this action, either as an organization or as individuals – and this either by taking some simple action on the same day, or by sending messages of support.

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Statement from Global Network:

The Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space shares the deep concerns of the people of Okinawa about the possibility of US-NATO war against China that would directly impact your island home.

Recent belligerent words by Pentagon officials signal that Washington is indeed planning such a horrific war.

Already the US-NATO has launched a war against Russia using Ukraine as a proxy.

The US intends to do the same to China using Taiwan as the instrument to justify this war.

It is more than insane for Washington to think it can fight against two nuclear powers at virtually the same time. This is a clear sign of US desperation to remain as ‘king of the hill’.

We declare our solidarity with the people throughout the Ryukyu Archipelago and beyond.

Close US bases on Okinawa!
No war with China!

Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2023/02/okinawa-faces-crisis-this-is-appeal-for.html

SCOTT RITTER: Nuclear High Noon in Europe

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The risk isn’t that Russia would start a pre-emptive nuclear war over Ukraine.

The risk is that America would.

From Consortium News
October 19, 2022

By Scott Ritter
Special to Consortium News

Now is the time for Biden to clarify U.S. nuclear doctrine. But he remains silent.

On Monday, Oct. 17, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization kicked off Operation STEADFAST NOON, its annual exercise of its ability to wage nuclear conflict. Given that NATO’s nuclear umbrella extends exclusively over Europe, the indisputable fact is that STEADFAST NOON is nothing more than NATO training to wage nuclear war against Russia.

Nuclear war against Russia.

The reader should let that sink in for a moment.

Don’t worry, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungscu reassured the rest of the world, the purpose of STEADFAST NOON is to ensure that NATO’s nuclear war-fighting capability “remains safe and effective.” It is a “routine” exercise, not linked to any current world events. Moreover, no “real” nuclear weapons will be used — just “fake” ones.

Nothing to worry about here.

Enter Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, stage right in the nuclear theater. In a statement to the press on Oct. 11, Stoltenberg declared that, “Russia’s victory in the war against Ukraine will be a defeat of NATO,” before ominously announcing, “This cannot be allowed.”

To that end, Stoltenberg stated, the STEADFAST NOON nuclear drills would continue as scheduled. These drills, Stoltenberg said, were an important deterrence mechanism in the face of Russian “veiled: nuclear threats.”

But they weren’t related to any current world events.

Enter Volodymyr Zelensky, stage left. Speaking to the Lowy Institute, a nonpartisan international policy think tank in Australia, the Ukrainian president called for the international community to undertake “preventative strikes, preventive action” against Russia to deter the potential use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Ukraine.

While many observers interpreted Zelensky’s words to imply a request for NATO to carry out a preemptive nuclear strike against Russia, Zelensky’s aides were quick to try and correct the record, saying he was simply asking for more sanctions.

Enter Joe Biden, center stage. Speaking at a fund raiser on Oct. 6, the president of the United States said that, “For the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use of a nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going.”

Biden went on: “We’ve got a guy I know fairly well. He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming.”

Biden concluded: “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.”

While it has been made abundantly clear by the White House that Biden’s comments were his personal view, and not based on any new intelligence regarding Russian nuclear posture, the fact that a sitting U.S. president was speaking about the possibility of a nuclear “Armageddon” should send chills down the spine of every sane individual in the world.

No Kremlin Talk of Tactical Nuclear Weapons

First and foremost, there has been zero talk about the employment of tactical nuclear weapons from the Kremlin.

Zero.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Russia would use “all the means at its disposal” to protect Russia. He said this most recently on Sept. 21, when in a televised address announcing partial mobilization, he accused the West of engaging in “nuclear blackmail,” citing “statements of some high-ranking representatives of the leading NATO states about the possibility of using nuclear weapons of mass destruction against Russia.”

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Webinar: Ukraine — The Developing Situation, with Scott Ritter and Joe Lombardo (VIDEO)

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From United National AntiWar Coalition

The Developing Situation in Ukraine
A webinar with Scott Ritter and Joe Lombardo.
Also speaking is Wyatt Miller.

Held September 30, 2022

In recent weeks, there have been important developments in Ukraine. In four territories in the Eastern and Southern part of the country there have been referenda for the people to choose if they want to become part of Russia, there has been a partial mobilization of reserve forces in Russia, a Ukrainian offensive in Kherson and economic fallout from the US/EU imposed sanctions that seem to be sinking the economies, especially of NATO countries. In the webinar, you will hear an analysis of developing events, what we can expect in the future and how to we get peace in the region.

https://www.unacpeace.org/

NATO, the Left, and the Path to Peace

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Posted on the United National Antiwar Coalition

July 13, 2022

by Alan Freeman, published on The Valdai Discussion Club,  July 4, 2022

If anyone tries to justify a monstrous and unnecessary human sacrifice on the grounds that it’s for the best, then they are measuring ‘good’ in dollars instead of bodies, and they’re not part of the left, because the left stands for humans, not property, Valdai Club expert Alan Freeman writes.

Let’s think about the left’s place in the current events, and hope to shed light on what being ‘on the left’ actually means today, and why it is relevant to peace.

I’ll start with the trillion-dollar question: if NATO won, if the DPR and LPR forces surrendered, and if the Russian Army was driven back to the border, would the world be a better or a worse place?

This is a practical question. It can’t be resolved with abstract ideals or theories such as whether Ukraine has a sacred right to rule over the Russian speakers of the Donbass, or whether Russia is imperialist, any more than Palestinian rights can be settled by referring to the historical origins of the People of the Book.

The lives of millions, perhaps billions, are at stake. If the Russian army leaves Ukraine, they will all suffer and many will die. If your ideals tell you this is a good thing – if like Madeleine Albright, you can look upon the deaths of half a million children and say ‘it was worth it’, then your ideals are wrong.

And if your theory tells you to arm Ukraine to the teeth and give its fascists free reign to cleanse it of Russian influence, you’re free to say that (which is a lot more freedom than I get for opposing you), but you’re not part of the left.

Because if anyone tries to justify a monstrous and unnecessary human sacrifice on the grounds that it’s for the best, then they are measuring ‘good’ in dollars instead of bodies, and they’re not part of the left, because the left stands for humans, not property.

What will happen if the Russian army leaves?

First, there will be a bloody racial cleansing of a third of Ukraine’s territory where fourteen million Russian speakers live. You don’t need any elaborate analysis to see this; just look at what’s been happening for the past eight years when the Donbass has been under continuous military attack for no greater crime that demanding autonomy and standing up to murderers.

This is not the work of a handful of rightists; it is baked into the concept of nation which Ukraine’s rulers adhere to and NATO supports. Stripped of elegant excuses, this holds that being ethnically Russian is incompatible with Ukrainian nationality. This is a thoroughly racist notion; Azov merely enforces it by killing and torturing those who oppose it, for which they once got nods and winks but now get acclaim as national heroes.

That’s also why this war is not just an invasion but a Civil War. And this was inevitable given the national concept. Imagine if the USA were to ban Spanish. Or suppose Canada banned French, not even outside Quebec but in Quebec itself. The country would fall apart before you could blink.

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Report on the anti-NATO protests in Madrid, June 2022

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From United National Anti-War Coalition

Report on the anti-NATO protests in Madrid
by Joe Lombardo
28 June 2022

​During the days before the June 28 – 30 NATO Summit in Madrid, thousands rallied in the streets and meeting halls of the city in opposition to the NATO summit.  Protesters include people from the United States including Ann Wright, Paki Weiland of Code Pink and others, as well as myself and other members of UNAC.  People also came from many other countries around the world. Two meetings were held in Madrid to counter the NATO summit, one called the Peace Summit and the other the Counter Summit.  Both recognized the aggressive character of the US led NATO alliance.  The Peace Summit’s final resolution can be found here, and rough translation of the Counter Summit’s final resolution can be found here.

UNAC people attended both conferences and I spoke at the Counter Summit, which had the perspective of organizing an anti-imperialist movement and was organized mostly by Spanish, anti-imperialist organizations.  My talk can be found here.  [see below] UNAC also distributed a statement on NATO and Ukraine at the two meetings in both Spanish and English that can be found here and a flyer from the Sanctions Kill coalition with a bar code to a very important report on sanctions authored by members of the coalition. Spanish and English version of the flyer were distributed and the English version can be found here.

Following the alternative summits, thousands marched together in a common demonstration to protest the NATO summit. The demonstration was major news in Madrid and was in all the news stations and newspapers.  One paper dedicated its entire front page to the demonstration.  

The NATO summit is happening at the same time that the US/NATO proxy war against Russia is waging in Ukraine.  Therefore, it is important that the peace movement has shown a strong opposition to NATO at this time.  NATO is set to revise its orientation and to become more of a world-wide tool for US imperialism.  It is proposing a new alignment that will see it spread its aggression to Asia and around the world.  According to information that can be found on the NATO web site, they will project Russia and China as their main enemies.  This means that we will see further aggression against major military and nuclear powers that will put the entire world at risk.

Only a few months after the US/NATO defeat in Afghanistan, they choose to conduct another war, this time with Russia, a major nuclear power. They hoped to fill the coffers of the military industrial complex by providing weapons to fight a major war in Europe.  The US also hoped to break the strong trade relationship between Europe and Russia and Europe and China to allow US companies to fill the gap.  They also hoped that the strong sanctions applied against Russia would cause the Russian economy to collapse, causing a crisis in the country that might lead to collapse of the governement, and allow for a more US/NATO compliant government in Russia. Possibly this would foreshadow a breakup of Russia and allow the US and its NATO allies to more easily dominate it.  With a defeated Russia they hoped to be able to further surround China – which is challenging US hegemony around the world – and be in a better position to eventually defeat China, economically and militarily. 

But their plan is failing as Russia is winning the war in Ukraine. Instead of having its economy fail, it is the Western economies that are in trouble with both recession and inflation, while the ruble is rising against the dollar, the Russian economy is growing, and the Russian people are showing strong support for their country’s fight against the US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine.

But despite this reality, the NATO summit is set to double down and move forward with its aggression towards Russia and China.  This will affect every person on the planet in a negative way and so we must continue to build our movement to bring about a world of peace not war and to oppose the US/NATO aggression around the world.

No to NATO expansion!
No to NATO!
No weapons to Ukraine!
No to war!
Hands off China!

Note:  After the protests, members of UNAC attended a meeting of the No to NATO group where plans were started for future work including webinars, more focus on the climate crisis and a commitment to organize for the next NATO summit, which appears to be planned for 2023 in Lithuania.

Joe Lombardo’s talk to the NATO counter-summit in Madrid 2022

The United States is the main imperialist power in the world.  NATO is its partner in crime.  The US has its military in around 170 countries. It has about 20 times the number of foreign military bases as all other countries combined, and it has a military budget close to that of the rest of the world combined. The United States dominates the world, politically, economically, and militarily.  Any country that does not go along with its demands becomes a target of its propaganda, its military, its sanctions and its many regime-change organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy, USAID and others.  It has created numerous coups, military actions, and wars to further its goals.

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Declaration of Madrid Counter-Summit, June 2022 — No to NATO, Bases Out!

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From the Northeast Peace and Justice Action Coalition

DECLARATION OF THE COUNTER-SUMMIT NO NATO, BASES OUT, MADRID 2022

The Coordination of No to NATO, Bases Out Platforms, constituted by the signatory organisations of the Call for Mobilisation Against the NATO Summit in Madrid, called on citizens to hold the No to NATO, Bases Out Counter-Summit, Madrid 2022 as a response to the NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government.

Gathered in the city of Madrid on 24 and 25 June 2022, those attending this Counter-Summit DECLARE:

This NATO Summit in Madrid must be considered as a historic event that will mark the beginning of a new world order and the beginning of a warmongering period that will involve most of the planet. It is a crucial event in the present conjuncture of imperialism, reflecting the present stage of the class struggle.

The system in which we live, capitalism, is in the throes of a crisis which has been defined by its own institutions as structural, systemic and long-term. NATO and the rest of the Western war structures, especially the US military bases, are key players in this reconfiguration of the world order.

At a time when there is an awareness of the decline of US world hegemony, the US is organising itself to dominate the world and will defend its privileges in every possible way, including all kinds of war and aggression.

There is no blueprint for the new phase towards which we are moving, but the major international economic institutions and NATO itself have already announced the lines of action to deal with the problems that have already been identified: financialization, debt, creative destruction, technological revolution, social control and warmongering expansion against everything that hinders this capitalist reorganisation. This process will take place outside and inside its own borders. It is the definitive launching of the World War, a global, arbitrary, unpunished war of aggression, by any means and on any scale, aimed at eliminating any expression of resistance to imperialist expansion.

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NATO summit urges Ukraine to keep fighting; updates on Ukraine situation

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From Strategic Stability
June 29, 2022

Report #91

1. NATO is urging Kiev to continue war with Russia, Belgian Prime Minister said

Fighting against Russia with Western help is the only way forward for Ukraine, NATO members told President Volodymyr Zelensky, Alexander De Croo, the Belgian Prime Minister said on June 29 in Madrid.

“We make it very clear that this war can only be won on the battlefield and we should continue to support President Zelensky and the Ukrainian population as much as possible to be able to win the war on the battlefield,” Belgian Prime Minister told journalists on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid.

In a new NATO Strategic Concept stamped at the NATO Summit in Madrid at the end of June, the transatlantic alliance neglected the fact that it is Ukraine who actually started three wars of aggression against Donbass in 2014-2022, but not the Russian Federation. In another document called Madrid Summit Declaration 30 NATO member-states promised to accelerate the delivery of non-lethal defence equipment to aggressive Ukrainian regime, improve its’s cyber defences and resilience, and support modernising its defence sector in its transition to strengthen long-term interoperability. In this phrase there is a clear-cut distortion dealt with transfer of “non-lethal defence equipment” to that ultra-nationalist regime. It reality, HATO began to deliver lethal offensive arms and ammunition toKiev a long time ago and is delivering them still. The phrase “to strengthen long-term interoperability” usually refers to a member of NATO.

Via a video link addressed to NATO summit on June 28 Ukrainian President Zelensky has urged the US-led NATO bloc to ramp up support of his country amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, claiming that Kiev’s defeat would result in a “delayed” war between Moscow and the whole West. The country needs both direct military and financial aid, Zelensky stated, adding that some $5 billion a month was needed to cover its budget deficit.

He has already spent nearly $ 7.0 donated his patron the USA from February 24 for gaining no victory and loosing nearly 150,000 troops on the battlefields. Will he be able to return such huge amount of money? Highly unlikely.

Despite this fact, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the NATO summit in Madrid outlined the North Atlantic Alliance’s position on military assistance for Ukraine. He said that Ukraine should be given so many weapons that it would be able to defend itself. And that means NATO will raise the stakes in the Ukrainian crisis. “The message is: we will continue to do this, we will do it intensively as long as it is necessary so that Ukraine can defend itself”, – the chancellor was quoted as saying.

It will be a tragic parallel: during WWII German “Tiger” tanks stormed Donbass, and today another types of German “Leopard” tanks are going to do the same aggressive job, killing innocent people in the same area. Seemingly, contemporary Berlin has NOT gained positive lessons from the past.

2. Kiev once again circulated fake news

Ukrainian President Zelensky is not satisfied with the absence of fake news from his General Staff and special services who staged two major lies of strategic importance – corpses intentionally delivered to Bucha and shelling a railway station in Kramatorsk controlled by Ukrainians by ballistic missile Tochka-U fired from the city also controlled by the Ukrainian side that time.

On June 27, in Kremenchug (Poltava Region), Russian Aerospace Forces launched a high-precision air attack at hangars with armament and munitions delivered by USA and European countries at Kremenchug road machinery plant called Kredmash [also named as Dormash].

Russian MoD official spokesman Lt-General Igor Konashenko said that high-precision attack has resulted in the neutralisation of the West-manufactured armament and munitions concentrated at the storage area at Dormash that was meant to be delivered to Ukrainian group of troops in Donbass. Detonation of the storaged munitions caused a fire in a non-functioning shopping centre named “Amstor” located 150 m away to the facilities of the plant.

The same information was articulated on June 28 at the UN Security Council (UNSC) by Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russian representative to the UN told the Security Council on meeting Russia does not target civilians in Ukraine and did not strike a shopping center in Kremenchug. He added that the mall caught fire due to an explosion of Western-supplied weapons and ammunition, stored at the nearby factory and intended to be used in shelling civilians in the Donbass.

“In reality, there was no strike on the mall,” Polyanskiy told the council, as Russia targeted a storage facility at the Kredmash factory. The weapons and ammunition stored there were bound for the front, where Ukrainian artillery has been bombarding the civilians of Donbass, for many years, to no objection from the UN, he added. “The Russian strike stopped that.”

Polyanskiy pointed out that Ukrainian media clearly shows images of intact merchandise inside the Amstor shopping center, and windows of nearby residential buildings that had not shattered. The fire was caused by explosions of the Western-supplied ammunition at Kredmash, he said.

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