IWU-FI resolutions 26 February 2022.
1. From 25 February, Russian imperialism has invaded Ukraine. At the moment this resolution was being passed, there were combats around Kyiv, its capital, and other cities of the country. Vladimir Putin had called the Ukrainian military to stage a coup and, so far, he has had a negative response. The Ukrainian armed forces are presenting more resistance than expected. There are also sections of the population that would have taken up arms to confront the invaders. Although Russia’s military superiority made it workable for them to take control of Kyiv and Ukraine. But these goals have not been achieved, and the resistance continues, despite the criminal missile attacks on the civilian population of Kyiv so far.
2. From the IWU-FI, we ratify our repudiation of the invasion and we state we stand by Ukrainian people against the imperialist oppressor. As internationalist socialists, we are not neutral about combat. We support the Ukrainian people’s resistance to the military defeat of the invader. We do so by giving neither political support to the capitalist government of Volodimir Zelensky nor trusting his military-political leadership. We support the popular armament of the working class, the Ukrainian people, and their territorial organisations.
3. There is not an inter-imperialist war in Ukraine at the moment. There is no NATO or military intervention of the US. On the contrary, Biden and NATO have repeatedly stated they will not intervene militarily. They are concentrated on imposing on Russia economic sanctions. This happens if president Zelensky has enunciated “they had been left alone”. They let the invasion appear to be part of Putin’s criminal actions. This is so that Macron, the president of France, and the US government offered him “help” to leave the country. Which is an invitation to surrender.
4. For this reason, we disagree with the stance taken by broad sectors of the world left and the anti-capitalist left that refuses to pronounce against Putin’s invasion and declare themselves neutral. Sectors of the reformist left, together with countries of faked anti-imperialism and socialism as China, Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, support Russian and Putin invasion as if they were the “victims” and Putin an “anti-imperialist” fighter that confront the US. That is false. Putin heads a capitalist-imperialist regime in Russia, backed by repression and a mafia of oil and gas oligarchs. His dispute with US and European imperialism is simply for the political and economic control of Ukraine. We also denounce this dispute.
5. Our call for solidarity with the Ukrainian people has nothing to do with the “opposition” to the invasion of the Biden, Macron, or Boris Johnson. They seek to profit from their imperialist projects of domination of Ukraine. That is why the IWU-FI reaffirms its rejection of all imperialist interference in Ukraine, whether it is from Russian imperialism, US imperialism, European imperialism, or NATO.
6. We stand for the free self-determination of the Ukrainian people, as Lenin and Trotsky put forward and carried out after the socialist revolution of 1917. Ukraine will be truly independent under a government of the working class and popular sectors and in a socialist Ukraine.
7. From the IWU-FI we call on the peoples of the world to repudiate the invasion and to support the resistance of the Ukrainian people. In the major capitals of the world, thousands and thousands have taken to the streets to repudiate Putin and Russia’s invasion. Demonstrators took to squares and to the gates of Russian embassies. Highlights include demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, with thousands detained by police. 664 Russian scientists protested “against Russian acts of war” and demanded a cease-fire. It is headed by members of the Russian Science Academy and Konstantin Novosjolov, 2010 Physics Nobel Prize. There were massive demos in Georgia. There were rallies and demonstrations in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, London, Lisbon, Rome. Budapest, Berlin, Istanbul, New York, the city of Mexico, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Brazilian cities, and the rest of Latin America.
8. We must continue on this path of international solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We say no to the invasion, not to the bombing! Russian troops out of Ukraine! For all governments to break off relations with Russia! For the triumph of the Ukrainian people’s resistance! Out all imperialist interference from Ukraine, either Russia, NATO, US, or EU!
International Executive Committee (IEC) – International Workers’ Unity-Fourth International (IWU-FI)
26 February 2022
See more: HANDS OFF RUSSIA, THE US AND NATO FROM UKRAINE
