Veterans For Peace condemns the invasion of Ukraine.  Our mission remains the same.  We are committed to a sustainable and just peace.  As veterans we know increased violence only fuels extremism.  We have watched, and in some cases been firsthand witnesses to how the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc. have had their countries and lives destroyed by U.S. and Russian military involvement.

For the United States and Russia, the only sane course of action now is a commitment to genuine diplomacy with serious negotiations – without which, conflict could easily spiral out of control to the point of further pushing the world toward nuclear war.  Genuine diplomacy is a commitment to compromise and maintaining open lines of communication.

We reject punitive sanctions that harshen the lives of people across the region.  The sanctions that Biden is proposing are not tools of diplomacy, nor are they nonviolent methods of foreign policy; they do NOT target those responsible for war, but affect vulnerable civilian populations by limiting access to basic necessities. 

The U.S. has a responsibility to pursue genuine diplomacy to push for an immediate ceasefire and to apply pressure on other nations to do the same.

Veterans For Peace recognizes that this current crisis did not just happen in the last few days, but represents decades of policy decisions and government actions that have only contributed to the building of antagonisms and aggressions between countries.  We must respond to this current crisis, and continue our focus on addressing the causes of war; by redirecting the military budget towards human needs, pushing for the global abolition of nuclear weapons and eliminating the ability of corporations to profit from war.

https://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2022/02/24/diplomacy-not-war