At its General Assembly on 30 September 2023, the French Committee of the European Network foe Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU-RESU) reaffirmed that the road to peace lies in the struggle and victory of the Ukrainian popular resistance against the invading armies of Russian imperialism.

The events that have been taking place since 7 October in Israel and Gaza and the risks they entail, including that of being instrumentalised by Putin in the hope of concealing the Russian imperialist war against Ukraine, reinforce this position in our view. Our support for the struggles of oppressed peoples throughout the world, including the Palestinian people, and our rejection of all acts of violence against any civilian population whatsoever, lead us to reaffirm our support for the resistance, both military and popular, of the Ukrainian people.

Pressure for a ceasefire and for the slowing down or even halting of military aid to Ukraine, combined de facto with the idea o f a freeze on the annexed territories, would not lead to peace: armed conflict would continue in other forms, oppression, torture, rape and the deportation of people and children would continue, without any stabilisation of the occupied zones or of relations between countries in the region.

As the Russian group Feminist Anti-War Resistance (FAS) has just declared on receiving the Aachen Peace Prize, which is aimed at “women, men and groups who, from below, contribute to the understanding of human beings and peoples among themselves”:

“We call ourselves Feminist Anti-War Resistance, but we are well aware that “anti-war” is not a privileged pacifism but the recognition of the victim’s right to self-defence. Ukrainians cannot say “no to war”, to a war that is already with them. They cannot say “this is not our war”. They are forced to defend themselves, their homes and their loved ones, often at the cost of their lives (...)

We want peace, but we want a just peace, without occupied territories, without slavery and torture, without prisons and exploitation, without dictatorships, without silent violence in any form whatsoever”.

We support the growing role played by social and feminist movements, such as the movement to set up unions among health workers, “Be like Nina”, movements and initiatives that seek to liberate the whole country and oppose the endemic corruption, privatisations and neo-liberal policies of the government, which are weakening popular resistance and the recognition of the dignity and rights it is demanding.

But it still has to hold out under the missile bombardments which will intensify against Ukrainian infra-structures in the winter. Until now, Washington and the European powers are restricting military aid, particularly in the air, forcing the Ukrainian army to advance foot by foot against the thickest line of dams and the largest minefields in the world, deliberately depriving it of the means to break through quickly, as if to ensure the survival of the Russian regime by sparing it a frontal defeat.

In particular, we condemn the decisions and declarations of the French government, which tend to set a precedent, not to deliver existing weapons from the stockpiles of the major powers to Ukraine and to monetise the production of weapons, organising the post-war indebtedness and exploitation of the country and dragging Ukraine into the arms race.

For Sébastien Lecornu, the French government’s Minister for the Armed Forces, it’s not a question of helping to liberate the Ukrainian people, but of providing “opportunities for French industries.” According to him, we need to “put Ukraine in the position of a customer”.

No: for the oppressed, and all the world’s pacifists, weapons must not be commodities!

And in the face of a formidable aggressor, the weapons supplied must protect and prevent further crimes. This is why the French Committee of RESU is calling for Ukraine to be supplied with aircraft, cannons and tanks, as many as necessary and without delay! At a loss? Of course! At a loss if necessary, and with total transparency of budgetary choices, and without aggravating Ukraine’s debt, the immediate cancellation of which must be demanded, as the comrades of the Ukrainian left and the organisations of the social movement are calling for.

The Ukrainian people want to liberate their country and put an end to the oligarchs and social injustice.

We are in favour of increased resources for public services and social rights, against the explosion in military budgets; in favour of targeted aid to defend peoples under attack and against weapons sold to dictatorships; in favour of the right of peoples to self-determination and against imperialist intervention: existing weapons should be used as quickly as possible to liberate Ukraine, helping to defeat Putin and end the war, and thereby helping the democratic forces in Russia. In this way, the continuation of the international arms race and the existence of military blocs will be all the more likely to be challenged and stopped.

The links of solidarity with Ukrainian society, which is resisting for its dignity and rights, are consistent with our fight for egalitarian international relations. This internationalist solidarity is necessary for Ukraine, necessary for all the oppressed, necessary for social movements: the fight for peace is the fight for peace!

CONTACT: ukrainesolidaritefrance solidaires.org

RESU-ENSU France

Click here to subscribe to ESSF newsletters in English and/or French.