Spain’s Izquierda Unida (IU, United Left) coalition and its main component, the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), have always presented themselves as the most determined opponents of US imperialism and NATO. As the Sandinista anthem goes, “the yankee, enemy of humanity” who always finds themselves on the wrong side of any conflict.

That was until last week. But then, suddenly, the old yankee “enemy of humanity” became a potential friend of humanity. IU said of the Russia-US talks held in Saudi Arabia—with Ukraine and the European Union excluded—that “United Left considers that with the first conversations between the US and Russian presidents, a solid path opens to end the military conflict in the heart of Europe.”

Some political U-turns seem implausible. But they happen. And very quickly. This is United Left’s U-turn, which has gone from defending Putin’s Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine to now defending Trump’s United States and its “peacemaking” role. And since what Trump now says about the responsibility for the Ukraine-Russia conflict coincides with IU’s own opinion, a magical harmony occurs.

Thus, in a shameful statement on the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, this supposedly “leftist” party has made a complete about-face, as dramatic as that of US imperialism itself.

Until now, IU had said and repeated that the obstacle to ending the war was that the United States had provoked it with the Maidan “coup d’état”; by trying to include Ukraine in NATO (apparently by force); and that all of Ukraine and Zelenskyy were merely puppets of US imperialism. What has happened that, suddenly, the worst enemy, with the most far-right president it has ever had, has become a peace actor that “opens a solid path to end the military conflict in the heart of Europe”?

But this won’t be peace. In any case, as Ukrainians say, it will be an imposed ceasefire until Putin is in a position to resume his objective of completely crushing Ukraine’s resistance and sovereign state. Just as he did after occupying Crimea in 2014.

The statement says that “the only beneficiaries have been the arms manufacturers.” They’re not the only ones. Oil and gas oligarchs—Russian, American, Arab—and many other sectors like banking have also benefited. But it’s true. So what? Will the United States and Russia stop selling weapons and fuelling dozens of active wars around the world due to imperialist interests?

IU clarifies that “From the beginning of the conflict, we opposed sending weapons.” But they don’t mention that they only opposed sending weapons to one side. They only opposed sending them to the attacked side, the weaker one, the one defending itself from aggression: Ukraine. They never made any outcry against Russia’s indiscriminate and criminal use of weapons against civilian populations, hospitals, nuclear power plants, or critical infrastructure for people’s lives such as dams. No, peace wasn’t coming because Ukraine insisted on defending itself and requesting weapons to expel Russian troops from its territory!

The document states that “the European Union (EU) adopted from the start an irresponsible position of subordination to NATO.” Here they mean subordination to the United States. We’re not fans of NATO. We’ve fought against it and believe it should be dissolved when there are guarantees of security and stable, lasting peace, just like any other military alliance. But this cannot hide the fact that the real driver of NATO’s growth in these last three years has precisely been Russia’s aggression and invasion of Ukraine. How else would Finland and Sweden, countries that until now had considered themselves neutral, have joined?

But now that Trump wants to reach an agreement with Putin, and Ukraine and all of Europe are being marginalised, IU accepts Russia-US negotiations without any European presence. Subordination of whom to whom? Why does IU call for “the fundamental involvement of the United Nations and the OSCE” [Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe] but doesn’t request any role for Ukraine—the main party concerned—or the European Union?

Curiously, after criticising the European Union for its submission to the United States and its military alliance, they state that “these same neoliberal EU parties that now demand more ’strategic autonomy’ due to Trump’s announcement of imposing tariffs on their products must recognise their error and engage in self-criticism.” So, the European Union is an imperialist project, but is Trump’s tariff policy better than the neoliberalism that has prevailed until now?

Even in how democracy is defended in Europe, IU has a very peculiar way of seeing only one side. They say “Peace talks must not only consider the reconstruction of infrastructure in a destroyed country, but also restore democracy and political pluralism in Ukraine.” IU aligns itself with Trump’s lies that now accuse Zelenskyy of being a “dictator”, of having only 4% support, and demanding he hold elections. Immediate elections are not seen as essential by Ukrainian society, and the Constitution itself states that they cannot be held in times of war. And what about Russia? Is everything fine in Russia? Are elections with 90% support for Putin, where no opposition can participate (among other things because they suffer “natural deaths” in prisons) an example of “democracy”? What pluralism exists in Russia where showing any opposition to the war (pardon, “special operation”) means imprisonment? What happens in the occupied territories where one can’t even speak Ukrainian?

If we include Russia when we talk about ’Europe’, which is completely legitimate and which should be natural, the question is, what ’Europe of values’ are we defending? The Europe that Trump and Putin want? Because we cannot fail to see that both Putin and Trump already have their own “models” of the Europe they would like. To Putin’s support for far-right governments like those in Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, to phantom candidates promoted through networks like Romania, we now add Trump and Musk’s support for the far right in Germany, France, Spain, England...

When speaking of values, the statement refers only to Ukraine’s supposed internal situation: “IU demands the legalisation of the 11 trade unions and left-wing and nationalist formations authoritatively banned by Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the start of the war, followed by the imprisonment of opposition leaders for simple political reasons. We have been the only political force that has denounced the Ukrainian government’s repression against these parties, which include the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.”

Indeed, freedoms are an essential matter in our values. And in Spain, where we spent forty years under a fascist dictatorship, we still remember: freedom of expression, assembly, demonstration. But one doesn’t fight for freedom by repeating Putin’s lies. The fact is that Ukraine is at war, not because it wanted to start it but because it had to defend itself to avoid being destroyed or dismembered. And war brings limitations on freedoms. Limitations that Ukrainian trade unions, society and civil rights organisations have accepted as the lesser evil.

Because it’s a lie that trade unions are illegal in Ukraine. And although the Ukrainian neoliberal government passes many laws against the labour movement, there is still freedom of expression and even limited protests. We support the right to strike against the Zelenskyy government, as demanded by the unions of FPU and KVPU and the grass-roots labour movement Be Like Nina, to confront employer abuses. But where there is least opposition within society is regarding the ban on “defeatist” parties which, influenced or paid by the Kremlin, defend Putin’s lies and cause demoralisation among the population. Rather, there is indignation against these subordinate parties.

And what about Russia? Why does IU say nothing about the thousands of opponents, deserters, or kidnapped Ukrainian children in prison?

The statement ends by saying “IU calls on Spanish and European society to mobilise for peace in Ukraine, to help build a world and a Europe based on international law, cooperation, multilateralism and peace between peoples. In these peace negotiations, we are playing for Europe’s stability and future.”

It’s curious that they call for a Europe based on international law while saying nothing about who is trampling it every day: Russia. And now it receives support from the world’s main imperialism, the United States, which also tramples and is prepared to steal whatever suits it: Greenland, Panama, Canada, Gaza... The “multilateralism” that IU refers to—and other leftist groups that have turned their backs on Ukraine—is the naive idea of a world balance based on the status quo between the powerful. For these leftists, there is only one imperialism: the United States. But now multilateralism is... agreements between the world’s two most aggressive imperialisms, the agreement between Trump and Putin!

We still don’t know how this attempt at negotiation between Trump’s and Putin’s governments will end. What we do see are their intentions: against Ukraine and against Europe. To redistribute the “spheres of influence” once again (in other words, the countries where they can steal and do as they please). For Putin, the part of Europe he imagines as the “Russian World”... and perhaps some others. And for the United States, part of Ukraine’s rare earth reserves, as well as free rein to do whatever it fancies—like “resorts”—in other areas of the world as mentioned before. Then, in the medium term, to be able to confront China.

But not even the most powerful imperialists should forget that oppressed peoples and nations exist, have their own life and fight, beyond any external military and economic force. The capitalist, imperialist, colonial system never learns the lessons of its defeats: Vietnam, Algeria, Cuba, Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan... But the leftists who claim to fight against capitalism should learn them. Ukraine has not yet said its last word, far from it. Instead of supporting the brave and heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people in their struggle against the aggression and invasion of Russian imperialism, IU has preferred to favour Putin and ask that weapons not be sent to Ukraine. Now they complete this shameful support for Putin with an equally shameful support for the pact that Trump and Putin are preparing against Ukraine and, in fact, against Europe. Ukraine will rise again one day, but that left is lost for the times to come.

Finally, the true left, trade unions, feminists, environmentalists, should not only demand and pressure European governments to defend Ukraine, the current spearhead against the fascism of our era. They should also seek ways to independently organise their own ties and forces against all imperialisms: Russian, American, European, Chinese... The disorganisation of the economy and world order that this situation of increasingly violent imperialisms veering towards fascism entails also gives them opportunities. That’s why the international conference of Solidarity with Ukraine on the upcoming 26^th and 27^th in Brussels with Nordic MEPs could be very interesting, where Ukrainian and pan-European trade unionists, feminists, students and environmentalists are weaving a network at the European level and advancing concrete proposals and actions for the new situation.

Alfons Bech
Trade Union Coordinator of the European Network of Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU)