Communist Party of the Philippines
February 24, 2023
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) joins peace-loving peoples around the world in condemning the US imperialists and its NATO allies for ceaselessly pouring weapons and military equipment to Ukraine in its effort to continuously stoke and prolong its proxy war against imperialist rival Russia. Ending US and NATO intervention and aggression will serve to deescalate the armed conflict in Ukraine and pave the way for ending and settling the war across the negotiating table.
Peaceful dialogue should be carried out in order to resolve the war in Ukraine consistent with the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for peace, freedom and democracy, as well as the aspiration of the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass region for their right to secession and national self-determination. There must be an end to social, political and cultural policies directed against Russian speaking Ukrainians perpetrated by fascist forces in order to establish mutual respect and peaceful co-existence between Russia and Ukraine.
The now year-long war has resulted in large numbers of deaths with estimates ranging from a few tens of thousands to 200,000 soldiers and civilians on all sides of the conflict. The military on both sides of the conflict have resorted to attacking civilian infrastructure leading to widespread destruction and hardships. Millions of Ukrainians have been driven away from their homes and economically displaced. The broad masses of people in the Russian-speaking regions of Donbass continue to be subjected to US/NATO-supported Ukrainian artillery attacks after the governments of Lugansk and Donetsk declared independence and established control of the region under Russian military power.
While the broad masses of working people in Ukraine suffer, the monopoly capitalists, especially the arms manufacturers and financial speculators continue to pocket huge amounts of profits. Giant finance capitalists and monopoly companies continue to take advantage of the Ukrainian war to engage in market speculation in the prices of key commodities including oil and grain. Disruptions in fuel supplies to Europe caused by US sanctions against Russian natural gas caused widespread suffering to people during winter.
The military industrial complex, especially American arms manufacturers are among the biggest beneficiaries of the prolonged war in Ukraine. The war-monger Biden government alone has poured $76.8 billion to Ukraine, 61% of which comprises of direct provision and grants and loans for weapons and military equipment, as well as other forms of security assistance to the Russophobe Zelensky government and its fascists forces under the Azov Battalion. In addition, Germany, France, the UK and other US allies in the NATO have been sending tanks, missiles, drones, and other military equipment to sustain and prolong the war in Ukraine to the benefit of arms manufacturers.
Biden’s recent trip to Ukraine in which he promised more military aid and goaded the Zelensky government to continue the war, clearly shows that Ukraine is being used as a proxy by the US/NATO in its war with imperialist rival Russia. US military advisers have long been embedded in the Ukrainian army, even as US combat troops are in Poland ready to engage in direct action. US military officials have openly signified armed intentions against Russia. Incited by the US/NATO imperialists, the Zelensky government has consistently refused to heed calls for peaceful dialogue and repeatedly rejected offers of truce and negotiations.
In response to Biden’s war incitements, Russia announced suspension of the arms control treaty with the US and placed its strategic arms systems to combat duty. It continues to heighten its war efforts to push back against US and Ukrainian bombardment of the Russian-speaking territories in the proximity of Russia’s borders. It has put its nuclear forces to maximum alert, raising the threat of uncontrolled nuclear escalation.
The war in Ukraine is the result primarily of more than three decades of US imperialist expansionism in Eastern Europe since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In violation of the 1990-1991 Minsk agreement wherein the US and NATO gave assurances it will not admit countries formerly belonging to the USSR-led Warsaw Pact, the US pushed the expansion of the NATO military alliance from the eastern border of Germany towards central European countries. The NATO alliance admitted such former Warsaw Pact countries as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania and others, inching towards Russia’s western borders. Russia has long regarded the expansion of the NATO military alliance as aggressive acts and regarded Ukraine’s inclusion as a red line.
The US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is a manifestation of the continuing crisis and moribund state of the monopoly capitalist system. Lenin pointed to the constant push to redivide the world among the imperialist powers as they seek to continuously expand its spheres of investments and hegemony. Among the strategic aims of the US in waging a proxy war in Ukraine is to take over Russia’s large European market of natural gas, as well as seize control of the rare earth mineral resources in the Donbass region.
The sharpening global crisis of capitalism, and, in particular, the prolonged stagnation and slide into economic recession of the US and other leading capitalist countries, intensify the push of the US to provoke wars against its imperialist rivals. Even as the US pours billions of dollars into the war in Ukraine, it is busy increasing its military presence in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and other Asian countries, as part of its preparations of the theater of war against China.
The broad masses of the Filipino people must stand firmly to defend its national sovereignty and pursue an independent and peace-loving foreign policy. They must militantly oppose attempts by imperialist powers to use the Philippines as part of their wars. They must carry forward their demand for the withdrawal of all foreign troops, nuclear-powered warships carrying nuclear weapons, missiles and other military equipment in the country. They must amplify their call for the dismantling of all foreign military facilities, which invariably serve as magnets for attacks. They must oppose the planned Balikatan war exercises and 400 other military exercises to be conducted by US troops in the country. They must call for the abrogation of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and other unequal military treaties which undermine Philippine sovereignty and pull the country into the vortex of inter-imperialist wars.
The proletariat around the world must act vigorously and lead in building and strengthening international solidarity among all anti-imperialist organizations, movements and countries in order to mobilize the greatest numbers of people to demand an end to the US/NATO war in Ukraine against Russia, and to US imperialist war-mongering and war preparations elsewhere in the world.
