International

Today is exactly 2 years after Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine. Every
day hundreds of Ukrainians die in the trenches. And Putin continues to
send working class people to the front, like cannon fodder. Thousands of civilian casualties have now fallen and millions are on the run in this illegal war of Russia. And an end to the war is not yet in sight.

The Ukrainians have had the continuous support of the
SP in their self-defense in recent years. Because for the SP,
international law is paramount. Ukraine was invaded suddenly and without
a mandate from the United Nations. A world where international law does
not apply is a dangerous world.

That is why the SP has always supported the Ukrainians economically and
humanitarianly and we supported the very strict sanctions against
Russia. The sending of Dutch weapons used for self-defense has also
often been supported by the SP. After all, all people must be able to defend themselves against attacks from other nations.

Peace-negotiations are always between enemies, not between friends.

An end to the bloodshed is needed. And the Netherlands must work to stop
this bloodshed. In addition to weapons with which Ukraine can defend
itself against Putin, a path to peace is also needed.

That is why the SP proposed a motion that was adopted last week to
deploy the frozen billions of the Russian state and the oligarchs for
the reconstruction of Ukraine and to pressure Putin to stop the
aggression. In addition to sanctions, our diplomatic efforts
will also have to be focused on being able to achieve peace as soon as
possible.

Because starting a war is easier than ending a war. This is evident from
the recent history in wars in the Middle- East, led by the US. A path
to peace will have to be found, however difficult. Peace-negotiations
are always between enemies, not between friends.
These two countries will eventually have to decide for themselves under
what conditions this is possible. In the interest of the population
there, we are doing everything we can to prevent Ukraine from ending up
in a permanent war.

Self-Defence or arms race?

The SP has supported many arms deliveries, but with every delivery of
weapons we judge whether it brings peace closer and whether it helps the
Defence of Ukraine. This line of reasoning has also led, for example,
to the SP making the decision not to support
the steering of Dutch F-16s, because these are also offensive weapons
and the range is much greater than with many other weapons. The risk of
escalation and NATO involvement is too great.

But we have to be careful for an arms race. Enough weapons for Ukraine
to defend itself is something different than setting up a war economy in
Europe with the aim of producing as many weapons as possible and losing
sight of the ultimate goal: peace. A permanent commitment that we will always support all Western arms deliveries is therefore not given by the SP, with each arms delivery we judge again whether it brings peace closer or not.

An arms race does not bring peace to Ukraine. It only makes the rest of the world even more unsafe.

What’s next?

A path to peace is needed. A large part of the solution lies in
sanctions and diplomatic pressure from Europe on Russia or through other
countries on Russia. International law must be restored. We must avoid
ending up in an endless arms race with Russia or
with other countries. Sooner or later peace will have to be made
between Russia and Ukraine. Until then, the Ukrainians can count on
support from the SP.