Tomás Ó Flatharta

This is the summary of interventions by Oleksandr Kyselov from Sotsialnyi Rukh in Ukraine to the 18th World Congress of the Fourth International in Belgium at the end of March.

Source :

Against a Peace Imposed by Trump and Putin on Ukraine – Oleksandr Kyselov

You can read the contribution made by Russian anti-war activist Felix here. You can also see the resolution agreed by the Congress on Ukraine reworked after these interventions here, as well as the position of the minority against which Oleksandr was arguing.

Comrades,

It is a great honor to participate in this World Congress of the Fourth International, a historic organization with global reach. I am grateful for this opportunity.

Listening to the discussions, I was struck by their theoretical depth and attention to nuance—something we often lack. Yet, when it comes to my country, I question the need for such an approach when it seems to be used to reconfirm once established truths. “The main enemy is at home”—so we must expose, confront, and fight. Otherwise, how are we different from the bourgeoisie or reformists?

But reality is not so simple. As much as we may despise Zelensky, for us he is not the same as Putin. And every word spoken here we apply to our lived reality. Ukraine is our home —the only place we unequivocally belong. Some call this a bias, methodological nationalism, or overvaluing one of the many organizing patterns. But don’t others here do the same when projecting their own colonial histories, frustrations with Western powers, and struggles – whether for refugee rights or against arms dealers  – onto our fight against occupation?