Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Posts Tagged ‘NATO

Brussels conference lifts Ukraine solidarity to higher plane – Report by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly Australia

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The March 26-27 Brussels Solidarity with Ukraine conference drew together about 200 activists from a score of countries, in support of the Ukrainian people’s national and social rights.

A main organizer was Dick Nichols, who wrote the comprehensive report below;

Link :
Brussels Conference Lifts Ukraine Solidarity to a Higher Plane – Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly

Former Finnish education minister Li Andersson (left) and Ukrainian women’s rights activist Ivanna Vynna addressing the March 26-27 Ukraine Solidarity Conference in the Belgian capital Brussels. Photos: Julie Ward

The gathering was organised by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaigns (USC) of England and Wales and Scotland. It was devoted to strengthening people-to-people solidarity, as the menace of Ukraine being partitioned and pillaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s and United States President Donald Trump’s governments looms ever larger.

The conference also took place in the context of ongoing conflict between Ukraine’s trade union, feminist, environmental, civil rights and progressive political movements and the neoliberal domestic policies of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.

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“Being a socialist you oppose imperialism – Russia has no right to a single square metre of Ukrainian Soil” – Jonas Sjöstedt, European Parliament Member of the Vänsterpartiet (Left Party, Sweden)

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News reports, reactions and analysis : Solidarity With Ukraine Conference, Brussels, March 26 and 27 2025.

Jonas Sjöstedt, European Parliament Member of the Vänsterpartiet (Left Party, Sweden) spoke at the opening session of the international conference “Solidarity with Ukraine”, March 26 and 27 2025, Brussels.

Link :
Jonas Sjösted MEP (Left Party, Sweden), European Left – Being a socialist you oppose imperialism – Russia has no right to a single square metre of Ukrainian Soil

Li Andersson MEP (Left Alliance, Finland) reports :

Ukraine needs support to fight back against Russia’s aggression, but we must also address the problems facing Ukrainian civil society.

Last week we in The Left group organised a conference in Brussels to which we invited Ukrainian leftists and trade unionists to talk about supporting Ukrainian civil society in the midst of Russia’s illegal war of aggression launched by Putin.

Their message was very clear: in addition to arms support, there are many problems in Ukrainian civil society that urgently need solutions. In particular, they highlighted the serious lack of affordable housing, the lack of care services and the proposed reforms which will weaken workers’ rights and trade unions.

When I was in Kiev last autumn, we also talked a lot about the housing shortage with the Ukrainians.

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Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature

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An important left-wing conference in solidarity with Ukraine took place in Brussels on March 26 and 27 2025. We will present a number of reports from this conference in the next few days. Here is the first item – written by Simon Pirani who publishes a People and Nature blog.


Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature

By Simon Pirani. Based on a talk given at a panel, “What peace?”, at the Solidarity with Ukraine event this week in Brussels

“What peace?” is a wide question. To narrow it down, we can ask: what sort of peace is being discussed among Ukrainians?

In an interview about the Trump-Putin talks, and the prospects for any agreement, our comrade Denis Pilash, a member of Sotsialnyi Rukh, said that “Ukrainians have two things in mind when thinking about any deal: the fate of people in the occupied territories, and how to prevent Russia from restarting the war.”

The photo is courtesy of a Ukrainian anarchist group that provides soldiers at the front with “all the necessary equipment that can increase their safety and efficiency in resisting the imperial onslaught of the Russians”.  

These points could frame areas for agreements, he argued. He pointed to the Ukrainian government’s position that it will not recognise illegal annexations, but would accept a ceasefire followed by negotiations.

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‘Trump likes what Putin does,’ Bernie Sanders says in exclusive interview (Kyiv Independent)

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All of the left needs to stand on the ground occupied by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the USA.

Get Involved :
Solidarity With Ukraine Conference Brussels March 26 and 27 2025
Solidarity With Ukraine Conference – Left MEPs – Brussels March 26 and 27 2025


Link to Bernie Sanders Interview :
Trump Likes What Putin Does – Senator Bernie Sanders

As Ukraine enters the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, shifting political dynamics in the U.S. threaten to influence the course of the war. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly misrepresented the war’s origins, excluded Ukraine from initial negotiations, and advocated for what many see as an exploitative deal that would force Ukraine to surrender national resources as “repayment” for U.S. aid.

Trump’s rhetoric raises urgent questions about America’s long-term commitment to aiding Ukraine.

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UN General Assembly condemns Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine; USA and Russia Vote No : Anti-imperialist left everywhere at a fork in the road – With Ukraine or Against Ukraine?

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The Trump-Putin Imperialist and Ethnic-Cleansing attack on Ukraine is a major turning point.

The anti-imperialist left everywhere is at a fork in the road : Either With Ukraine or Against Ukraine

UN General Assembly passes resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The Financial Times reported (February 24 2025) :

The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine co-sponsored by Kyiv and EU nations, despite the US voting against it and urging other states to do so.

The resolution passed with 93 votes in favour. The US and Russia were two of 18 votes against. China abstained, alongside 64 other countries.

The US had urged countries to vote against as it has its own resolution that calls for peace in the three-year long war, and does not condemn Russia’s invasion or its ongoing aggression against Ukraine.

The UN Security Council, in which the US and four other permanent members have veto rights, is likely to vote on the issue later in the day.

The General Assembly vote, which came shortly after G7 leaders failed to agree on a joint statement condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine on the third anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, has exposed the widening gulf between the US and Europe in the early months of Donald Trump’s second term.

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Senator Bernie Sanders : Russia started the war, not Ukraine. Putin is the dictator, not Zelensky – A growing progressive Pro-Ukraine revolt is rocking the USA – One dude, Jeffrey Sachs, is not joining in

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The good news is that progressive revolt seems to be starting in the United States of America.

A leading spokesperson is Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator from the New England state of Vermont.

Bernie SandersI don’t want to hear any Republicans talk about “freedom” unless they have the guts to call out Trump for the lies that he is telling about Putin and Ukraine.It was Russia that started the war, not Ukraine.Putin is the dictator, not Zelensky#News&Politics

TLT: Lets get this 4 years over with (@ihatetrump4ever.bsky.social) 2025-02-28T18:02:44.753Z

The ignorant racist anti-Ukraine thug, Vice-President JD Vance, is not welcome in Vermont :

This makes me so happy. Thank you Vermont. This is so deserving to the POS human being vance is. He was beyond rude to a world leader and showed that he had no breadth of the ongoing war in Ukraine. http://www.politicususa.com/p/jd-vance-f…

SlavaUkraini033 (@slavaukraini033.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T03:23:30.548Z

One man is not joining the growing progressive popular pro-Ukraine in the USA.

His name is Jeffrey Sachs, a right-wing economist whose hands are very dirty ; “Sachs’ methods for stabilizing economies became known as shock therapy and were similar to successful approaches used in Germany after the two world wars”

Link :
Jeffrey Sachs, Wikipedia

The anti-Ukraine views of Dr Sachs are endorsed and shared by the ignorant imperialist thugs running the Washington White House, the convicted rapist President Donald Trump and his sidekick JD Vance, who publicly ambushed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28 2025 in the White House.

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On arming Ukraine and the struggle against Militarism – European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine Declaration

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The European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) has denounced the Russian invasion
of Ukraine from the very beginning and fully supports the Ukrainian right of self-defence.

The Ukrainian people’s armed resistance is just. It is not taking place as part of military aggression by NATO, the United States or any Western country, but as defence against the declared war aim of Russian president Vladimir Putin: to reconquer the fictitious “Russian world” supposedly lost with the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Since Ukraine’s armed resistance is legitimate, all states that regard themselves as democratic and upholders of law-governed international relations have the responsibility to help the Ukrainian people defeat the Russian invasion.

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Santry resident Olga Popova fled Russia before the war against Ukraine – Free Russians Ireland Organise Against Putin’s Régime

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Garrett Mullan, an activist in Irish left With Ukraine, interviews Olga Popova (Free Russians Ireland).

This is the latest episode on Garrett’s M1 Podcast.

Santry resident Olga Popova Fled Russia Before the War Against Ukraine

Free Russians Ireland

Olga Popova Tiktok

Open Mind Wind is Olga’s marketing business –Success Stories

Free Russians Ireland- Facebook

Free Russians Ireland Instagram

On the M1 Podcast, Garrett does stories of interest to those who live up and down the M1. Santry resident Olga Popova who fled Russia in 2021. To her 50,000 tiktok followerers, she is an outspoken critic of the war against Ukraine https://m1.radio.ie

Episode 24- Santry resident fled Russia before the war against Ukraine

Olga Popova and her husband moved to Ireland in 2021 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They settled in Santry on the northside of Dublin. Her husband was involved in activities protesting against the Russian government and they were prompted to flee after he spent a night in police custody. ‘I was at home with our child, because in Russia, if you go protests you need to be able to run fast’.

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Resolution: The War and the Future of Ukraine and the Left Movement – Author : Social Movement (Sotsialnyi Rukh) [Ukraine]

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The resolution below was recently adopted by a left-wing organisation in Ukraine : Social Movement (Sotsialnyi Rukh).

Here is one of many important statements very relevant to the left in Ireland and elsewhere :

The growing contradictions between the centers of capital accumulation in the world capitalist system will not stop even after the complete destruction of Russian imperialist power. The left in Europe and around the world turned out to be helpless and disoriented when the Russian aggression in Ukraine occurred. Unless the international socialist movement realizes mistakes it has made and builds a new, truly internationalist cooperation and coordination, we simply have no chance of preventing the growth of inter-imperialist struggle in the future.


Resolution: The War and the Future of Ukraine and the Left Movement

Link :
Resolution: The War and the Future of Ukraine and the Left Movement – Author : Social Movement (Sotsialnyi Rukh) [Ukraine]

Категорія: ПОЗИЦІЯ

The people of Ukraine have been facing hard challenges, yet they have proven their ability to fight for the right to decide on their own fate, and their determination to defend the country and to end the war as soon as possible. The authorities and representatives of market-fundamentalist ideology, together with big business, keep pushing through an economic model focused on benefiting a minority at the expense of the welfare of the absolute majority

The people of Ukraine have been facing hard challenges, yet they have proven their ability to fight for the right to decide on their own fate, and their determination to defend the country and to end the war as soon as possible. The authorities and representatives of market-fundamentalist ideology, together with big business, keep pushing through an economic model focused on benefiting a minority at the expense of the welfare of the absolute majority. In this model, workers are completely subservient to the will of their employers, while social and regulatory functions of the state are abolished for the sake of “business needs”, “competition” and “free market”.

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Anti-Fascists or Conspiracy Theorists? The Truth Behind Pro-Putin Protests in Britain

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Far-rightists all over Europe (including Ireland) regularly back Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Some on the left identify with these awful politics. Here is a case study from Britain.

We thank our friends in the Ukraine Solidarity for their article
Anti-Fascists or Conspiracy Theorists? The Truth Behind UK Protests


Nearly three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and a decade after the war began, a small band of so-called anti-fascists took to the streets of London and Glasgow to demand “no more British arms to Ukraine.”

We say “so-called”, because the “International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity” demo shared more in common with far-right disinformation merchants and conspiracy theorists than the left-wing workers’ movements that stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression.

The demo was advertised in the Morning Star newspaper, in an advert which demanded “Zelensky must go!”. The optics of a movement that declares itself to be anti-imperialist but calling for regime change in a sovereign state did not seem to matter. This is a group that is happy to parrot Russian disinformation while ignoring Ukrainian voices and lives.

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