The Workers’ Party today reiterates our call for a European Peace Conference to bring an end to the war in the Ukraine.

One year on from the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine by the Russian Federation, it is clearer than ever that the Ukrainian people are being sacrificed by the United States and NATO to fight a proxy war against the Russian Federation, first through the Nazi-led putsch in 2014 and now through direct military conflict.

This is a war that Ukraine cannot and will not win, and its continuation will lead only to further death and destruction in Ukraine and the escalation of the refugee crisis across Europe.

This proxy war is causing appalling loss of life and property in Ukraine, as well as enormous damage to the living standards of working people across Europe, and puts the world on the edge of a dangerous escalation of tensions between NATO and Russia. It also risks wider escalation in neighbouring countries in Eastern Europe and indeed, globally, with China.

We call on all sides to bring an immediate halt to the war and to the appalling loss of life and to return to the negotiating table.

Further, we condemn the decision by the Irish government to expand Ireland’s participation in the ‘European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine’.

The training of the Ukrainian military by members of the Irish Defence Forces is a violation of the principle of Irish neutrality. It is also a dangerous step towards open alliance with NATO, which will put Ireland directly and firmly in the camp of the United States, the major imperial power that has wreaked havoc and destruction across the globe, from Iraq, Syria, and Libya, to Latin America, and now to Europe, where it has destabilised Eastern Europe and committed a brazen act of sabotage against the Nord Stream pipeline.

Instead of working to further the war aims of the US and NATO, the Irish government should be actively campaigning for peace talks to bring the war to an end.