Stop the march to a wider war over Ukraine

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg met Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky last month (Picture: Nato)

The war in Ukraine has taken another lurch towards an even more terrible conflict. Ukrainian drones hit residential buildings in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday morning.

At the same time in Kiev, Ukraine, people surveyed the damage and injuries from repeated Russian missile assaults.

The attack on Moscow residents comes just weeks after a drone attack on the Kremlin—that like this week’s assault Ukraine denies responsibility for.

Blasting one another’s major cities and possibly seeking the assassination of enemy leaders is regarded as completely normal.

In the same way the West cheers on the intervention into Russia itself by the “Freedom of Russia Legion” and the “Russian Volunteer Corps”. These pro‑Ukrainian militias, headed by fascists and nationalists, use US equipment and carry out exactly the sort of provocations that can spark wider wars.

And all the time there are reports of offensives and preparations for still great offensives in the east of Ukraine.

This is the deadly price of Vladimir Putin’s invasion and the West seizing on it to launch a proxy war. They are using Ukrainians to extend their own powers. That means funnelling arms, military hardware and training to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US is stoking up tensions with China—its main imperialist rival. Last week Taiwan’s foreign minister said the US and Taiwan are in talks on the possibility of the island being –protected by US nuclear weapons.

That would make a catastrophic conflict between the US and China much more likely.

And more Western arms to Ukraine will increase the death toll and see millions more flee—but will not end the war. Recently president Joe Biden announced that the US has authorised members of the Nato military alliance to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

The Washington Post wrote, for example, “For more than a year, getting F-16s into the skies above Ukraine for use against Russia has been Kyiv’s holy grail. Suddenly, President Biden has said yes.

“The turnaround, according to US, European and Ukrainian officials, is the result of steady pressure from allies, Congress and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who just completed visits to European capitals.”

The “European capital” where Zelensky can count on the warmest welcome is London.

Western support for Ukraine will continue “for years”, Rishi Sunak said last week. Britain was the first country to provide Ukraine with modern battle tanks, and also sent long‑range cruise missiles to boost its anticipated offensive.

As the war grinds on, the anti-war movement needs to be stronger, both east and west. Russian troops out of Ukraine, no to Nato escalation and expansion.