Coalition to Prevent War with Russia

Further information: Norman Solomon, norman@rootsaction.org , (415) 488-3606; Medea Benjamin, medea.benjamin@gmail.com , (415) 235-6517

100 U.S. Organizations Release Statement Urging Biden “to End the U.S. Role in Escalating” the Ukraine Crisis

More than 100 national and regional U.S. organizations released a joint statement Tuesday urging President Biden “to end the U.S. role in escalating the extremely dangerous tensions with Russia over Ukraine.” The groups said “it is gravely irresponsible for the president to participate in brinkmanship between two nations that possess 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.”

The statement warned that the current crisis “could easily spiral out of control to the point of pushing the world to the precipice of nuclear war.”

Release of the statement came with an announcement of a virtual news conference set for Wednesday morning -- with speakers including a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Jack F. Matlock Jr.; The Nation editorial director Katrina vanden Heuvel, who is president of the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord; and Martin Fleck, representing Physicians for Social Responsibility. Journalists can sign up to attend the Noon EST Feb. 2 news conference via Zoom by clicking here -- https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pIoKDszBQ8Ws8A8TuDgKbA -- and will then receive a confirmation email with an access link.

Organizations signing the statement included Physicians for Social Responsibility, RootsAction.org, Code Pink, Just Foreign Policy, Peace Action, Veterans For Peace, Our Revolution, MADRE, Progressive Democrats of America, American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord, Pax Christi USA, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Center for Citizen Initiatives, and the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security.

Outreach for the statement was coordinated by Code Pink and RootsAction.org. Below is the statement’s full text.

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A Statement from U.S. Organizations on the Ukraine Crisis

[ February 1, 2022 ]

As organizations representing millions of people in the United States, we call upon President Biden to end the U.S. role in escalating the extremely dangerous tensions with Russia over Ukraine. It is gravely irresponsible for the president to participate in brinkmanship between two nations that possess 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.

For the United States and Russia, the only sane course of action now is a commitment to genuine diplomacy with serious negotiations, not military escalation – which could easily spiral out of control to the point of pushing the world to the precipice of nuclear war.

While both sides are to blame for causing this crisis, its roots are entangled in the failure of the U.S. government to live up to its promise made in 1990 by then-Secretary of State James Baker that NATO would expand not “one inch to the East.” Since 1999, NATO has expanded to include numerous countries, including some that border Russia. Rather than dismissing out of hand the Russian government’s current insistence on a written guarantee that Ukraine will not become part of NATO, the U.S. government should agree to a long-term moratorium on any NATO expansion.

Signing organizations

Physicians for Social Responsibility

RootsAction.org
CODEPINK
Just Foreign Policy
Peace Action
Veterans For Peace
Our Revolution
MADRE
Progressive Democrats of America
American Committee for US-Russia Accord
Pax Christi USA
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Alaska Peace Center
Arise for Social Justice
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
Backbone Campaign
Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Baltimore Peace Action
BDSA Internationalism Committee
Benedictines for Peace
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Beyond Nuclear
Campaign Nonviolence
Casa Baltimore Limay
Chapter 9 Veterans For Peace, Smedley Butler Brigade
Chicago Area Peace Action
Cleveland Peace Action
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Community Peacemaker Teams
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
Continuing the Peace Dialogue
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington DC
Eisenhower Media Project
End the Wars Coalition, Milwaukee
Environmentalists Against War
Extinction Rebellion PDX
First Unitarian Society - Madison Justice Ministries
Food Not Bombs
Foreign Policy In Focus
Frack Free Four Corners
Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution
Global Exchange
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Grassroots International
Hawaii Peace and Justice
Historians for Peace and Democracy
Interfaith Peace Working Group
International Tribunal of Conscience
Just World Educational
Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War
Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Maryland Peace Action
Massachusetts Peace Action
Metta Center for Nonviolence
Monroe County Democrats
MPower Change Fund
Muslim Delegates and Allies
National Lawyers Guild (NLG) International
New Hampshire Veterans for Peace
New Jersey State Industrial Union Council
North Texas Peace Advocates
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Other98
Pace e Bene
Parallax Perspectives
Partners for Peace Fort Collins
Peace Action of San Mateo County
Peace Action WI
Peace Education Center
PeaceWorkers
People for Bernie Sanders
Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter, Baltimore, Veterans For Peace
Physicians for Social Responsibility, AZ Chapter
Prevent Nuclear War/ Maryland
Progressive Democrats of America, Tucson
Proposition One Campaign for a Nuclear Free Future
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center
Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility
San Jose Peace and Justice Center
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team
SolidarityINFOService
Traprock Center for Peace & Justice
United for Peace and Justice
United Nations Association, Milwaukee
Veterans For Peace, Russia Working Group
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 102
Veterans For Peace Chapter 111, Bellingham, WA
Veterans For Peace Chapter 113-Hawai’i
Veterans For Peace Linus Pauling Chapter 132
Veterans For Peace - NYC Chapter 34
Veterans For Peace - Santa Fe Chapter
Veterans Peace Team
Western North Carolina Physicians for Social Responsibility
Western States Legal Foundation
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
Women Cross DMZ
Women Against Military Madness
Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom US
Women Transforming Our Nuclear Legacy
World BEYOND War
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