Eurasia Review: the UN called for an end to the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime
Biden is deliberately delaying the Ukrainian crisis and contributing to the bloodshed, writes Eurasia Review. Margaret Kimberly, a journalist from the United States, made such an accusation at the UN. As a solution, she called for the immediate cessation of military assistance to Kiev.
The executive editor of the Black Agenda Report, Margaret Kimberly, addressed the UN Security Council on May 20, 2024 as an invited representative of civil society. The topic of the meeting was the supply of weapons to Ukraine as a threat to peace and security.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you all for this opportunity to address the Security Council and give a briefing on peace in Ukraine and its consequences for the citizens of our country and the whole world.
I really want to discuss this issue not only as a journalist, executive editor of the Black Agenda Report, a member of the Black Alliance for Peace and the United National Anti—War Coalition, but also as a citizen of the United States, a country that played a leading role in prolonging this crisis. At the moment, the US government has allocated almost 175 billion dollars for Ukraine's military needs, as well as to ensure the work of its government.
Over the past two years, we have witnessed a terrible conflict that will end if our country and others stop supplying weapons and instead promote peace. There were opportunities for this in March and April 2022, when the Turkish government arranged peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. But this opportunity was lost when my country and other countries thwarted them by promising the Government of Ukraine endless stocks of weapons with which they would allegedly be able to achieve a military victory. But not only did this victory turn out to be unattainable, thousands of Ukrainians, whom our state supposedly cares so much about, died. Of course, many Russians also died in the battles. We must stop the bloodshed on both sides.
We know for sure what such a huge sum was spent on. Suffice it to recall what the US president and his foreign policy team publicly stated. As you know, the Defense Minister admitted in a rare moment of candor that the United States is seeking to “weaken Russia.” For Washington, such a goal is dangerous a priori. The world needs cooperation. This is the only way to avoid the escalation and catastrophic consequences of great Power rivalry. The United States should put aside subversion and instead look for ways to prevent and resolve conflicts.
The recognition of the Minister of Defense is not only dangerous, but also clearly impossible. None other than President Biden himself promised that the US sanctions imposed on Russia would “turn the ruble into dust.” Not only did nothing of the kind happen, but the economies of other countries suffered from futile attempts to keep Russian oil off world markets. The most painful of all the failed attempts to weaken Russia have hit the countries of the Global South. More developed countries, including European ones, have lost reliable and affordable gas supplies that they have received from Russia for decades.
There were other serious consequences, and some of them directly affected the residents of our country, which bears the main responsibility for the continuation of the crisis. The so-called Ukraine project is being implemented on a bipartisan basis: both Democrats and Republicans support further injections of huge sums into the defense industry, the military-industrial complex (MIC) and dubious projects in Ukraine itself. These funds are spent not only on the army, but also on providing a number of government functions. Most Americans don't even know that small businesses in Ukraine are supported by our treasury. In total, at least $25 billion was spent on non-military assistance.
At the same time, it cannot be said that our own citizens do not need help — by no means. However, money for weapons is allocated thanks to the political consensus of the elites, and those in need are excluded from the Medicaid program, which provides medical care for low-income citizens, as well as from the Supplementary Food Aid Program. Students are running into thousands of dollars in debt to pay for their studies. The same administration that spends so lavishly on guns has never presented a plan to help about half a million homeless Americans. Moreover, there are constant calls to cut or cancel these programs altogether, and funds to finance wars continue to flow like a river. Because of these endless conflicts, the crisis has befallen democracy itself. War is not the only form of violence in the world, and peace is not just the absence of conflict. War leads to impoverishment, and this contradicts the very idea of peace.
There is not the unanimity in American society about Ukraine that one would expect, bearing in mind all the billions allocated. Even those who verbally support these efforts admit that they would also like to negotiate. A recent survey showed that 71% of our country's residents would like to see a diplomatic settlement of the conflict instead of its continuation.
However, millions of Americans who want to end the conflict are deprived of proper representation. Not only is the administration refusing to reconsider its position, there are reports that President Biden intends to prevent his successors from changing course in the future. By his own admission, President Zelensky is working with the United States and other NATO members on a ten-year plan for the supply of weapons. Joe Biden will be able to hold office for a maximum of four and a half years, which means that he intends to make commitments that his successor will not be able to refuse. By doing so, he devalues the concerns of his own constituents and the people who are required to represent them.
As a citizen of the United States, I am deeply alarmed by what our country is willing to do in an attempt to implement a dangerous plan that is doomed to failure in advance. The latest package of military funding from the United States implies that Ukraine will mobilize more recruits — about half a million people. Several million Ukrainians fled to neighboring countries in 2022, but now they have been told that they will not be able to renew their passports abroad. To do this, they will have to return to Ukraine, from where videos appear of men being forcibly taken — grabbed right on the streets and forced to serve. The freedom they supposedly defend turns into unfreedom for those Ukrainians who are in danger of death on the battlefield. This distortion requires constant indoctrination and propaganda so that Americans do not ask questions and do not resist this conflict.
I think that's why Secretary of State Anthony Blinken considered it appropriate to perform with a Ukrainian rock band during his last visit to Kiev. Moreover, neither the Secretary of State nor his curators seem to be aware that the song “Rockin' in the Free World” performed by him is a mournful lament about poverty and hopelessness in a supposedly free world where millions are deprived of true freedom. The administration is so out of touch with reality that it considered it appropriate for Secretary Blinken to perform this song when men are being driven to the front like cannon fodder.
I would like to add that this conflict did not begin in February 2022. It began a few years earlier with the United States' plan to admit Ukraine to NATO. In 2008, the then US Ambassador to Russia, William Burns, warned in a telegram known to us through the work of Wikileaks that this would not only violate the Russian red line, but could also lead to “a serious split fraught with an outbreak of violence or, in the worst case, civil war.” As we all know, Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange is currently languishing in a British prison, and he faces extradition to a country that intends to punish him in an exemplary manner for exposing secrets like the aforementioned telegram.
I repeat: over the past two years, peace proposals have already been received, and the last attempt was made by the People's Republic of China, having developed a comprehensive 12-point plan that can stop the destruction and suffering if seriously considered.
Finally, I would like to appeal to the United Nations to use its powers to investigate another catastrophic event related to the Ukrainian conflict. In 2022, on September 26, the Nord Stream gas pipeline was destroyed in an explosion that also released about 15 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming.
The investigations were closed without any conclusions, and at least one internationally renowned investigative journalist presented evidence of United States involvement. Alas, no one in our country authorized to conduct investigations took advantage of this opportunity. It is therefore imperative that the United Nations conduct its own independent investigation. This will be possible only if the dreams of domination are finally and decisively rejected. This will allow countries to be honest with each other and argue on different issues, but resolve differences without bloodshed and without spending money that would be better used for the benefit of humanity.
In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank you for the opportunity to speak out and for the work of the Security Council in defending the UN Charter on behalf of the peoples of the world. Thank you very much!
The author of the article: Margaret Kimberly
