The peace movement should insist on a proportionate and restrained response by the Biden administration to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Such a response would include, in collaboration with the Ukrainian goverment, diplomatic initiatives such as a ceasefire (already articulated by Ukrainian President Zelensky, but ignored by Putin) as well as the avoidance of any steps that would widen and escalate the war. It should also provide aid – including certain forms of military aid – to the embattled and underequipped Ukrainian army and people.
I obviously don’t agree with many on the left who insist that NATO should provide only non-military assistance to beseiged Ukrainians fighting for their lives and their country against a predatory and heavily militarized state. The provision of military support is a difficult and dangerous needle to thread, but it can and should be done.
