SanctionsKill Campaign Statement on Ukraine Conflict

By Solidarity Center – Mar 17, 2022

The SanctionsKill Campaign is a broad coalition of social justice, solidarity, and peace forces focused on exposing the devastating impact of US sanctions on civilian populations globally.

Sanctions are not a substitute for war
The current regime of sanctions against Russia is not a substitute for war, but a form of warfare. Sanctions kill many thousands just as bombs do. Sanctions create hyperinflation, artificial famines, social upheavals, and health crises that punish civilian populations. As US President Biden said, the sanctions are intended “to inflict further pain.”

Sanctions are collective punishment and illegal under international law.

Nor are the sanctions by the US and its allies against Russia a deterrent to war. They will not reduce hostilities, but are an escalation of the current conflict.

Sanctions consolidate US dominance in Europe
Sanctions are being used to consolidate US dominance in the region, even though it is counter to the material interests of the European Union (EU) and the UK to cut economic ties with Moscow.

The growth in EU trade with Russia and China threatens the domination of US corporate power in Europe. The EU is the biggest investor in Russia. While the US is the largest exporter of methane gas, the EU purchases substantial gas from Russia at much lower prices, and also oil and wheat.

With the EU and especially Germany unwilling to impose sanctions, which would break all relations with Russia, Biden threatened the US allies that the only alternative to going along with the US would be nuclear war. The US president said: “You have two options. Start a Third World War…Or two, make sure that the country that acts so contrary to international law ends up paying a price.” Biden said the US “goal from the very beginning” was to keep NATO and the EU “on the same page.”

Using the dominant role of the dollar in the world economy, Washington has unilaterally imposed over 5,500 sanctions on Russia, making it the most sanctioned target of US aggressive policies.

US sanctions dragging the whole world into the conflict
Unfortunately, Russia is not the only victim of these unilateral coercive measures. Over 40 countries, comprising a third of humanity, are so targeted by the US. These include Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, China, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Third countries trading with targets of US sanctions also face heavy fines. This deadly form of economic warfare destroys regional development.

Further, the US is compelling other countries to execute these extreme economic penalties. We note, with grave concern, that these sanctions imposed on Russia are dragging the whole world into a conflict which has a high potential of spiraling out of control.

The United Nations did not approve the US-instigated sanctions. Many countries now refuse to join with the US/EU sanctions imposed on Russia. To date India, Pakistan, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and other countries with smaller economies have refused to comply with the US measures. In fact, almost all of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, and most of Asia reject the sanctions.

Sanctions are a crime against humanity
Such sanctions would damage these countries’ own trade relations. Supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures from the US-led sanctions are already disproportionately impacting poor and working people globally due to shortages and higher prices for food, fuel, and basic commodities. Especially impacted are people in the developing world.

As over 60 years of US sanctions against the Cuban Revolution prove, sanctions meant to achieve the regime change the US wants to impose have, in fact, resulted in raining misery upon the targeted people. These sanctions serve as a cautionary lesson to any nation that wishes to exercise its sovereignty under the globally inflicted Pax Americana. It is a crime against humanity.

Ending the Ukraine War
This devastating war started with the US-orchestrated coup in 2014 coup, overthrowing the democratically elected government in Ukraine. Although Ukraine is not a formal NATO member, the US has since dumped mountains of lethal arms and deployed US military “advisors” into Ukraine.

Ukraine is a pawn in Washington’s strategy against Russia. Since the coup, Ukraine has been reduced to the poorest country in Europe with the highest rate of migration. Kiev’s continuing aggression against its eastern provinces and mass privatizations of socially owned property have furthered the economic ruin.

Sanctions Kill Campaign calls on all sides to end hostilities and for the US to employ diplomacy; not weapons, sanctions and war!

Featured image: File photo

(Solidarity Center)