Decision by the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko, adopted on 21.11.2024, published on 27.11.2024

Photo: The Kursk region, August 2024 / Photo by Anatoly Zhdanov, Kommersant

Even before the start of the “special military operation”, the Yabloko party warned of the catastrophic consequences of a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. From the very beginning of the hostilities, we proposed realistic ways to end them and expressed our readiness to act as organisers and participants in the negotiation process. In April 2022, we first formulated the demand for a ceasefire agreement as the first step towards resolving the conflict.

This call has not yet been accepted by either the parties to the conflict or world leaders. However, it has always found understanding and support from professional military specialists who clearly saw the futility of a forceful solution to the conflict. There were many opportunities to stop the war, but they were all missed. Each new stage of the conflict only worsened the situation increasing the number of victims and the scale of destruction.

In recent months, the tragedy has only intensified. Dozens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of civilians, including children, have died on both sides. The Kursk region of Russia has become a combat zone, Ukraine’s territorial losses have increased, its economy, especially its energy sector, is being destroyed.

Meanwhile, in Russia, the military-industrial complex has completely absorbed the civilian economy. The entrepreneurial middle class and independent businesses are being destroyed. Russian society, especially in the regions, is experiencing a deep moral deformation: people agree to go to the front with all the ensuing consequences for multi-million rouble payments. Political repression has reached a scale unseen since Stalinism. Thousands of people have ended up behind bars for their anti-war stance, hundreds of thousands have been forced to leave the country.

As we warned, the West is cutting its aid to Ukraine due to the depletion of its own military resources and the fatigue of European nations from someone else’s war.

A change of administration in the United States can radically change the situation: the president-elect announced his intention to reduce the American presence in Europe, which can radically transform the balance of power and the further prospects of the conflict.

At the same time, the outgoing administration, following the leaders of France and Great Britain, approved long-range missile strikes deep into Russian territory. This dramatically increases the likelihood of using nuclear weapons with the prospect of the complete destruction of life on Earth.

On 19 November, 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving an updated nuclear doctrine, which assumes the possibility of responding to “aggression from any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state”.

By signing this document, he confirmed the principle according to which Russia can use nuclear weapons in response to aggression against itself or Belarus using conventional weapons. The Kremlin has already stated that Ukraine’s use of Western non-nuclear missiles against Russia can lead under the new doctrine to a nuclear response. This is another step towards a real nuclear apocalypse.

Therefore, we continue to categorically insist that the only real chance to stave off the growing likelihood of a nuclear war, save lives on both sides of the front, prevent further destruction of Ukraine, and create conditions for negotiations is an immediate ceasefire.

The first step could be to conclude an agreement to stop strikes deep into the territories of Russia and Ukraine (outside the agreed adjacent zone along the line of contact). Then to reach an agreement on a ceasefire on the line of contact and in the adjacent zone, on the withdrawal of troops, heavy weapons and military equipment at agreed distances, on the introduction of an observer contingent of neutral states. On this basis bilateral and multilateral negotiations on a comprehensive peaceful settlement of the conflict, on the limitation and reduction of armed forces and on confidence-building measures in Europe (Helsinki-2) can begin.

It is important to understand that the ceasefire agreement:

– DOES NOT fix the ownership of territories;

– DOES NOT establish interstate borders or demarcation lines;

– DOES NOT address the issue of joining or not joining NATO;

– DOES NOT require the cessation of military cooperation with third countries;

– DOES NOT establish neutrality or turn anyone into a satellite state;

– DOES NOT lift sanctions against anyone;

– DOES NOT hinder the investigation of war crimes.

This agreement is aimed solely at ceasing the bloodshed and saving human lives. In the current circumstances, the path to justice is to save human lives and stop the tragic destruction of the future. All other issues must be discussed in negotiations, which will only be possible after the ceasefire.

Today, the idea of ​​a ceasefire has gone beyond narrow circles and is gaining increasing support. It is shared not only by the world’s leading intellectuals and Nobel Prize laureates, but also by a number of states. Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Serbia are in favour of ending the hostilities. Countries such as Brazil, India, China, Turkey, and others are ready to contribute to this. As sociological surveys show, the majority of citizens of Russia and Ukraine also want a ceasefire.

We once again appeal to politicians who make key decisions, especially Vladimir Putin, as well as political leaders in Kyiv, Washington, and Brussels, to reach an agreement on a ceasefire.

We also ask all responsible citizens, and especially opinion leaders in different fields, to support our demands. Whether the idea of ​​a ceasefire becomes dominant in the public consciousness will determine when it will become a reality.

A ceasefire is not only a moral necessity, but also the only real path to peace and a future.

The Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko Party once again calls for a ceasefire.

We demand that leaders demonstrate the political will needed for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing crisis threatening a global catastrophe.

Every day of delay brings new victims, growing bitterness, fear and dehumanisation in society. The growing escalation of the conflict brings the possible outbreak of World War III closer.

We emphasise once again: only a ceasefire stops the killing of people and the slide towards a nuclear catastrophe, only this gives hope for the future.

We appeal to the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine with a demand to conclude a ceasefire agreement. We call on the heads of the leading countries of the world to support the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

We appeal to the citizens of Russia to support this call.

Continuation of military actions and further escalation of the conflict is the path to World War III.

Grigory Yavlinsky,

Chairman of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee

The Federal Political Committee decisions calling to a ceasefire:

“On the critical need to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible” decision of 20 October 2022

“A ceasefire is the first and inevitable step towards peace” decision of 24 March, 2023

“On the urgent need of a ceasefire” decision of 24 November, 2023