Press Release, 30.11.2024

Photo: Grigory Yavlinsky speaking to the Yabloko Federal Council on 30 November, 2024 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

At the opening of the Yabloko Federal Council meeting, attended by more than 100 representatives of 68 regional branches of the party, Grigory Yavlinsky stressed that reaching an agreement on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as the party’s main objective in the current conditions.

The Yabloko leader recalled that since 2014, Yabloko had been proposing ways to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, warning of the catastrophe that erupted in February 2022. These issues were at the centre of the party’s election campaign for the 2021 parliamentary elections.

From the very beginning of the “special military operation”, Yabloko advocated an immediate ceasefire. In November 2022, the party’s initiative became not just a moral and emotional reaction to the events, but turned into the only correct military-political solution to the conflict. Then Grigory Yavlinsky addressed a number of world politicians and leading figures, but failed to achieve significant results. One of the reasons, according to Yavlinsky, was Washington’s reluctance to move towards a ceasefire.

Yavlinsky called the refusal to ceasefire in late 2022 – early 2023 a “huge mistake” that cost the warring parties enormous losses and brought the world closer to a nuclear war.

The Yabloko leader said that a ceasefire on the current lines of contact, creation of a buffer zone and introduction of international observers acceptable to both sides could slow down these processes.

According to Yavlinsky, the second stage should involve “big diplomacy” – negotiations on a new system of global security, disarmament, border transparency and other global issues in the new realities.

A solution to the problem is possible only with the revival of Russia’s interest in reintegration with Europe in the perspective. “Historically and substantively, Russia’s future is connected precisely with Europe,” Yavlinsky emphasised.

Grigory Yavlinsky noted that all the proposed measures should not only be desirable, but also feasible. “We should not compare the ideal with the non-existent, we need to fight for the possible and the alternative,” he added, calling to focus primarily on preserving people’s lives and the future of the two countries, rather than just on borders and territories.

In his speech, Yavlinsky also touched on global problems, including the “new world disorder” replacing the world order that emerged after World War II.

According to Yaavlinsky, the rise of populism posed a particular threat: “Modern populism is a manifestation of ochlocracy, born with the help of the Internet, social networks and digital technologies. The emotions and passions of the crowd prevail over reason. People are divided and isolated from each other. There is no common understanding of reality and no common understanding of threats”.

Yavlinsky warned that populists, having failed to deliver on their promises, tended to look for internal and external enemies, which would lead to totalitarianism, fascism and wars. He also expressed concerns that modern populism could turn the majority of citizens into “digital slaves”.

Among the challenges for Russia, Yavlinsky highlighted the growth of interethnic and interreligious tensions, the return of armed and traumatised people from the front, the activation of far-right groups and a return to the Soviet economic model.

At the global level, he pointed out the risks of US protectionism, in particular the policies of Donald Trump, which could weaken international law and international organisations, and this in turn would lead to chaos and anarchy, including negative effects for the United States too.

The key task of the party, according to Yavlinsky, should be the formation of a meaningful alternative focusing on the individual, and his or her dignity and freedom.

“Our responsibility is to prepare society for change. When the chaos begins to subside, Yabloko must become the force that, together with citizens, can direct Russia to a future that corresponds to the interests of our Russia,” the party leader concluded.