
The thousands-strong solidarity demonstration in London on 22 February, organised by USC with a coalition of Ukrainian organisations and UK trade unionists to mark the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion, heard speeches from four UK Labour MPs. We also received the following message of support from the four Green MPs. Many thanks to the Green Party of England and Wales and to the MPs.
See also this article by Matthew Hull, who is trade union liaison officer on the party’s executive committee, and British-Ukrainian environmentalist and Green member Viktoriya Ball.
The Green Party has long stood with Ukraine against Putin’s brutal, illegal war and his murderous regime. And three years on from his large-scale invasion of Ukraine we continue to stand in solidarity.
We continue to support the determination and extraordinary bravery of the Ukrainian people, who face a level of horror and devastation that many have rightly said amounts to war crimes.
We continue in our unwavering position that the voice of Ukraine must be front and centre of any peace talks.
And we continue in our opposition to the long war of violence and disinformation that has been waged by Putin’s Russia.
Putin is a dangerous tyrant, and it should perhaps be no surprise that the tyrant in the White House is joining him – to spread lies, to sow division and chaos, and to undermine the rule of law and attack democracy.
It is for the people of Ukraine to decide their future. Not Putin, not Trump.
Bombs and bombast do not make that future safer. Nor do they make the whole region safer. Protecting Ukraine and its neighbours too from ongoing Russian aggression must remain our focus.
So the Green Party message today is the same as it was 3 years ago:
• We demand that the UK government close all those loopholes enabling the Kremlin war chest to still profit from the sale of Russian oil and gas.
• We demand that Ukrainians who came to the UK to seek safety and still cannot return to their war-torn homes are given ongoing protection and proper support.
• We demand that the UK keep supporting Ukraine and pushing the US to do the same.
• We demand that the UK look to our closest neighbours in Europe to build peace and stability.
• And friends, we demand a just and lasting peace based on the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Carla Denyer (MP for Bristol Central); Adrian Ramsay (MP for Waveney Valley); Siân Berry (MP for Brighton Pavilion); Ellie Chowns (MP North Herefordshire)
