1. With the war between Russia and Ukraine, we find ourselves in a process in which the crisis of the imperialist world system is openly erupting. Contrary to the talk of those in power about a "global peace order", it has now happened what the MLPD has been pointing out all along: based on laws, imperialism leads to war. Concretely, Russia has aggressively begun the attack on Ukraine with imperialist motivation. The situation was equally brought about by the world's main warmonger, the USA, with NATO. An unjust war has broken out in Europe from both sides, Ukraine and Russia. There is a danger of a direct military clash between troops of USA/NATO and Russia. This is the hour for building a new peace movement, which must be directed against all imperialist warmongers.

2. In the morning hours of 24 February, new-imperialist Russia de facto declared war on Ukraine. Russian missiles attacked Ukrainian air force and air defenses in and around major cities such as Kiev, Kharkov, and Mariupol, which is the necessary precondition for advancing ground troops. The Russian army crossed the Ukrainian border. Already in the weeks before, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had been concentrated on the Ukrainian border. The MLPD condemns the actions of the aggressive new-imperialist robber Russia under Vladimir Putin.

3. As the world's main warmonger and provocateur, the U.S. and NATO helped to cause this war. War was provoked with the word-breaking NATO eastward expansion to Russia's borders, the encirclement of Russia with over 700 U.S. and NATO military bases, current further troop deployments to Eastern Europe, and a nearly synchronized psychological war preparation. NATO defense plans for Eastern Europe were activated and 45,000 troops of the NATO Rapid Reaction Force were put on alert.

Statement of the Central Committee of the MLPD

Ukraine: Stop the Dangerous Warmongering Starting from USA and NATO!

Active Resistance Against Every Imperialist Aggression – Whether by USA/NATO or Russia!

The Central Committee of the MLPD has just published a statement on the development of the threat of war over Ukraine.

1. The MLPD condemns the dangerous warmongering, which serves the imperialist striving for world domination on the backs of the masses. U.S. imperialism, as the main warmonger, is at the head of the aggressive actions of NATO: For more than 20 years, it has broken its word and provoked with the eastward expansion of NATO. Russia is surrounded by at least 700 US and NATO military bases. NATO has not de-escalated by one millimeter in the last weeks, on the contrary. For weeks it has been aggravating the situation with the expanding of armament and troop redeployments to Eastern Europe. One threat of sanctions follows the next. During the night of 22 February 2022, Russia's President Putin announced the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as "independent." Subsequently, the deployment of Russian troops there was announced. This move had also been provoked by provocations from Ukraine, and U.S. President Biden was literally talking up a war. Putin's aggressive measures are also unacceptable and an expression of Russia's new-imperialist policy. Now an open war in Europe threatens, which also intensifies the general danger of world war.

2. The background of the growing aggressiveness lies in the world economic and financial crisis that has been going on since mid-2018. More and more imperialist powers are seeking advantages in the redivision of spheres of power and influence. The unprecedented raw materials and logistics crisis has plunged the reorganization of international production into an open crisis, further hampering economic development. The economy of the superpower USA has fallen behind massively in recent years and is aggressively fighting for its supremacy. Therefore, NATO is expanding armament for strategic reasons. Aptly, the 11th Party Congress of the MLPD in 2021 had qualified: "At the center of the strategic war plans are again inter-imperialist wars, especially USA/NATO on the one side, China and Russia on the other."

3. The increased scarcity of raw materials is no reason for the rulers of the world to resolutely switch to renewable energies - instead, the inter-imperialist competition over the question of who profits most from access to and trade in fossil raw materials such as oil and gas is flaring up. Prices are rising rapidly at the expense of the masses - overnight, the price of gas leaped by another 13%. Donetsk and Lugansk are home to Europe's fourth-largest fracking gas deposits, in addition to large coal mines. With North-Stream II, Russia wants to secure the European market. This is in direct contrast to the USA's efforts to sell its fracking gas in Europe. So far, this has not been feasible because the gas is more expensive and is extracted with methods extremely harmful to the environment. “Climate” Minister Robert Habeck is also using the situation as a justification for this. He promptly pushes to build new terminals for this.

4. The MLPD protests against the policy of the SPD/FDP/Alliance 90/The Greens government, which actively participates in the warmongering of NATO. It hypocritically presents itself in public as a “mediator”. But at the same time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaims a “geopolitical turn of the tide”, propagates the greater presence of the German Armed Forces in the Baltic States, and wants to increase the military budget significantly. These are all measures that have been impossible to implement so far. The crisis-damping measures by the German government are imperialist pacifism. Contradictions among the German monopolies exist at most because Russia is an important supplier and sales market for Germany, with which German imperialism does not want to spoil its business because of its dependency on exports.

5. Opportunism inevitably leads to social-chauvinism! The reconciliation with imperialism, no matter what color, leads sooner or later to the defense of imperialist wars. SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (also SPD) are expanding arms spending and foreign deployments of the German Armed Forces. Alliance 90/The Greens are currying favor with the aggressive U.S. government. Cem Özdemir (Greens), for example, called on Deutschlandfunk radio for demonstrations against Putin, instead of environmental blockades against his government. Revisionists from the Left Party or the DKP, on the other hand, openly defend the reactionary Putin regime. Whoever stands up for peace must oppose every imperialist power equally. In order to be able to leave over a world in peace and freedom and in unity of humanity and nature for future generations, imperialism must be overcome in a revolutionary way and genuine socialism must be fought for!

6. The military theorist Carl von Clausewitz already stated that every war includes winning public opinion. In this sense, a psychological preparation for war, unprecedented in the last years, is being staged by the imperialist powers of NATO. Presently, the major bourgeois media in Germany have been almost brought into line on this issue. Even from otherwise critical journalists with a left-liberal claim, hardly a word of criticism of the saber-rattling of the U.S. and NATO, but often even demands for the aggravation of the measures. The MLPD stands for the independent orientation in the sense of the proletarian class standpoint: The borders do not run between the peoples, but between above and below, as Karl Liebknecht brought it to the point.

7. The imperialists also justify their warmongering ideologically with their omnipresent anticommunism. NATO fantasizes that Putin wants to restore the Soviet Union. Yet Putin himself argues with anticommunism. In his speech on 21 February 2022, he complained that “Lenin” and “communist Russia” stood up for Ukraine's right to self-determination and that Stalin had even enlarged Ukraine's territory. Rightly, as early as 1917, Lenin demanded "full recognition of the Ukraine’s rights, including the right to free secession." (Lenin Collected Works, Vol. 25, p.92) The socialist Soviet Union was a voluntary union of peoples. This was the exact opposite of today's Russian imperialist great-power plans. Here, too, applies: Don't give anti-communism a chance!

8. Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe and, at the same time, has large reserves of raw materials. The support of the government of Ukraine, which is supposed to “defend democratic Western values”, is treacherous: The Ukrainian government itself has moved massively to the right, pursues an aggressive war policy and also cooperates with proto-fascist or even fascist groups such as the Azov Regiment. So these are the “Western values”! Even if criticisms from the population about the Ukrainian repression are justified: the “people's republics” Donetsk and Lugansk are not autonomous, but under the leadership of Putin's lackeys.

9. International workers' solidarity is of decisive importance in these days. The will for peace of the working class and the masses stands in the way of imperialist aggression and must be strengthened. Only 15% of Germans are in favor of supplying arms to Ukraine, in the USA it is similar. Marxist-Leninists from Russia write to the MLPD "that despite the constant media propaganda, the people of Russia and Ukraine are not interested in war and do not support it." It must be clear to everyone: The burdens of an imminent war will be shifted to the masses. Comrades of the ICOR organization KSRD from Ukraine report: "The miners on both sides of the front line [are] in immediate military danger." ICOR, the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations, takes a clear anti-imperialist position in its current resolution. This was signed by 33 ICOR organizations, including the MLPD as well as the MLP from Russia and the KSRD from Ukraine. Instead of bourgeois nationalism, militarism and warmongering - Long live international solidarity!

10. The MLPD and its youth league Rebell call especially on the youth: Rebellion against all warmongers! The youth will not let itself be sent to the slaughter for monopoly interests and world domination plans. Together with the Internationalist Alliance, MLPD and Rebell promote the building of a new peace movement directed against all imperialists. This must be expressed at this year's Easter marches. In this sense they support initiatives for active resistance, e.g. through the Internationalist Alliance. In case of an openly war-like clash of Russian and Ukrainian or NATO troops, it will call for protests at 6 p.m. on the following day in accordance with the ICOR resolution. To build up an active resistance of the masses, consciousness raising is necessary, because many people still underestimate the danger of a 3rd World War, lack clarity about the causes or panic.

In view of the acute danger of war in Ukraine, active resistance to preserve world peace is challenged!

• NATO and Russia: Hands off Ukraine! No invasion of imperialist troops!

• Dissolution of NATO and all imperialist military alliances, as well as the intervention units of the EU and the German Armed Forces! No German troops abroad!

• Strengthen the building of the international antifascist and anti-imperialist united front!

• Workers of all countries, unite! Workers of all countries and oppressed, unite!

• Fight for the right of self-determination of peoples, for peace, friendship among peoples, genuine socialism!

• Organize yourselves in the MLPD and its youth league Rebell!