Progressives in US House call for ‘proactive diplomatic push’ for Ukraine ceasefire

Noting the pain and suffering of the Ukraine people and the risk of nuclear war that threatens the entire world, progressive U.S. lawmakers on Monday called on President Joe Biden to make a decisive shift in his approach to the conflict by initiating a “proactive democratic push” with the goal of seeking “a realistic framework for a ceasefire” through direct negotiations with Russia.

Led by Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the lawmakers said the U.S. must lead efforts to end the war as peacefully as possible in addition to providing the Ukrainians with economic and military aid, which now totals $60 billion.

“If there is a way to end the war while preserving a free and independent Ukraine, it is America’s responsibility to pursue every diplomatic avenue to support such a solution that is acceptable to the people of Ukraine,” wrote the lawmakers. “The alternative to diplomacy is a protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks.”

In their letter Monday, progressives including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) noted that Biden himself has said Putin “doesn’t have a way out” and that “there’s going to have to be a negotiated settlement” to end the war.

Beyond casualties in Ukraine, they noted, “the conflict threatens an additional tens of millions more worldwide, as skyrocketing prices in wheat, fertilizer, and fuel spark acute crises in global hunger and poverty,” in addition to elevating the risk for a nuclear strike.

“The longer the war in Ukraine goes on, the greater the risk of escalation—to widespread, devastating effect,” Jayapal told The Washington Post.

Despite Zelenskyy stating that Putin’s recent annexation makes peace talks impossible in the moment, the letter from the U.S. lawmakers notes that the Ukrainian president has previously acknowledged that the war “will only definitively end through diplomacy.”

The letter was sent a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s most recent discussion with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and comes a month after a poll commissioned by the Quincy Institute showed that nearly half of U.S. voters believe the administration should do more to push for diplomatic talks to end the war.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.