Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.
Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Barbara Lee, two top members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, implored the Biden administration on Wednesday to urgently pursue a diplomatic outcome in Ukraine, warning that “there is no military solution” to surging tensions with Russia.
“Diplomacy needs to be the focus,” Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the CPC, and Lee (D-Calif.), the head of the caucus’ Peace and Security Taskforce, said in a statement.
While voicing support for the Biden administration’s efforts to “extend and deepen the dialogue” with Russia amid fears of a disastrous war involving two nuclear-armed nations, the two progressive lawmakers raised alarm over the flow of U.S. arms into Ukraine and the prospect of American troops being deployed to Eastern Europe.
“We have significant concerns that new troop deployments… and a flood of hundreds of lethal weapons will only raise tensions and increase the chance of miscalculation,” Jayapal and Lee said as their party’s leadership planned to fast-track legislation authorizing $500 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
The pair also warned against imposing “sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions” on Russia, arguing such a tactic would do more harm than good.
“In past crises, where events are moving quickly and intelligence is unclear, vigorous, delicate diplomacy is essential to de-escalation,” the lawmakers said. “We call upon our colleagues to allow the administration to find a diplomatic way out of this crisis.”
Jayapal and Lee’s statement came shortly before the U.S. on Wednesday delivered a written response to Russia’s security demands on Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance that Ukraine is looking to join. Russia sees the admission of Ukraine into NATO as a serious security threat.
As the Associated Press reported, “Moscow has demanded guarantees that NATO will never admit the country and other ex-Soviet nations as members and that the alliance will roll back troop deployments in other former Soviet bloc nations.”
“Some of these, like the membership pledge, are nonstarters for the U.S. and its allies, creating a seemingly intractable stalemate that many fear can only end in a war,” AP noted.
While the details of the U.S. response to Russia have not been made public, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated Wednesday that the Biden administration did not make any concessions to Moscow’s top demands, which are laid out in a draft security pact.
“We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend, including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances,” said Blinken, who met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in person last week.
Lavrov, for his part, told reporters Wednesday that “if the West continues its aggressive course, Moscow will take the necessary retaliatory measures.”
“We won’t allow our proposals to be drowned in endless discussions,” he added.
Important Message: Please Read
For 25 years, Truthout has survived by publishing impactful investigative journalism and analysis; distributing full editions 365 days a year; and building a community of readers who support us with small, hard-earned donations.
Eighty percent of our $3 million yearly budget comes from small donors alone. Of those, 8,000 readers support us with monthly donations. Back in 2018, when Facebook decided to suppress the circulation of posts made by organizations, thereby cutting readers off from seeing many articles shared by the news organizations they had intentionally decided to follow, Truthout’s total traffic declined by 40 percent, as nearly all of our traffic from that platform disappeared.
Now, Google has recently rolled out its AI search bar, providing AI summaries instead of directing readers to our site. Google Search is our single largest source of traffic; it’s the route by which nearly one third of our readers find us. Much like in 2018, a shocking 40 percent of our Google traffic has disappeared overnight.
It will not be easy for Truthout to shoulder this blow. Nor will it be easy for our peers and collaborators — news sites that depend on traffic and aren’t bankrolled by large corporations.
If you can support Truthout with a donation today, you can help us resist the AI onslaught. Please give today.