Ukraine

The majority of the world agrees that the humanitarian consequences and civilian harm caused by cluster munitions, which can kill anyone and everyone in their wide path, are unacceptable. Despite this global understanding, the United States remains an outlier in allowing the continued production and use of these immoral weapons. Now, some lawmakers are urging the Biden Administration to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, disregarding the global prohibition of these weapons and the significant danger they pose to civilians.

Transferring the weapons may bring tactical benefits but would be a strategic disaster.

One year into the expanded war in Ukraine, it is clear a military approach will not bring peace.

Amid calls for more weapons to win battlefield victories, we affirm the enduring power of building peace through peaceful means. We urge robust, persistent, and creative diplomacy and peacebuilding to bring about a just and durable solution to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

With bipartisan support, lawmakers are set to approve $858 billion for the Department of Defense and related activities in this year’s defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The Friends Committee on National Legislation and its partner Quaker organizations issued the following statement today on the war in Ukraine and the Quaker commitment to peace.

Quakers are a people who follow after peace, love and unity. Our peace testimony is our witness to the Truth as we experience it. We continue to support peacebuilding measures. We call on the governments of Ukraine, Russia, neighboring countries, the United States, NATO and the European Union, to explore all avenues—whether public or private—for a renewed conversation to address the human security needs of all the peoples and countries in the region, to help provide the basis for long term peace.

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats to use nuclear weapons, the Biden administration has responded with threats of “catastrophic consequences” if Russia does the unthinkable. As the administration plans for different scenarios, FCNL stands united with 27 interfaith partners in urging the President to avoid the path towards mutually assured destruction and resist pressure to respond with nuclear weapons if Moscow detonates nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threat to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine is a horrifying act of nuclear blackmail that contradicts his own admission that “there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed.” It deserves thorough condemnation. But more importantly, it requires a steady response of de-escalation.