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Ukrainian peace activists accuse Truss of ‘adding fuel to the fire of war’ with £2.3bn military aid pledge

LIZ TRUSS’s promise to send at least £2.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine next year risks “adding fuel to the fire of war,” peace campaigners in Ukraine and Britain have warned. 

The PM has committed to match or exceed the amount of military support given to Ukrainian troops in 2022 to fight the Russian invasion. 

Ms Truss made the announcement as she prepared to fly to New York on Tuesday morning. 

She told reporters: “My message to the people of Ukraine is this: the UK will continue to be right behind you every step of the way. Your security is our security.”

Britain is already the second largest military donor to Ukraine after the US, having committed to £2.3bn in 2022 as well as providing tens of thousands of ammunition rounds, rockets and anti-tank missiles. 

Ms Truss added that recent gains made by Ukrainian troops show “what they can do when given the military, economic and political support they need.”

However, peace campaigners in both countries have warned that the influx of weapons and military donations risks prolonging the devastating war. 

Ukrainian Pacifist Movement chief executive Yurii Sheliazhenko told the Morning Star: “New investments of the UK government into perpetuation of the Russo-Ukrainian war… are harmful for the people of Ukraine, UK and the whole world.

“It is not just an obscene waste of public money desperately needed to deal with pressing social needs — it means more bloodshed, destruction, poverty, pollution.

“It is barbaric and highly inappropriate in [the] 21st century to spend a fortune for organised mass killing and pennies for peace-building.”

The Kiev-based peace activist continued: “What we really need is multi-track diplomacy and peaceful solution, ceasefire and comprehensive inclusive peace talks seeking reconciliation not only between Ukraine and Russia but also between the East and West.”

Ms Truss should help deserters and conscientious objectors to military service in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to claim asylum in Britain, “instead of adding fuel to the fire of war,” he added. 

Stop the War convener Lindsey Germany also warned that Ms Truss risked escalating the war in Ukraine. 

“Truss should be dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, which is greatly exacerbated by the war, rather than refusing to countenance negotiations and peace talks,” she said. 

“Working-class people in Ukraine, Russia and the rest of Europe are the victims of this war. More weapons will only make this worse.”

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