STUC Statement on Russian invasion of Ukraine

March 3rd 2022

STUC Statement on Russian invasion of Ukraine

March 3rd 2022

The Russian attack on Ukraine is a crime. Our overriding priority at this moment must be solidarity with the Ukrainian people who are subject to brutal invasion.

We must immediately impose further sanctions on Russia. We applaud those workers who led the way by pledging to boycott any Russian owned oil tanker seeking to dock in Scotland.

Sanctions will be painful for many in Russia including the vast majority who have no hand in this war. They will also impact people across the world including in the UK. However, this course of action offers at least the possibility of an eventual resolution of the crisis without recourse to direct military intervention. Direct intervention would deepen and widen the crisis and increase suffering.

In addition to increasing sanctions, the Tory Party should break all links, including all financial links, with the Russian super-rich with whom it has been far too close for many years. The Government should also ensure that in the UK, any economic consequences of increased sanctions or the conflict more generally should be borne by those most able to pay.

We need an immediate lifting of restrictions on entry to the UK for all those seeking asylum from Ukraine and other conflict zones around the world.

Putin is the aggressor and bears complete responsibility for the invasion. This fact does not absolve NATO and the West from historical foreign policy failures nor for their invasion and annexation of other sovereign countries in the past. In providing safe refuge for Ukrainians fleeing war, we should now accept proper responsibility to offer shelter to refugees from other wars around the world.