Marcia Merry Baker

Feb. 25—In Ukraine this weekend, the military operations continue, with a focus on Kiev. Speaking from there, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today made sounds of both resistance and a call for ceasefire, and also proposed today that talks begin with Russia. President Vladimir Putin, who spoke with President Xi Jinping this morning, said that a high-level Russian delegation would be prepared to meet in Minsk, with Ukrainian representatives, on the security terms for Russia and the region, which Russia has repeatedly spelled out. Belarus President Alexandr Lukashenko affirmed that appropriate conditions would be provided for such a meeting in Minsk.The response of the U.S./U.K./NATO bloc to the situation is more of the same geopolitical logic, which led to the crisis in the first place. NATO heads of state and government met for a virtual session today, and issued a bellicose joint statement. The UN Security Council met late this afternoon, with a resolution by the NATO bloc, to denounce Russia; their next step is to take it to the UN General Assembly. President Biden spoke with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the U.S. and EU today announced sanctions against Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov personally, and also members of the Russian national security team. All the while, there are pledges of continuing arms flows into Ukraine. A convoy of ammunition reportedly went in today from Poland. The situation will not remain in this phase for long. The military operations will be over at some point soon, and the world is confronted with a new moment in our continuing responsibility: What happens next? One direction is doom, by one or a combination of nuclear war, famine and disease. For certain, the current collapsing financial/economic system cannot be “put back together” again to function. The other direction is toward physical economic, and social advancement for all nations and peoples—a new era for humanity. What will the course of history be, is exactly the focus of the international statement/petition by the Schiller Institute, “Convoke an International Conference to Establish a New Security and Development Architecture for All Nations.” In multiple languages—the latest, Portuguese, it is in circulation for emergency action for a new paradigm. Already, the West is hardening its crazed policy outlook into evil extremes. Media in Germany are making references to Vladimir Putin “walking in the footsteps of Hitler, like 1939.” Instead of this, just go back and look at some of the true reference points in cultural and strategic history. For example, in on Sept. 25, 2001, Putin addressed Germany’s Bundestag, speaking in flawless German, of the joint opportunities between the nations of Europe, including Russia. “The Cold War is over. The world is at a new stage of development.” He spoke of common interests, in particular, of jointly combatting terrorism. He stressed the common economic interests between Russia and Germany. Further, “Russia is an extremely dynamic country within Europe, not just in political terms but also in economic terms.” Over the ensuing years, as these aspirations were countered by the U.K./U.S./NATO establishment, Putin again spoke out, this time against the dangers of the dominance in global relations by the U.S. bloc. In 2007, he addressed the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 10. He warned of the consequences of the “almost uncontained hyper-use of force in international relations.” He opposed the U.S. missile shield in Europe. In 2014, Putin gave an in-depth speech on March 18 to both chambers of the Federal Assembly of Russia, on the occasion of the request for admission into the Russian Federation, by the Crimean Parliament. He presented a history of Ukrainian and Russian peoples, reviewed the unlawful events of the Maidan coup the month before, denouncing the role of the neo-Nazis and others. But all the while, he held out the hand of good will to those genuinely protesting corruption in Ukraine, and to the international community. That same month, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute President, wrote an article (EIR, March 14, 2014,) “It’s Not About Ukraine; It’s About Thermonuclear War,” which ended with her warning that thermonuclear war is “pre-programmed for the immediate future,” if the West continues its encirclement of Russia, and lacks the policy ability and wisdom to see what is going on, and correct it. She wrote then: "But there is still a small window of time in which a full mobilization of the population and reasonable people in the institutions of the U.S. and Europe can force the changes required in the policies of the governments. The main points are: “• The imperial policy toward Russia and China must be replaced, and the underlying cause of the danger of war eliminated: the threat of disintegration of the trans-Atlantic financial system; “• The true character of the coup in Ukraine must be exposed and admitted, and the underlying cause of the danger of war eliminated: the threat of disintegration of the trans-Atlantic financial system; “• It must be immediately replaced by Glass-Steagall-style separation of the banking system and the creation of a credit system in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton.”

Feb. 18—Today leaders of the two eastern border provinces of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, each gave orders for many of their residents to evacuate to nearby Russia, to be out of harm’s way from the mounting fire from Ukraine forces, which had intensified over Thursday night. Long lines of cars formed in the dark, en route to Rostov, where, under directives of President Vladimir Putin, temporary arrangements have been made for their accommodation. There is no basis for quick conjecture what this will eventually mean, given the many narratives issuing forth from NATO networks that Putin is bound to be staging a false-flag incident for an excuse to invade.Russian President Putin reiterated at a press briefing today at the Kremlin that there is no alternative to Kiev working things out with the Donetsk and Luhansk peoples, as spelled out in the Minsk agreement, but Kiev has refused to speak with them at all. Putin said, “All Kiev has to do is sit down at the negotiating table with representatives of Donbas and agree on political, military, economic and humanitarian measures to end this conflict. Regrettably, right now we are watching, on the contrary, an escalation in Donbas.” The recourse for Donbas residents to have to leave home to seek safety is the latest dramatic consequence of the armed confrontationism perpetrated in the name of “rules-based order” and “democracy” by the U.S./U.K./NATO bloc, now in full-sail, endangering all-out war. In our fight for forces of reason to intervene against this, the Schiller Institute’s international conference Feb. 19 is a major rallying point. It is titled, “100 Seconds to Midnight on the Doomsday Clock: We Need a New Security Architecture.” Enlist everyone, everywhere, to step up and join the mobilization. U.S. government and institutional figures are deployed in force, in person, throughout Europe right now, to scream the select narrative that Russia is chronically aggressive, Putin lies and operates from a “playbook,” and his forces on Russia’s western border aren’t there for military drills, but for invasion of Ukraine. This morning, Secretary of State Tony Blinken said this, alongside German Defense Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Munich Security Conference opening. Kamala Harris, also attending the conference, said this in a special meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and leaders of the Baltic nations. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this in Poland today, and in Brussels the last two days, at the sessions of NATO defense ministers. Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is also in Brussels repeating the refrain. In addition, U.S. Congressmen are in Munich on the same Russia-the-enemy line, including Sen. Rob Portman, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Biden’s environment envoy John Kerry is part of the pack. And the U.K. is right in there, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss being in Ukraine yesterday, pushing the new U.K.-Poland-Ukraine defense alliance. However, the more they doth assert their narratives, the less believable they are. The City of London’s weekly The Economist today takes the cake, declaring that Putin has deployed 190,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, in readiness for Russia’s invasion. A growing number throughout Europe, and the world over are distancing from this mad rush. So not surprisingly, U.S./U.K./NATO “unity” was a principal theme this afternoon in a special, short “status” briefing by President Biden, during which he said that he has evidence that Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine. He said he had briefed a bipartisan group of Congress on this today, a group of NATO heads of state, and is acting “to ensure we continue to remain in lockstep,” despite Russia’s attempts to divide us. He twice spoke of “unity, determination and resolve,” and being “united and resolved.” He closed on how “the free world is united.” Biden added during the question period, that there is still the “choice of diplomacy” that Putin can make, to stop the invasion. He reported that Blinken and Lavrov will meet Feb. 24 in Europe, unless there is an invasion. He said that the G7 will meet next week. Biden cited recent instances in eastern Ukraine—shelling of a pre-school, and the question of a mass grave—as false flags by Russia. Blinken this morning also stressed how we’re “unified in collective security” against Russia. The one American national who stood out for sanity and morality today at the Munich Security Conference was David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Program. At a session titled, “Seed Change Needed: Ensuring Food Security,” he spoke out for ending world hunger, in glaring distinction from the otherwise very green, cartel panelists. What kind of world is it, when out of 7.8 billion people today, 810 million don’t have enough food, and millions more are at the point of death by starvation? Will we go to 10 billion in 2050, and there will be mass hunger in Chicago and Paris? We need to save lives; we need a new system. Register for the Feb. 19 conference.

Feb. 13—The question of what will happen next, and when, in the contrived confrontation by the NATO bloc against Russia in Europe, remains hanging in the air and very dangerous. More counter forces of sanity are speaking out, but a decisive break is urgent.Over the weekend, U.S. spokesmen continued their drumroll of assertions against Russian aggression, and their bogus charge that Russia will attack Ukraine, in statements by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking from Hawaii, by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. They were militantly vague on when and how. Sullivan on CNN this morning said, on the time frame of a Russian attack, that we are “in the window,” and it could be “any day now,” or otherwise “after the Olympics” which end on Feb. 20. Sullivan said that Russia can be expected to stage a false-flag incident, because, for among other reasons, it is just “consistent with the Russian playbook” to do that kind of thing. No evidence is needed. Assessing the situation, Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche said today that the “ambiguity of potential false flags will remain, until someone cuts through this…. We need a decisive break.” Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) spoke out strongly over the weekend, exposing those behind the insane war drive against Russia. She tweeted out a 4-minute clip from her appearance on Fox News Saturday evening, with a tweet explaining how “Biden can very easily prevent a war with Russia by guaranteeing that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO.” On TV, she charged that “Biden and military leaders actually want Russia to invade Ukraine. Why would they do so? It gives Biden the excuse to levy draconian sanctions … and it cements the Cold War in place…. The military-industrial complex is the one that benefits from this; they clearly control the Biden Administration; warmongers on both sides in Washington who have been drumming up these tensions.” There is also an increasing activation and prominence of anti-war groups in the U.S. Besides the NATO focus on confrontation over Ukraine, the global NATO mobilization in the Indo-Pacific is in full swing. After the ministerial QUAD meeting in Australia this past week, the White House issued a 19-page document, “Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States.” Blinken plugged its world supremacy point of view yesterday, speaking from Honolulu, where he met with foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea. Blinken said that, “In the meeting that the three of us had, we discussed the threat that Russia’s aggression poses—not only to Ukraine, but to the entire international rules-based order, which has provided a foundation for decades of shared security and prosperity, for our people here in this region and, again, around the globe.” He said of his fellow ministers that, “we agreed to stick together in our response to Russia.” It is against his triumphalism that certain opposition viewpoints stand out, which are coming from establishment figures in Europe. On Feb. 11, the French weekly Marianne carried an article headlined, “NATO Exit: Urgency Absolute,” which urges that France leave NATO. That “will signal Europe’s independence from American exceptionalism, the renewal of multilateralism, the emergence of a multipolar world….” It is by German economist Peter Dittus, former Secretary General of the Bank for International Settlements, and former Deputy Governor of the Banque de France Hervé Hannoun, former BIS Deputy Managing Director. Today, a warning is sounded by Russian policy expert Fyodor Lukyanov, “How the World Sleepwalked into Another Cuban Missile Crisis.” In his article in RT, after stressing the current danger over the Ukraine confrontation, he advises that, “The best-case scenario would be the same as during the Cuban Missile Crisis. At some point, both sides would recognize the grave danger posed by further escalation and start direct substantive negotiations in order to work out the fundamentals of mutual guarantees.” The Saturday Feb. 19 Schiller Institute online international conference is a critical contribution toward the “decisive break” we need, to stop the mad mobilization toward collapse and war. Register and spread the word. It is on Feb. 19, 10 a.m. (EST): “100 Seconds to Midnight on the Doomsday Clock: We Need a New Security Architecture!”

The follow-on continues along important lines of action furthered in China last weekend, when national delegations from many continents met on development initiatives, at the time that Russia and China announced their strategic document, “Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development.” In this spirit, yesterday’s international webinar co-hosted by the Schiller Institute and Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) on the subject, “The Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan—Toward a Long-Term Solution”— took the dialogue on strategy to the highest level of the question of mission for humanity.The war bloc faction is beating the drums at a roar. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan today gave a White House harum-scarum briefing that Russia may invade Ukraine “in a very swift time frame,” and Americans should depart Ukraine within 24 to 48 hours. President Biden had a secure-video meeting with trans-Atlantic leaders today, including heads of state and agency directors of Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, NATO, the EU and others. He will speak by phone to President Vladimir Putin tomorrow morning. The Kremlin reports that this call was set at Biden’s request. Sullivan’s remarks were replete with “possibles” and “maybes,” but no evidence that a Russian attack is set. “It may well happen soon.” Reports are that Britain and Denmark have likewise called for their nationals to exit Ukraine. This is the situation—both acutely promising and acutely dangerous—at the time of the third anniversary of the passing of Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., February 12, 2019, whose historic contribution of brilliant creativity and profound love for humanity are a living legacy of inspiration for our work today. The LaRouche Organization Manhattan Project is broadcasting a special, commemorative program on Saturday, at 2 pm (EST), titled, “On the Third Anniversary of Lyndon LaRouche’s Passing: Why the World Needs the LaRouche Method of Discovery.” Among the initiatives regarding the Afghanistan crisis, there are multiple meetings now set for March, including the March 22 ministerial meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, and a mid-month UN-hosted event on humanitarian aid. Near the end of March the six neighboring nations to Afghanistan will meet in China, including the Afghan’s acting foreign minister. During the month, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Islamabad to meet with Prime Minister Imran Khan. On Feb. 6, ministers from Uzbekistan and Pakistan conferred in person in Beijing, including meeting with Chinese counterparts, on major Afghanistan projects to benefit all Eurasia. They conferred on the Trans-Afghan Railroad, and the Uzbek-Pakistan Transit and Trade Agreement (UPTTA), which would connect to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and generally interconnect with the continental Belt and Road Initiative and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). They also conferred on immediate humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, some of which arrives by Uzbek rail. Meantime, the need is desperate for multi-nation, full-scale emergency aid—medical, food, fuel, water, and shelter from the winter cold, plus agriculture inputs for spring planting. This week in Switzerland, a delegation of the Taliban government met with relief agencies, such as Doctors Without Borders, under the rubric of the Geneva Call group. In the U.S., testimony on the emergency was given Feb. 9 at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Afghanistan, by the head of the International Relief Committee, calling for stepped-up action. This morning, the U.S. made extensive reference to this humanitarian crisis, announcing its disposition of the $7 billion (of the total of nearly $10 billion) of Afghanistan national assets frozen in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since last August. (The remainder is frozen in Germany, Switzerland, and the U.A.E.). By Presidential Executive Order signed today, $3.5 billion are to be lined up to go as donated aid for the Afghan public, but outside any Taliban government channels; leaving $3.5 billion to be lined up for eventual settlement of multiple lawsuits by victims of 9/11. Notwithstanding the benefit of aid, this is a glaring act of override of the principle of national sovereignty, in which, in particular, Afghanistan needs its rightful assets to shore up its banking functions, currency and to resume economic functioning. No nation is sovereign without this, and now the U.S. has decreed against it. Former Afghanistan Finance Minister Kaylid Payenda denounced it this morning, as “morally and ethically wrong” and one which will have “long-term consequences, not just in the region, but globally.” This action will show “what sort of ally the U.S. is perceived to be in the future” and Ukraine should be watching. This U.S. imperialistic “administrative” act is in line with the war policy now pushed to the extreme in Europe against Russia, and in the Indo-Pacific against China as well. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken is in Australia, where a statement was issued today by the QUAD—U.S., Australia, Japan, India—with chest-beating rhetoric about joint commitment to vanquish any nation (not named) in the Indo-Pacific, that offends the “rules-based order.” Translated: Obey whatever the U.S./U.K./Global NATO bloc demands. This must stop. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute President, underscored the significance of the role of every citizen, everywhere, and of the institution of the Schiller Institute, in her weekly strategic webcast today, to organize for the dialogue and mobilization for the right policies “to guarantee the long-term survival of our humankind.” As she said about the historic Russia-China Feb. 4 summit statement, “I think it is shaking things up for good.”

February 4—On the occasion today of the opening of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in China, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony, held extensive talks, saw to the announcement of 15 economic and policy deals, and issued a “Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development.”The 16-page document opens with an assessment of the world situation—crises and potential—then proceeds through four areas of strategic concern, giving specifics. The statement is a leadership call to action for humanity, not a call to “take sides” in deadly geopolitical games. Most of all, it is grounded in commitment to economic advancement as the basis for security. The place in dire need for immediate, concerted world action, is Afghanistan. The death toll mounts by the hour among the children, from malnutrition, cold and illness, all of which can be prevented. On Feb. 2, the Afghan Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay made a point of saying how many nations have “turned their back” on Afghanistan at this time of desperate need. But he otherwise singled out India with appreciation, for having sent six tons of medicine, and other supplies, and new funds, and for the Indian wheat donation that will start to be trucked across Pakistan to Afghanistan, beginning Feb. 10 to 12. A full 50,000 tons should be delivered within a month. There are other individual donations coming in, but the scale-up and mobilization are lacking. Moreover, there is the fundamental requirement for the U.S. and Europe to free up the Afghanistan government’s $9.5 bil in funds they have wrongfully frozen, so the country can function. Yesterday, in the U.S. House of Representatives, an amendment on that topic was raised, but didn’t pass. As the Schiller Institute tweet said at the time the amendment was taken up, “Don’t do to Afghanistan what the British Empire did to the Irish, letting them starve, or emigrate! BREAKING: Progressives [in Congress] to force vote on Biden’s policy of arbitrarily starving Afghanistan to death. BUT: The House voted it down! Shame on you!” In the China-Russia document’s opening section, it notes—without naming names—that there are nations and figures which take “unilateral approaches to addressing international issues and resort to force; they intervene in the internal affairs of other states, infringing on their rights and interests, and incite contradictions, differences and confrontation, thus hampering the development and progress of mankind…” The first of the four areas discussed by the statement in detail, is that “democracy is a universal human value, rather than a privilege of a limited number of States…” It is wrong that “certain states” attempt to impose “their own ‘democratic standards’ on other countries,” and act to “establish blocs” that go against genuine democracy. Secondly, “development is the key driver in ensuring the prosperity of nations,” and thus, security. “It is vital to enhance partnership relations” to further development. China and Russia commit to further cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union.) Russia will participate in the “Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (proposed by China) under the UN auspices.” Thirdly, the longest section, which addresses “serious international security challenges,” contains the emphatic statement that, “The two sides (the term used in the statement for Russia and China) oppose further enlargement of NATO and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon its ideologized cold war approaches…” Also, “The Chinese side is sympathetic to, and supports the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation to create long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe.” The two sides also, “stand against the formation of closed bloc structures and opposing camps in the Asia-Pacific region…” And, “The Russian side reaffirms its support for the One-China principle, confirms that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposes any forms of independence of Taiwan.” The fourth section identifies the United Nations as having a “central coordinating role in international affairs,” and calls for cooperation, not confrontation among world powers. The role of the G20, BRICS, APEC, ASEAN and WTO (to undergo “reform”) are discussed at length. The two sides “advocate expanded functionality of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.” Affirmation is stated for the recent “Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear Weapons States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races,” and steps for the drawdown of nuclear weapons and risks are discussed. These are only selected points of the joint statement, but the significance is clear. This is a welcome initiative that throws into stark relief the dangerous geopolitics in play over Ukraine from the U.S./UK/NATO ploys, and their depraved, deliberate inaction which is killing people in Afghanistan. The Schiller Institute’s role as an active platform for getting out the truth, and fostering the dialogue for the needed policies is critical. An international conference is planned for later this month. The sense of what can be done was included in a statement issued today by Senatorial candidate for New York, Diane Sare, on the eve of street rallies Feb. 5 in New York City and several dozen other towns around the country, to protest the Washington/UK/NATO war drive. In the statement entitled "Truth is the First Casualty of War" Sare wrote, "Lyndon LaRouche’s widow and founder of the Schiller Institute, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, has advanced an alternative to this path toward annihilation. The fulcrum is the fate of the people of Afghanistan, who are currently condemned to a tortuous death of starvation and disease because of sanctions and the decision by the United States and European banks to freeze their funds in the wake of the abrupt exit by the United States. Right now, over 7 million children are starving, with one million near death. “The United States, Russia and China, could combine to lead an effort involving the surrounding nations, to not only supply desperately needed humanitarian aid, but to build a fully operational modern healthcare system in that war-ravaged nation. This would require new infrastructure to deliver water and electricity along with modern transportation systems. Obviously, the Taliban would have to be in the center of the negotiations, but they have already opened talks with many of these nations, and have nothing to gain through the suffering of their people. “This initiative, called by Zepp-LaRouche ‘Operation Ibn Sina (Avicenna),’ after the brilliant Islamic scholar and physician born in this region over 1200 years ago, is the opportunity to build trust between the major powers, now perilously close to war, while preventing the imminent death by starvation of as many as 23 million people. By embracing ‘Operation Ibn Sina,’ the United States could avert nuclear war, and save the lives of millions in Afghanistan. Action is urgently needed now. As poets have understood better than politicians, universal law dictates that the fate of these starving children is likely to become your own, sooner than you might imagine."

Today Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a State Department press conference, and closed-door sessions with members of Congress, announcing that the U.S. has provided written responses to Russia’s December texts of proposed security agreements. He also stated, “Additionally, NATO developed and will deliver to Moscow its own paper with ideas and concerns about collective security in Europe—and that paper fully reinforces ours, and vice versa. There is no daylight among the United States and our allies and partners on these matters.”In reality, while Blinken’s remarks repeated his usual dark litany of accusations and threats against Russia, daylight is showing through from many directions, on how dangerous and how “British” this whole confrontationism is. Blinken may blow clouds of smoke about “unity,” input from “allies,” and the like, but reality is otherwise. Even a reporter asked Blinken, you talk about “a unified approach with Europe. What do you make of Germany’s stance?” She said, “Would you say that you’re happy or satisfied with Germany sending helmets to Ukraine instead of arms shipments?” Blinken could only huff and puff about how each country has “different capabilities.” In brief, what Blinken did say in his press briefing, was that Russia is the aggressor against Ukraine, and warned, “We’ve lined up steep consequences, should Russia choose further aggression.” Blinken reiterated his “two path” sophistic approach to Russia: that Western militarization in Eastern Europe is the path of deterrence, but otherwise, the U.S. and the West are open to diplomacy, “should Russia choose it.” On the so-called deterrence path, Blinken gave a full report. He said, “Three deliveries of U.S. defensive military assistance arrived in Kiev this week, carrying additional javelin missiles and other anti-armor systems, 283 tons of ammunition and non-lethal equipment…. More deliveries are expected in the days to come. We have provided more defensive security assistance to Ukraine in the past year than in any previous year…. Last week, I authorized U.S. allies—including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—to provide U.S.-origin military equipment…. Also last week, we notified Congress of our intent to deliver to Ukraine the Mi-17 helicopters….” And 8,500 U.S. servicemen are on “heightened readiness to deploy” in case needed to “to harden the Allies’ eastern flank.” Among the expanding opposition to this dangerous showdown are several political leaders and formations in Europe. In Croatia, President Zoran Milanovic said this week that his country will in no way get involved in the Ukraine crisis, nor send soldiers. He states that Ukraine does not belong in NATO, and that it was the European Union (N.B., including the U.K.) that triggered a coup in Kiev in 2014. Moreover, Milanovic said, as reported by Euractiv, that the crisis has nothing to do with Ukraine or Russia, but is connected with the dynamics of the United States internal situation, and that international security problems reflect “inconsistencies and dangerous behavior” by the U.S.A. In Spain, the Unidos Podemos party and eight smaller parties, all nine leftwing members of the Socialist Party’s governing coalition, have publicly opposed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s decision to send military forces to participate in NATO’s buildup of forces against Russia, and are calling for an anti-war mobilization like that of 2003 which drove out the Aznar government that had deployed Spain’s military forces for George Bush’s war on Iraq. The existence of NATO itself is being questioned. On Friday, Jan. 28, French President Emmanuel Macron will be speaking by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Today in Paris, officials of the Normandy group of four nations—France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, met for eight hours, and issued a statement. They plan to meet again in Berlin next month. Today, Sputnik news ran an article reviewing the opposition in France and elsewhere in Europe to the U.S./U.K. showdown with Russia. Headlined, “French Politician: Puzzled by U.S. Warmongering, France & Germany Trying to Avoid EU Militarisation,” the article is based on an interview with Karel Vereycken, Vice-President of Solidarité & Progrès in France, who said that “France and Germany aren’t interested in dancing to the U.S., the U.K. and NATO’s tune—for good reason….” The Schiller Institute is providing the critical platform internationally to wake up the world to the war danger and to what has to be done in foreign relations and economically, including emergency humanitarian action, to stop the conditions and perpetrators who created this terrible emergency. The website offers ammunition, and another international conference to rally action is in the works for early February.

This question, “Can War with Russia Still Be Averted?” is the title of the Schiller Institute’s International Dialogue Saturday, January 22 at 2 pm (ET) for the purpose of strengthening the forces to stop the dangerous brinkmanship of the U.S., the British Empire and NATO against Russia and China, and make way for a complete shift toward a world security system based on the principle of the mutual benefit of all, most assuredly, the economic benefit of all.The results of today’s important meeting in Geneva between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, do not change this focus, only heighten it. The meeting ran for 90 minutes, with remarks before and after by the officials. There is expected follow-on to the talks—with a rough time frame of the next week to 10 days; but at any time, expect sabotage from enemies of this process of engagement. In brief, Blinken, who said that President Biden had asked him to meet with Lavrov, said that after today’s talks, he will go back and consult with NATO, and allies, plus Congress, and “we will be able to share with Russia our concerns and ideas in more detail and in writing next week, and we agreed to further discussions after that.” TASS reported that Blinken said that the U.S. and Russia will meet again, after Moscow scrutinizes Washington’s security proposals next week. However the Foreign Ministry threw cold water on that report, saying there are no plans for a meeting, until Russia receives an “article-by-article” reply to its demand for security guarantees. Otherwise, Blinken stuck to the assertions in his litany of accusations and demands, admonishing Russia to de-escalate its force placement, not invade Ukraine, etc. Lavrov said of Blinken’s remark that the U.S. will respond in writing to Russia’s “concerns,” that, “I believe it would be right to make this reply public and I will ask Antony Blinken, so that they do not object.” He said there was no arrangement for another meeting between himself and Blinken. Among many other points, Lavrov said that the U.S. repeats its charges against Russia “like a mantra” and pointed to Western “hysterics” when it came to Ukraine. Especially noteworthy was the inclusion of China in what is at stake. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement at the time of the talks which said, “It is high time that our American colleagues understand that Washington’s dual containment policy towards Moscow and Beijing is completely outdated and offers no good prospects for the U.S. The Americans would do more good for themselves and the entire world if they abandoned their arrogant claim for global dominance and engaged in an equal and honest dialogue with Russia, China and other major players in order to search for balanced solutions to pressing global security and development issues.” Ominously, hostile initiatives have been conducted against Russia all during the period of today’s Geneva talks. Yesterday, Blinken’s State Department and the U.S. Treasury issued sanctions against four individuals in Ukraine, on charges that they are instruments of the Russian FSB. Two of them are members of Parliament, and of the opposition party to the Zelenskyy government, and one of them a media company operator. Thus, once again, the U.S. warhawks—while singing of democracy, are interfering blatantly in another nation’s internal politics. More military personnel and armament are flowing into Ukraine from individual NATO countries. In the U.S., the hype over Russian “aggression” is at fever pitch, and even more shrill because it is bipartisan. A call for “pre-emptive sanctions” on Russia by the U.S.—before Russia has a chance to aggress!—was made this week by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (IA), appearing as a CNN guest of rabidly Democrat Anderson Cooper. On the eve of today’s Geneva meeting, the State Department posted three fact-sheet type write-ups to defame Russia, that qualify the agency as akin to the Ministry of Truth, in George Orwell’s 1984, which was noted by Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. Just consider the names of one of the documents, “Russia’s Top Five Persistent Disinformation Narratives.” One of the narratives that the U.S. finds Russia guilty of, is to say Western culture is decaying. The State Department reports that Foreign Minister Lavrov has even accused U.S. schools of teaching that Jesus Christ was bisexual. This is madness gone wild, and very dangerous. Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche said in her weekly strategic webcast on Jan. 20 that, “I think the danger of war is what people should be concerned with.” But she further stated that the concern should be “from the standpoint of the dynamic [whose] directionality goes very clearly in the direction of the Belt and Road cooperation, because many nations see it much more to their advantage to economically cooperate, rather than have geopolitical games.” In this way, the BRI alliances and projects are anti-war policies. Look at the urgency of action to support Afghanistan in that way, as part of a greater development zone from Central and South Asia, westward across the war-torn Southwest Asia, into the Horn of Africa. Just this week, on Jan. 19, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was in Moscow for discussions. China and Iran are implementing their 25-year cooperation agreement. In Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is proceeding. In the war-devastated Horn of Africa, China has recently committed to the “Initiative of Peaceful Development,” involving rail, port, power and other infrastructure programs. Add to this the thrust of “Operation Ibn Sina” in this region, and elsewhere internationally—the drive for a health care platform with full economic support, called for by Zepp-LaRouche—and the end of war is a given. However, in complete opposition to all of this, came the mass-murder bombing today in Yemen—the heart of this extended region, by Saudi Arabian-led forces. The wave of bombings has killed at least 200 people, and injured many more, including a strike on a prison in Sadaa, north of Sana’a, where the death toll is 150 so far. This amounts to a “shock and awe” crime, timed exactly with today’s Geneva U.S.-Russia meeting. The Yemen mission director for Doctors Without Borders Ahmed Mahat called the prison strike a “horrific act of violence.” Moreover, the main communications tower in Sana’a was deliberately bombed, knocking out all internet service, whose import could mean that, without communications, the Saudis will perpetrate more heinous crimes. Fouad Al Ghaffari, the leader of the ALBRICS Youth Parliament in Sana’a, sent a message by text to the Schiller Institute this morning, “We condemn the terrific aggressive murder attack on Sada’a Prison, and destroying the internet connection in Yemen that violates the right to information and may hide a massive attack at any moment!” Attend the Jan. 22 International Dialogue conference, “Can War with Russia Still Be Averted?” and activate with the Schiller Institute.

As of the time of this dispatch, word is awaited from a meeting (virtual) today, to be held with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top officials of the United Nations on Afghanistan, that was announced yesterday by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, because of the imminence of mass death. Guterres called not only for mobilizing full-scale aid, but for the urgent re-establishment of the Central Bank, currency liquidity and a financial system, or the country will cease to exist. He said that millions of Afghans are on the “verge of death,” and that “freezing temperatures and frozen assets are a lethal combination. Rules and conditions that prevent money from being used to save lives and the economy must be suspended in this emergency situation,” he warned.Guterres singled out the United States, saying that it has “a very important role to play because most of the financial system in the world operates in dollars,” and the U.S. is withholding most of the frozen Afghan foreign reserves. Expected to be present at the meeting today with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, besides Guterres himself, are Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Martin Griffiths, UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief. On Jan. 11 Griffiths issued an international funding appeal, on behalf of all UN humanitarian agencies and aid partners, for $4.4 billion this year for Afghanistan, which is the largest such appeal for a single nation in the history of the United Nations. Among the necessary measures cited in the appeal is the lifting of sanctions against Afghanistan, which prevent essential commercial functions, as well as emergency aid, and the unfreezing of the $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the nation and people of Afghanistan, and other measures allowing banking, currency and exchange to function. Impoverishment has reached the stage of destitution, in which barely 5% of the entire population of 38 million have enough to eat. 23 million are in various degrees of extreme hunger, and of those, 8.9 million people are at the starvation point. Among the limited fallback initiatives of the Taliban government, is the food-for-work program, in which a person who is still able, is offered 10 kg of wheat, for a set amount of work. This is unlivable. Yesterday, World Food Program Country Director for Afghanistan Mary-Ellen McGroarty described the situation to AP as a “tsunami of hunger.” Responding to this emergency is a test of morality for the “West,” whose U.S. and NATO forces pulled out five months ago, after 20 years of occupation. No lies about “democracy” and “values-driven” foreign relations can cover up the culpability for mass death that will result unless emergency action is taken now. The same test of morality is involved in the question of war or peace, in the current confrontation of the U.S. and NATO against Russia. Yesterday was the last of the trio of talks this week between Russia and the “West”: On January 9-10, talks between the U.S. and Russia (Geneva) took place; on January 12, between NATO and Russia (Brussels); and on Jan. 13, the OSCE and Russia (Vienna) talks. Initiated by Russia, which provided two security guarantee texts in December for concrete action, potential for productive work was blocked, not surprisingly, by a collective stance of lies and threats from the U.S. and NATO, with almost nil exception. Nevertheless, today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, giving his annual review of last year’s diplomacy, did speak of proceeding on these security talks, on principle, with good will, while sternly saying that what is now expected are written replies to the Russian proposed texts, and soon. Russia does not have infinite patience, he underscored. However, almost at the same time as the end of the Vienna OSCE talks yesterday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan signaled a new attack on Russia, which has since come to pass. Sullivan said at a press briefing, that “the intelligence community has developed information” that Russia is right now “laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for an invasion” of Ukraine, the same way they did so in 2014. He said Russia is using the same “playbook” as they did in 2014, and “the Administration will have further details on what we see as this potential laying of a pretext, to share with the press over the course of the next 24 hours.” Right on Sullivan’s cue, “the press” came out this morning with three waves of articles—with the Washington Post and the New York Times in the lead—that Russia has assets embedded in Ukraine, ready to stage a “false flag” stunt, to justify Russian invasion. Secondly, that the U.S. better consider leading, not just supporting, Ukraine’s defense against Russia in the event of attack. Thirdly, come the reports that a new cyber-attack on Ukraine ministries has just occurred, with Russia presumed to be the perpetrator. If this line of insane foreign policy is allowed to continue, the result will be mass death from war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already come out denouncing these accusations as completely unfounded, based on “hearsay.” The Schiller Institute, with collaborators, has mobilized all possible means to expose and stop this deadly course of action, and its perpetrators. For immediate attention to the Afghanistan emergency, a Schiller Institute webinar will be held Monday, January 17, at 11 a.m., titled, “Stop the Murder of Afghanistan.” Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche said yesterday on her weekly webcast, “If you have any heart left in your body, then join this campaign. Because, I think if the West cannot mobilize to help to resolve the situation which we caused—I mean, ‘we,’ the West, NATO was there for 20 years—if we cannot solve that, the whole world will look at the West with complete contempt. So this is a last chance to reverse that, by joining hands now with all the neighbors, and including emphatically Russia and China, but the Europeans and the United States are called upon the most. Because if we can’t do that, then I think this will be the symbol of our demise. And we must not allow that to happen, but must take that as the turning point of history.”

This evening in Geneva, informal talks began between the United States and Russia, at a supper with U.S. delegation leader, Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State, and Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister, and their teams, at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament. Tomorrow, the formal talks ensue, on the topic of security, between the U.S. and Russia. On Jan. 12, in Brussels, NATO and Russian officials will meet on security. On Jan. 13 in Vienna, the U.S., Russia and other member nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will meet.On the eve of this historic week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke this morning on two Sunday TV interviews, unfortunately reiterating his litany of charges against Russia, his false history of Europe, and his crazed assertions about what he claims is in the interest of the United States, e.g., backing Eurasian nations against Russia—Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and now Kazakhstan. In turn, Minister Ryabkov today told TASS, speaking of the Russian readiness to discuss the two draft security documents that they have provided for discussion and action: “Honestly speaking, I really doubt that our American colleagues are ready for such a talk, judging by the signals that we have been hearing in recent days…. But it would be naïve to expect progress, given the revised public presentation of the position that we see today, right before the start of contacts.” The Schiller Institute and collaborators in recent years, have done everything in their means to prevent this state of brinkmanship expressed by the Blinken position, which is, in fact, the classic, deadly British Great Gamesmanship in Eurasia. Now is not the fitting moment to prognosticate what exactly will happen in the discussions tomorrow and this week. But it is time to redouble our efforts to engage everyone possible to understand what is going on, and what they can do to stop the drive to Armageddon. An important initiative comes from the United States. Fifteen organizations—including religious, veteran, diplomacy and other groups—issued an open letter Jan. 8 to President Joe Biden, on what kind of negotiations should go on with Russia this week, to the joint interest of all nations and peoples. The letter was also sent to Blinken, and Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The letter is titled, “Further Strengthen Diplomatic Efforts and Avert War,” and is circulating through the channels of the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. The bipartisan authors call on the U.S. to reject expanding NATO, and say: “It is in the interests of the United States, the region, and the world to address these and other root causes of tension with Russia as part of an ongoing strategic dialogue.” It states: “Continuing engagement is necessary to avert a military conflict that will harm the interests of the United States, harm innocent civilians in Ukraine, and risk spiraling into a potentially catastrophic war between the world’s two leading nuclear powers.” What is called for is statecraft in service of the common good, which in the face of war, is life itself. Look at Afghanistan, for the threat of mass death from famine, disease and weather. Some days ago, a fierce storm system hit south of the Hindu Kush, bringing snow and freezing temperatures in Kabul and neighboring provinces. To the east in Pakistan, over Jan. 6-7, the storm system dropped up to four feet of snow very fast, and trapped thousands of tourists in their cars in the scenic mountain area some 22 miles north of Islamabad, in the popular winter resort town of Murree. So far 22 are dead. Emergency crews are working hard, and this is rightly highly publicized. However, in Kabul, a city of 4.5 million, the frigid weather and lack of food are creating mass death circumstances, but the “news” remains almost completely blacked out. On Jan. 7, the Afghan government issued a direct world appeal by video. Acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Barada said, “In various places right now, people do not have food, accommodation, warm clothes or money….The world has to support Afghan people without any political bias and carry out their humanitarian obligations…. We call for the international community, NGOs and all the countries not to forget our poor people.” The situation underscores the role of the Schiller Institute and collaborators to make known the reality of the crises, and the reality that nations collaborating can solve them all. Plans are being made final for a Schiller Institute international conference on the Afghanistan emergency within the coming 10 days. Circulate everywhere the Schiller Institute Memorandum (Dec. 31, 2021) “Are We Sleepwalking into Thermonuclear World War III?”