The PCP condemns the escalation of confrontation promoted by the US and NATO against Russia. An escalation that, taking place at the military, economic and political levels, and being sustained by a fierce disinformation campaign, constitutes a serious threat to peace.

The aggressive action by the US and NATO has intensified over the last few weeks, with the deployment of more means and military contingents in Eastern Europe – including military support to Ukraine – accompanied by the threat of imposing new economic sanctions against Russia.

Particularly serious is the inclusion of Ukraine in imperialism’s aggressive strategy, implemented following the 2014 coup d'état, which was promoted by the US, NATO and the EU, resorting to fascist groups, and led to the imposition of a xenophobic and warmongering regime, whose violent action is responsible for the exacerbation of fractures and divisions and for the outbreak of war in that country.

Bearing in mind the events that have taken place since 2014, the PCP warns of the danger of provocative actions, encouraged by US and NATO support, against the Russian-speaking populations in Donbass and their rights and aspirations.

It cannot be ignored that the Ukrainian regime not only fails to comply with the Minsk agreements, preventing the materialisation of a political solution to the conflict in Donbass, but is also responsible for constant violations of the cease-fire and a massive concentration of military forces next to the demarcation line, threatening to launch large-scale violent action in that region – a threat that led to the deployment of Russian military forces within its own territory, in the area along the border with Ukraine.

The PCP underlines that the current situation cannot be dissociated from the continuous expansion of NATO which, tearing up commitments made at the time of the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Soviet Union, is increasingly advancing towards Eastern Europe, aiming at the siege of Russia .

The PCP stresses that it is the US, NATO and the EU that launched wars against Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001) or Libya (2011), being responsible for their brutal legacy of death, suffering and destruction. It is the US, NATO and the EU that fuel the arms race and are responsible for more than 60% of military spending worldwide, more than ten times higher than Russia's military expenditure. It is the US that, with the instrumentalization of NATO, promotes alliances and warmongering partnerships, has a dense network of military bases spread all over the world and increases the installation of means of war, including nuclear ones, increasingly closer to the borders of countries that they aim to submit to their interests. It is the US, with the support of NATO, that unilaterally broke important disarmament agreements, such as treaties on anti-missile defence and short and medium-range nuclear forces. It is the US and NATO that cynically portray military exercises that Russia conducts on its own territory as a threat, when they are the ones who systematically conduct military exercises thousands of kilometres away from their borders and carry out constant actions of pressure, interference and aggression against sovereign countries. It is the US, NATO and the EU that trivialise threats and blackmail and impose sanctions and blockades, openly challenging the United Nations Charter and international law. It is NATO that confirms itself as the only political-military bloc of an offensive and aggressive nature, at the service of a strategy of political and economic hegemonization and subjugation of the sovereign will and rights of countries and peoples.

The reality is showing that the US spares no means to try to counter its relative decline, in the context of the structural crisis of capitalism and the profound process of rearrangement of forces that continues at the world level.

The escalation of confrontation promoted by the US is, at the same time, a dangerous diversion in view of the increase in internal problems, as well as inter-imperialist contradictions, as demonstrated by the pressures they exert on the EU, especially on Germany, regarding energy and, especially, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The EU, claiming a “voice of its own” and reinforcing its militaristic dynamics, is subordinated to the warmongering policy of the US and NATO.

It is reprehensible that the Portuguese government, instead of intervening to help the de-escalation of the situation and facilitate a negotiated solution, inserts itself in the dynamics that feeds the climate of tension with the adoption of positions and measures dictated by the strategy of the US and NATO.

In defence of the interests and aspirations of the Portuguese people and the peoples of the world, Portugal must not align itself, as is happening, with the North American and Atlanticist strategy of tension, which is at the origin of the worsening of the international situation. To start with, Portugal must refuse to involve Portuguese soldiers in the escalation of confrontation that is underway.

Portugal must strive for the peaceful solution of international conflicts, for disarmament, for peace, helping to put an end to the escalation of confrontation and favouring a process of dialogue with a view to promoting security in Europe, in compliance with the principles of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, the UN Charter and the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference.

The PCP calls for the development of the struggle against the escalation of confrontation, aggression and interference by imperialism, against the enlargement of NATO and its dissolution, against the militarisation of the European Union, for peace and disarmament.