US-NATO escalation against Russia risks nuclear war

As the Socialist Equality Party’s candidate for president, I denounce the Biden administration’s reckless escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia, including an imminent decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory.

This dangerous course risks an all-out war between the US and Russia, two nuclear-armed powers. Six weeks before the election, the American people are being kept in the dark as the military-intelligence apparatus creates “facts on the ground” that will guarantee the escalation of the war, no matter what happens in November.

Behind the backs of the American people, the political establishment is plunging the world toward catastrophe.

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly today, Biden declared that the US would “not let up” until Ukraine “wins a just and durable peace.” This statement is a grotesque distortion of reality. Far from pursuing peace, the US is escalating a war that risks global conflict. Biden’s rhetoric—“We will not walk away, not until Ukraine wins”—is a direct commitment to continue this war at all costs, without regard for its devastating consequences.

Biden’s claim that the US is defending Ukraine’s “freedom” is a lie. The war in Ukraine is not about defending democracy or self-determination. It is a proxy war, instigated by the US and NATO powers to weaken Russia and secure American imperialist hegemony.

As the UN meets, US and NATO leaders, alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, are pushing for the unrestricted use of NATO-supplied long-range weapons. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb present this strategy as necessary to bring about peace.

In reality, it risks direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia. “The key is to allow Ukraine to fight this war without any kind of restrictions,” Stubb told the New York Times. In other words, military victory against Russia must be pursued, no matter what the consequences. Stubb dismisses the danger of nuclear war as merely a “secondary” consideration.

The real aim, Stubb continued, is to “convince Putin that there’s no point for him to continue this war” and to ensure that Russia is defeated both militarily and politically. This means not only defeating Russia in battle but also establishing Ukraine as a fully integrated NATO and European Union member. The logic of this strategy, articulated by Stoltenberg, is that “the more weapons for Ukraine we are able to deliver, the more likely it is that we can reach a peace and end to the war.” According to this twisted reasoning, peace can only be achieved by flooding Ukraine with weapons and forcing Russia into submission.

The assumption underlying this strategy is that Russia, because it has not yet responded to NATO’s provocations with nuclear escalation, will not do so in the future. However, this assumption ignores the reality that Russia is running out of room to retreat. High-level advisors to Putin have already stated that nuclear weapons were created to defend Russia and must be used if necessary.

The entire narrative surrounding the war in Ukraine is a pack of lies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was not “unprovoked”—it was instigated by the imperialist powers through the relentless military encirclement of Russia. It is not about defending “freedom” and “democracy” in Ukraine. While professing concern for the Ukrainian people, the US and NATO powers have bled the country dry in a proxy war against Russia.

The Ukrainian government, rife with fascist elements, rules through martial law and is criminalizing all left-wing opposition to the war. This includes the arrest of Bogdan Syrotiuk, a Ukrainian Trotskyist who opposes both the Ukrainian and Russian regimes on the basis of socialist internationalism.

At the same time, the Biden administration is providing full support for Israel’s genocidal war in the Middle East, including the bombardment of Lebanon, which has now killed over 500 people, including 50 children, 94 women, and nine paramedics.

This brutal onslaught, targeting civilians, hospitals, and essential infrastructure, is part of a broader strategy to provoke a regional war, with Iran as the ultimate target. Washington’s unconditional backing of Israel’s war crimes underscores the imperialist agenda that connects the violence in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The escalation of war abroad is inseparable from the war on democratic rights at home. The same ruling class that is backing the Israeli slaughter in Gaza and the deepening war in Ukraine is waging a war on workers in the United States. Unlimited resources are made available for war, while schools, infrastructure, and public services are collapsing. And it is the working class that will be forced to pay for these wars—with their lives, their livelihoods, and their future.

The Socialist Equality Party and our election campaign demand an immediate halt to the US-NATO war against Russia. We call for an end to all military and financial aid to Ukraine and the withdrawal of NATO forces from Eastern Europe. We demand an end to all support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and Lebanon. And we demand the immediate release of our comrade Bogdan Syrotiuk by the US-NATO puppet regime in Kiev.

The massive military-intelligence-police apparatus of the ruling class must be dismantled, and the resources made available to meet urgent social needs at home—trillions for education, healthcare, housing, and wages, not for death and destruction. The American working class has no interest in these wars, which serve only the interests of a tiny capitalist elite.

The realization of this program requires the independent political intervention of the working class. The struggle of workers against inequality and exploitation must be connected to opposition to imperialist war. This requires the building of a socialist movement, uniting workers internationally in a common struggle to overthrow the capitalist system that breeds war and oppression.