WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) ASHINGTON, February 5 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Chukaeva - The aim of the upcoming rallies which are scheduled across the United States on Saturday is to inform the public that the majority of US people are not seeking a conflict with Russia, Dan Gilman, who is on the organizing team of Seattle Anti-WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 05th February, 2022) ar Coalition and a member and past president of Veterans For Peace, told Sputnik.
A number of anti-war groups, including World Beyond War, Code Pink, Veterans For Peace, United National Anti-War Coalition, and ANSWER, are organizing rallies across the United States which will be held under the motto, "Peace with Russia Day of Action: February 5, 2022".
"Locally, we have at least 4 different mini-rallies in different parts of King County - Rainier Valley, Bothell, Lake Forest Park, and near North Seattle. I expect we'll have somewhere around 50 plus folks out to inform the public that most Americans do not want war with Russia," Gilman said.
He added that tensions between the US and Russia are "extremely high" due to the situation in Ukraine and "the failure of the US to take Russia's security issues seriously."
He also said the situation at the UN Security Council and the confrontation between Washington and Moscow was very severe.
"The US comes at this issue with cold war principles and its imperialistic mindset and therefore is not able to negotiate the conflict. Instead standing on cold war principles and American exceptionalism. If the shoe was on the other foot - say Russia made an alliance with Mexico - the US would never stand for it and be literally up in arms. It's the Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse," he said.
He noted that both the US and NATO and Russia could pull back their troops to a less confrontational position
"And the US needs to stop sending weapons, money, and training experts to Ukraine because the US misreads and doesn't understand that Russia is not interested in invading Ukraine. It is hard to see how tensions can be eased with the US believes NATO has the right to be right on Russia's border and does not take Russia's security concerns seriously," Gilman said.
According to the activist, now the world is in a dangerous situation that could lead to a serious conflict if "the security question is not resolved and the West curtails its imperial ambitions."
In mid-January, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the US has evidence of Russia fabricating a pretext for an invasion of Ukraine by using operatives to carry out a false flag event. On Friday, US State Department spokesman Ned price refused to give specific evidence on the issue, saying that the US declassifies information when they are confident of the findings.
Speaking on the information presented by the US, Gilman replied that Washington is not listening to what Russia is saying.
"No one is going to tell the US/NATO what to do. There are options and alternatives to this stand off by negotiating and using diplomatic tools to first of all step back from the brink, and then sit down and in good faith work out realistic security agreements and treaties for Eurasia. Besides, the US says it's not going to send troops into Ukraine - using sanctions instead - so why do they need to send troops? It just escalates the situation," he said.
Cole Harrison, Executive Director of Massachusetts Peace Action said they expect 100-200 participants at their Boston rally.
"We are lobbying our members of Congress to oppose the Menendez/Meeks bill which calls for military aid to Ukraine and sanctions for Russia," Harrison told Sputnik.
Moreover, Ukraine is not an ally of the United States, Harrison added, hence the US should not send troops or military aid to Kiev. He also recommended some policies that should be pursued related to NATO and arms control.
"NATO should not be enlarged and work should begin to replace it by a new European security framework that considers the security needs and concerns of all countries," Harrison said. "A new effort at nuclear disarmament should be launched by the US and Russia."
The precarious situation around Ukraine has worsened over the past several months after Russia was accused of building up troops near the Ukrainian border and allegedly preparing for an invasion. Moscow has denied the accusations, pointing to NATO's military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security.
Moscow has replied that it has the right to move troops within its national territory and that it is not threatening anyone. In January, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the American intelligence community has no belief at the moment that Russia has definitely decided to invade Ukraine.
