It has been a year since the Russia-Ukraine war initiated. The war is still going on and shows no sign of stopping. Many people have already died, injured and maimed. Thousands of houses and structures have been destroyed. This war has not brought benefits to anyone, nor will it in the future. No one wins this war, and war is not the solution. So it is better to sit on the negotiation table to solve the problem and establish peace. For this, everyone including United Nations, United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Ukraine should come forward. But first of all, both the countries directly involved in the war must take initiative. Peace loving people never want wars. They all want to live together in peace.
Russia and Ukraine are two neighboring countries. Ukraine was once part of the former Soviet Union. Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Both countries are very large in size. The area of Russia is 1 crore 71 lakh square kilometer, Ukraine measures 6 lakh 4 thousand square kilometer. The two countries share a 2,295 km long border. Russia has already occupied some areas of Ukraine. The occupied area is about 1 lakh 61 thousand square kilometers. It has long been at odds with Russia over various issues, including Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO. In the context of this ongoing tension, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The war has been going on ever since. Several cities in Ukraine have already been reduced to rubble. About 1 million Ukrainians live as refugees in other countries. Ukraine’s counter-offensive has also caused Russian casualties. Many Russian soldiers and people were killed in this war.
The Western world, led by the United States, is providing political, economic and military support to Ukraine. As always, the world is once again divided into two parts in this war. The US and allies have imposed tough economic sanctions against Russia. On the other hand, the countries in favor of Russia have taken a position against these blockades of the United States. As a result, apart from political division, the world is also divided economically. Due to this war, the prices of various types of goods in the world have already increased a lot. As a result, the cost of living has increased worldwide. A new crisis and a new instability have arisen in the world. As always, the United Nations, which is responsible for establishing peace in the world, has failed so far to stop this war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made online addresses to the parliaments of several allied countries at various times since the outbreak of war. He visited the United States on 21 December 2022. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Ukraine on January 22, 2023. US President Joe Biden visited Ukraine on February 20.
Immediately after Biden’s visit to Ukraine, on February 21, 2023, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi visited Russia. He met Russian leaders and after the visit, he presented a 12-point peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Meanwhile, immediately after these visits, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visited Ukraine on February 26. At that time, he announced 400 million dollars in aid to Ukraine. This is the first visit by a Saudi minister to Ukraine since Ukraine gained independence in 1991. This is how different states are evaluating this war with their own perspective and standing by their allies without stopping the war. As a result, this war is no longer limited to Russia-Ukraine. It has now taken the form of a multilateral war and the superpowers have become part of the war.
The Russia-Ukraine war is another new addition to the wars going on in the world. For a long time, many wars are going on in the world between different countries. Wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen have been going on for more than a decade. Today, these countries are standing on the edge of destruction due to war. But these countries were once very advanced and peaceful. Countries today are divided into many parts and each region is ruled by one tribe. A single government has no control over the country and sovereignty is weakened today. There is no end to suffering in the lives of common people today. War has been going on for a long time in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war has been going on for almost a decade in Iraq and almost four decades in Afghanistan. Millions of people died in these two countries. About four million people of Afghanistan have become refugees. Currently, the war has stopped in these two countries, but peace has not been established completely. These countries have only been destroyed in years of war. Children, women and the elderly suffer the most in war. Children’s education also stopped due to the war.
According to the United Nations, the number of refugees in the world is now about 60 million. These are the gifts and achievements of war. Basically nothing is gained in war except losses. When a structure is destroyed by war, it is a total loss. Again the weapon used to destroy this structure is also destroyed. As a result, it is also a loss. These weapons are worth billions of dollars. Hunger, poverty and illiteracy would have been eradicated from the world long ago if this money was used for the welfare of humanity instead of spending on arms and war. There was peace all over the world.
The United Nations was established on October 24, 1945 in the hope of making the future world war-free in the context of the terrible devastation and massive loss of life and property of the Second World War. Already 77 years of the United Nations have been completed. Every year on the occasion of the anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, the conference is held in the United Nations and the heads of state of different countries in their speeches reiterate their commitment to establish peace in the world. But in reality, war does not stop and peace is not established. Unfortunately, it is true that the United Nations has always failed to stop the wars that exist between countries. The UN has not been able to stop the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Yemen. Israel’s decade-long occupation of Palestine has also failed miserably.
Thousands of Palestinians have been living in refugee camps for years. Many of them were born in refugee camps, grew up in refugee camps and died in refugee camps. The United Nations has also failed to repatriate the Rohingyas who have taken refuge in Bangladesh to their homeland in Myanmar. The UN could not stop the various wars. Because the big powers have never taken a neutral position and accepted the decisions of the United Nations. The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France are the five countries with veto power in the United Nations. They have always vetoed all proposals against their will. As a result, the United Nations has never been able to reach a unanimous decision to end a war in an area. As a result, the war was prolonged and the loss of life and destruction increased.
Currently, there are about 195 independent states in the world, all of which are members of the United Nations. The socio-economic position of all these states is not equal. Some are much stronger politically, economically and militarily and some are quite weak.
But the independence and sovereignty of all states must be respected and their dignity protected. Similarly, all people of all countries have the right to live freely. This is a UN-recognized universal human right.
All have equal rights in the eyes of the law and to ensure this requires consensus and unity among large states. A solution will never come if the big powers stand at opposite poles on any one issue. We need to work together to establish peace and not war for dominance.
Today we have to fight against hunger, poverty, illiteracy and disease. Hundreds of millions of people in the world still live below the poverty line. Instead of spending money on buildings and weapons, that money should be spent on improving the quality of life of these people.
People who are living in refugee camps in different countries of the world today should be taken back to their respective countries. Every person in the world should be enlightened by the light of education.
Humanity must be spread everywhere. People who are suffering from disease should stand by their side. People in large areas of the world today face losses due to climate change. Standing next to these people will be true humanity.