With the permission of the knights-at-arms and shipowners

More than 100 days have passed since the barbaric invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, and the worst thing about this new tragedy in the heart of Europe is that there is no sign that the massacre will end any time soon. Neither the invaders seem to be succeeding in achieving their goals nor the Ukrainians in regaining lost ground in the Donbas region. Comfortably ensconced in our living rooms, we watch and listen intently as generals and admirals (in reserve) speculate about the objectives of both sides and the possible course of a war that seems to have entered a phase of mutual attrition reminiscent of those terrifying documentaries about the trench warfare that devastated and bled Europe between 1914 and 1918.

While Putin and his generals continue undaunted to raze towns and villages in Ukraine, Zelenski is asking his allies in the rear for more and more guns and heavy artillery to continue the fight. None of them seem to care much about military and civilian casualties, not even those of their own soldiers and compatriots. EU countries and EU institutions are providing such economic and military aid while continuing to discuss how they can tighten a little more the financial and economic sanctions already applied to the Putin regime and reduce dependence on Russian gas and oil in the coming years. Meanwhile, the US government is taking advantage of the tragic proxy war it is waging in Ukraine to weaken and tighten its grip on Russia by bringing new countries into NATO. It seems that no foreign ministry on either side of the Atlantic is currently prioritising a diplomatic solution to end the death, devastation and misery.

The flames of ambition and hatred, so often ignited by the fires of religious antagonism and national interests in centuries past, are once again raging in the 21st century in an old and forgetful Europe. Despite the horrors of the 20th century, the governments of the great powers still do not recognise the authority of any supranational institution to resolve conflicts in a civilised manner before the flames of fanaticism ignite the torches. The process of economic globalisation over the past three decades created the illusory impression that increasingly intertwined economic interests were conducive to cordial dialogue and peaceful understanding between the rulers of the United States and the EU on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other. That rapprochement has suddenly vanished and rising tensions in Europe and Asia bring us dangerously close to the worst moments of the Cold War.

I will be criticised for forgetting, in the name of civilisation and the rule of law, the right of the Ukrainian Government to defend its territorial integrity and to respond to an undoubtedly unjustified and unjustifiable aggression. I am aware of that, although it is not exactly that right that I am questioning. Just as when someone suffers aggression in the street we accept, to a greater or lesser degree, that one cannot take the law into one's own hands and entrust the reparation of the damage caused to the courts of justice, the same attitude should prevail in international conflicts. And since I am fully aware that, in the absence of a police force and an international court of justice accepted by all countries, this civilised solution is unrealistic, I accept that the only reparation possible on some occasions is to respond to the aggressor with the same coin: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I do not so much question the right to self-defence of the aggressor as the attitude of other actors such as the United States, China and the EU which, in my opinion, could have played a much more active role in preventing the conflict and stopping it once it had started.

How many times in recent weeks have we heard the phrase "We are all Ukrainians" and how many times have we heard pundits and analysts present this war as the defence of freedom and democracy against slavery and dictatorship! Well, I seriously doubt that nationalism and ideological confrontation will bring peace and well-being to Ukrainians and Russians, nor to Americans, Europeans or Chinese. I confess that at this crossroads I do not feel Ukrainian, but simply an ordinary Spaniard moved, yes, by the horrors of war, death, devastation and exile that millions of Ukrainians are suffering, but also by the ignominy and suffering of many Russian citizens who oppose the invasion and even of those soldiers conscripted and forced to participate in it.

In a letter published by Russell in the Manchester Guardian on 17 December 1917, the British philosopher and activist responded to the charge that "to be a true conscientious objector a man must be, consciously or unconsciously, an extreme individualist with little sense of solidarity with humanity and of our belonging to one another". The British philosopher and activist argued in his defence that the accusation was relevant only if when the accuser wrote 'humanity' he was really thinking of 'Allies', because for a conscientious objector the Germans are also part of humanity.  And Russell went on to state that the "conscientious objector does not believe that violence is cured by violence or that militarism can be exorcised by more militarism. He persists in feeling solidarity with those who are called 'enemies', and believes that if this feeling were more widespread among us it would do more than armies and navies to prevent the spread of Imperialism".

No, not only do I not feel Ukrainian in the superficial, narrow-minded and even self-serving sense in which the expression is being used to justify arms shipments to Ukraine from countries where the war has barely altered our daily routines, but I am not ashamed to admit openly that I thank life (thank you, Violet) for being so far away from the conflict and not suffering directly its most tragic consequences. I confess that I feel much closer to Russell's position against war than, of course, to Putin's execrable imperialism, but also closer than to the hypocritical position of so many Western rulers who supply arms for others to wield and advance their hegemonic ambitions. I am far more moved by the deaths, pain and impoverishment of so many millions of Ukrainians than by Zelenski's warrior's strenuous ardour. I would like to see in all these leaders a modicum of that humanity and sense of belonging to which Russell appealed, and to hear from them some constructive proposals to put an end as soon as possible to this new massacre in the heart of Europe.

Article published by the Observatorio Económico y Social de España y Cataluña (OBESCAT) in the newspaper El Liberal on 28 May 2022.