Follow us on social

1599px-representatives_ilhan_omar_and_pramila_jayapal_arrive_at_msp_airport._48318937867

Under pressure, progressives retract call for diplomacy in Ukraine

The move comes just 24 hours after 30 House Democrats called for negotiations in a letter to President Joe Biden.

Europe

Just a day after releasing a letter calling for diplomacy in Ukraine, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) issued a retraction and accused staff of releasing the document “without vetting.”

In a statement, Jayapal argued that the letter’s timing was a mistake given recent statements from Republican members of Congress like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has raised the specter of reducing aid to Ukraine if the GOP takes the House in the upcoming midterm elections. 

“Every war ends with diplomacy, and this one will too after Ukrainian victory,” she argued, noting that she accepts responsibility for the mishap given her leadership role in the Progressive Caucus. (All 30 of the letter’s signatories are members of that grouping.)

The retraction comes after Jayapal and her progressive allies came under harsh pressure from numerous media figures and politicians, including some from the Progressive Caucus, who argued that the letter was a gift to Republicans before the midterms. Prior to the official walkback, several other signees — including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) — publicly claimed that they had signed the letter months before its release and were not aware that it would come out now.

Ukrainian elites also attacked the letter, with some arguing that any talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin are simply “not a viable option.”

The attacks on the letter (and its retraction) earned consternation from some on Twitter, who argued that the uproar surrounding it seemed to be removed from its substance. As Marcus Stanley of the Quincy Institute wrote in Responsible Statecraft yesterday, the document “praises the Biden Administration’s policy of supporting Ukraine’s self-defense while simultaneously avoiding direct U.S. military engagement with Russia” while calling on the administration to engage in “vigorous diplomatic efforts in support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire.” 

Some of the letter’s signees have stood by it despite the harsh response, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who has been outspoken about the need for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. 

“We must continue to support Ukraine while mitigating the serious risk of nuclear war, managing the conflict to not escalate, and seeking a just peace,” Khanna tweeted Tuesday.


Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), both of whom initially signed the letter before retracting Tuesday. (CC/ Lorie Shaull)
Europe
arrest free speech
Top photo credit: Spaxiax/Shutterstock

Does Vance’s free speech defense in Munich not apply here?

Global Crises

At the Munich Security Conference in mid-February, U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned Europe not to back away from one of the West’s most basic democratic values: free speech.

“In Washington there is a new sheriff in town," he said, "and under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree.”

keep readingShow less
Diplomacy Watch Donald Trump Putin Zelensky
Top Photo Credit: Diplomacy Watch (Khody Akhavi)

Macron fails to get Europe to send troops to Ukraine

QiOSK

European leaders met this week at the behest of French President Emmanuel Macron, who wants to solidify a plan to send troops to Ukraine as a security package. However, the meetings emerged, according to the Wall Street Journal, “without a public commitment from other European countries to send troops.”

France and the United Kingdom have been pushing for troops on the ground in Ukraine, and other countries, like Sweden, Denmark, and Australia, have indicated a willingness to do so as well. The main hurdle appears to be that most are apparently unwilling to send their armed forces to Ukraine without the protection of the United States.

keep readingShow less
Donald Trump
Top image credit: Andrew Harnik / Shutterstock.com

The war over war with Iran has just begun

Middle East

The war drums are getting louder in Washington.

In recent weeks, many of the same neoconservative voices who pushed the U.S. into Iraq are calling for strikes on Iran. Groups like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy are once again promoting confrontation, claiming there may never be a better time to act. But this is a dangerous illusion that risks derailing what Donald Trump himself says he wants: a deal, not another disastrous war in the Middle East.

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.