The Case for Stopping the Ukraine-Russia War

Now is a critical time to reflect on the case for people of good will to urge their leaders to end the war. The benefits of doing so are manifest.

Stopping the war would:

End mounting injuries and deaths in Ukraine of all combatants, noncombatants, the elderly, children and people with disabilities
End the commission of war crimes
Allow millions of refugees to return to Ukraine
Lay the basis for establishing long-term peace, stability and prosperity
Enable all necessary medical treatment and rehabilitation for the victims of war
Facilitate urgent and extensive humanitarian assistance to people in need
Prevent foreseeable escalation to a potential nuclear conflict through Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons or through a direct clash of NATO and Russian forces
Restore electricity, drinking water, and heat to people in need
Allow prisoners to return home
Mitigate serious internal NATO and European Union disputes that could lead to the division or long-term dissolution of such united bodies
Enable the full investigation and prosecution of war crimes by international agencies
Reduce disinformation purveyed through media outlets to justify continuation of the war
Enable international trade to return gradually to normal levels
Preserve Ukraine’s cultural arts and cultural sites
Prevent famine and address a global food crisis by rapidly increasing the availability of grain and fertilizer to countries in need
End war-related inflation
Reduce gas prices to an acceptable level
Prevent the possible use of chemical or biological weapons
Avoid the risk and danger of “loose nukes” recurring in the region
Increase reliance on international dispute resolution mechanisms provided by the United Nations, World Bank, World Trade Organization, and International Monetary Fund in lieu of resorting to the use of force
Facilitate urgent nuclear and conventional arms control negotiations involving the US, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China
Reduce public threats to escalate the war made by governments and international actors
Facilitate essential reconstruction in Ukraine of infrastructure and housing that has been destroyed or damaged
Prevent and remedy extensive environmental devastation now taking place in the region
End authoritarian measures taken by Russia and Ukraine to further their war aims
Head off a period of feeble economic growth and recession in many countries that is projected by the World Bank, the OECD and others as a consequence of the war

After more than a hundred days of war, all national leaders should turn their attention from war-making to ending the Ukraine-Russia conflict so the international community can engage in extensive reconstruction in Ukraine for the good of all people and the planet.

Donald Gross is a lawyer in Washington, DC who served as director of legislative affairs in the US National Security Council at the White House, as senior advisor at the US Department of State, and as counselor of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Clinton-Gore Administration.