51 Nobel laureates call for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia

51 Nobel laureates call for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia. Their appeal was published by a French newspaper Le Mond.

They called for three steps:

• immediate ceasefire,
• exchange of all prisoners for all, release of hostages and return of the bodies of the dead,
• beginning of negotiations.

“If politicians cannot agree, let them leave the issue to future generations and cease fire.”the authors write, proposing to freeze the conflict if there is no consensus on other issues.

The laureates spoke about the grave consequences of this war: the expected number of killed and wounded by the end of the year is one million people, the worsening of hunger in African countries, the migration crisis in Europe, and the deterioration of the environment.

“During this war, defense budgets around the world have grown so much that they are comparable to the resources needed to slow global climate change. By killing each other, people are simultaneously killing the planet,” – said the Nobel laureates. “The increased expenditure on weapons is comparable to the expenditure that would stop hunger on the entire planet for 80 years.”they add.

The appeal is addressed to the warring parties, the UN, the European Parliament, PACE, the Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew.

Signatories include virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (awarded for the discovery of HIV), scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier (awarded for the development of a method for editing genomes), Alain Heeger (awarded in chemistry for the discovery and development of conducting polymers), and dozens of other scientists who have made discoveries in the fields of chemistry, medicine, and physics.

In addition, the text was signed by Russian opposition journalist Dmitry Muratov (peace prize, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta) and Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich (literature prize, lives in exile).

“Right now there are at least 55 armed conflicts in the world. Local wars no longer exist. A war – the Russian-Ukrainian conflict – is taking place on the European continent for the first time in decades. And the consequences of this war, which has been going on for three years, have already reverberated in a variety of countries, causing an exacerbation of hunger in African countries, a migration crisis in European countries, delivering tons of harmful substances released during each bombing to the tables of residents of all 6 continents with water, bread and milk. The number of killed and wounded in central Europe will exceed 1 million people by the end of this year. This is the first time since World War II.

The increased spending on weapons is comparable to the costs that would stop hunger on the entire planet for 80 years. Think about it: no one would starve, no one would die of starvation, not a single child in the world would go to bed hungry. But resources are spent not on maintaining life, but on multiplying death.

Who dies in war today? Most of its victims are people aged 30 to 40 years. The average life expectancy of each killed person is about 40 years. This means that every 100 thousand killed is 4 million years in the future! These are undone discoveries, unborn children, this is orphanhood.

We are not representatives of states. But if the efforts of states to establish peace are insufficient, we must make our own. And we ask you to do so! We ask for support for the call for peace in Ukraine and Gaza. We ask for prayers for a ceasefire and actions to end it. Cease fire! Stop the death of people! Prevent a nuclear disaster!

We ask Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Dalai Lama XIV, the representatives of Islam and Judaism to address all citizens of the world and governments in the name of God, whose chosen ones and servants they are, right during the Olympic Games. Let the billions of people who will watch them join in this prayer.

Let our children outlive us. Let's not kill each other, but save the planet”.

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