PRESIDENT Putin on Wednesday urged Ukrainian workers to postpone their referenda on self-determination. He said: ‘We are calling on representatives of regions in southeastern Ukraine, supporters of federalisation in the country, to postpone the referendum set for May 11 in order to create all the necessary conditions for dialogue.’
Putin continued to call the presidential elections in Ukraine, now scheduled for May 25, ‘a move in the right direction’. He added: ‘We have been told that our troops by the Ukrainian border are a concern – we have withdrawn them. They are now not near the border, but at locations where they conduct regular drills at ranges.’
He continued: ‘We helped to secure the OSCE military observers’ release and I think also made a contribution to defusing the situation.’
One of the Donetsk leaders, Alexander Vaskovsky, has responded that there is no need to put off the vote. ‘I’m extremely negative about this,’ he said.
Throughout Eastern Ukraine – where Kiev’s ‘Right Sector’ stormtroopers have killed and burnt to death numbers of people in their ‘anti-terrorist operation’, and where the lives of workers families depend on the self defence forces that have been formed – workers have expressed their anger at the suggestion that they should accept the new regime, postpone their referenda, and thus recognise the February 21 Kiev coup regime and the May 25th Presidential election.
This election will be held under conditions of a ‘white terror’ including continuing attacks on the cities of Eastern Ukraine, and will certainly return the coupist junta with a huge majority, no matter what the turn-out is.
The Ukrainian workers, who in the wake of the Odessa Trades Unions Hall massacre vowed to ‘Never Forgive, Never Forget’, are serious. Having defeated Hitler in the 1940s, they will never accept a junta in the Ukraine that was brought to power by the EU and the US through its use of fascist militias.
Putin and the Stalinist bureaucracy that still rules the Russian Federation have a different position.
They were prepared, under extreme imperialist pressure to take action to secure the Crimea, its naval base and the fortress of Sebastapol, since its occupation by a US Fleet would be in reality the first round of a coup d’etat in Russia itself.
However Stalin’s heirs, inheriting the nationalist theory of socialism in a single country, are quite prepared to see Ukraine fall into the hands of the USA, if this is the only way that good relations with their imperialist ‘partners’ can be maintained.
This is despite the fact that capitalism and imperialism are weak, are crisis ridden, with workers in revolt against them everywhere, and have been defeated in Syria, while the EU depends on Russian gas.
Putin has a winning hand but will not play it, despite the fact that the US-EU is sponsoring a junta in the Ukraine, that could be overthrown in 24 hours by a combination of an advance of the Red Army and action by Ukrainian workers.
Putin and the Stalinist bureaucracy are opposed to workers revolutions. He wants to make use of this favourable situation, to make a new deal with his EU-US partners, over the dead bodies of the Ukrainian workers.
This is despite the historical fact that the last great deal between the bureaucracy and a section of the imperialist powers, the Stalin-Hitler pact resulted in a surprise German attack on the USSR which Stalin, for at least a fortnight, refused to believe was happening!
The Ukrainian workers are right to continue their struggle. They must form Soviets everywhere. The Russian workers must overrule Putin and insist that the Red Army take action in support of the Ukrainian workers. If Putin will not take action, they must carry out a political revolution to overthrow the bureaucracy and restore the USSR and rule through workers Soviets to do the job.
The workers of the West must support the Ukrainian workers by overthrowing their governments, like the Cameron government, that have financed, organised and supported every action of the Kiev Junta.
The only way to defeat capitalism and imperialism is through the victory of the world socialist revolution. This means building sections of the Fourth International in every country to lead the world socialist revolution to its victory.
