Trump and Putin met up in Alaska on August 15 acting all kind and friendly. No peace agreement or ceasefire came out of it, but the two leaders spent nearly three hours discussing the fate of Ukraine—in the absence of president Zelensky who wasn’t authorized to attend. We know nothing about the actual content of their discussion, but it is very clear that Trump has accepted that Ukrainian territories be annexed by Russia.

So now, after sacrificing the lives of Ukrainians and Russians to determine who would impose their domination over the region, American and Russian leaders have decided to divide up Ukraine between themselves! All this after a three-year-long war between two kindred peoples which has left thousands wounded, maimed or dead.

Deciding the fates of entire peoples without taking into consideration their aspirations, pitting one people against another in order to dominate them more easily—these have always been the methods used by imperialist world powers. In this respect, Trump, Macron and the like are no better than Putin!

European leaders claim to be outraged, but it’s only because they have been left out. Macron and his European counterparts want to be included in the negotiations so that the capitalists of their respective countries will get their share of the spoils of Ukraine.

Western leaders have the nerve to claim they care about Ukraine’s security but they are entirely responsible for this war. For three decades, their policy was to encircle Russia with NATO troops. In reaction to the pressure they put on Russia, Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 to protect the interests of the oligarchs and the privileged upper crust he represents. The Kremlin leader is a dictator and his methods are violent and criminal. But Western leaders hold the exact same contempt for peoples and their suffering, as they have proved by fueling the war to defend their imperialist interests for three years.

Trump now wants the war to end for one simple reason: the United States has already gained the most out of this slaughter. American capital has taken control over whole sectors of the Ukrainian economy. American corporations have made a lot of money by selling weapons and other supplies. And the United States also took advantage of the sanctions put on Russian gas and oil to oust its European competitors.

Trump and Putin are like two thieves dividing up loot after first fighting over it. Since the distribution of the spoils depends on how far the troops advance, the fighting has intensified and many Ukrainians and Russians continue to die every day, both on the frontline and behind the lines.

If a peace agreement does come out of the current negotiations, it will be no more than a truce between two wars. The imperialist world order is in crisis and as the trade war grows fiercer it generates more and more tension around the world. Africa and the Middle East are being ravaged by wars that are fueled by the maneuvers of the great world powers. And how will the economic rivalry between the United States and China evolve? Behind the policies of the different states, lies the bourgeoisies’ hunger for more and their rivalry. They are the ones who pull the strings.

Even in developed countries, like here in France, this international competition between companies and between world powers has a direct impact on workers. It is in the name of competitiveness that big business and the government are waging a fierce social war against the working class, attacking jobs, pensions, healthcare, education… The minority of exploiters who are at the head of the economy have no problem sacrificing the lives of workers for their profits! In the coming future, they won’t hesitate to send us off to die in a war similar to the one Ukrainians are suffering today if their interests call for it.

We have to fight this social class and its domination over society, not just those who represent it at the moment. We will have to overthrow it to completely abolish it, and that means expropriating the capitalists and running society and the economy together on a global scale.

The workers are the only social force capable of completely changing society because, being at the heart of the economy, they are the ones who keep it running.

All those who want to build a different future for society than the one capitalism holds for us must devote their strength to building a party which defends this program and revolutionary communist ideas.

Nathalie Arthaud