Solidarity with Anti-fascist Resistance in Ukraine (Saru) and the Stop the War Coalition will hold a protest outside the US embassy this Sunday against the US and Nato arming of Ukraine.

Protesters will highlight continuing US-led aggression in Ukraine and will rally under the message, “Stop Nato’s war in the Ukraine — Peace for Donbass.”

The protest has been called on the first anniversary of the EU and US-engineered coup in Kiev that first brought openly fascist parties into government. These fascist elements are increasingly integrated into the fabric of the Ukrainian state today — especially the police, security and armed forces.

The so-called “Euromaidan” coup in February 2014 overthrew an elected government in order to end Ukraine’s close economic and political ties with Russia.

In the intervening 12 months Ukraine’s economy has collapsed, the hryvnia currency is in free fall, gold reserves have been sold to finance a hopeless and bloody war against the civilian population of the Donbass region, while increasing resistance to military conscription is causing riots and wholesale emigration in western Ukraine.

In the latest sign of the breakdown of the Ukrainian state, judges in the Kiev trial to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine resigned en masse this week in protest at interference by members of the Kiev government in the conduct of the trial.

Despite Western imperialists’ success in installing their own sponsored thugs in state power, Ukraine’s government has been unable to control the revolt in the Donbass region and has been unable to effectively govern Ukraine.

In these circumstances, Nato leaders decided a few weeks ago to expand its aggressive military presence in eastern Europe.

Nato plans involve the establishment of six command centres which will facilitate the maintenance of 5,000 troops, all aimed toward threatening Russia and seeking to guard the strategic interests of the western European and North American imperialist powers.

In these circumstances Saru welcomes the efforts of all those who are prepared to stand with us against the US-Nato drive to war.

We especially welcome the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)’s condemnation of Nato’s “aggressive expansion” into eastern Europe as a “destabilising and provocative manoeuvre.”

CND general secretary, Kate Hudson has highlighted Nato’s stance, pointing out the reality that if “Russia opened up a military facility in Mexico, it would be quite rightly decried as an aggressive act. Yet this is precisely the equivalent of what Nato is doing.”

Saru is very pleased that the Stop the War Coalition is supporting Sunday’s demonstration and encourages all those who are serious about peace to work together to put a stop to Nato’s aggressive push eastwards.

The current “Minsk 2” ceasefire was negotiated to stem the ongoing war in south-eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region, now comprised of two People’s Republics of Lugansk and Donetsk.

That ceasefire came into force last Sunday, yet already by Wednesday this week Nato was seeking to stoke up tension, demanding that Russia withdraw all forces from eastern Ukraine and end support for those people’s republics. “I urge Russia to withdraw all its forces from eastern Ukraine, to stop all its support for the separatists and to respect the Minsk agreement,” Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg bellowed.

Despite loud and aggressive accusations, the US and EU imperialists have never been able to produce one shred of credible evidence that Russian military forces operate inside Ukraine. Nevertheless, media reports abound of US, British, French and Polish mercenaries fighting on the side of the Ukrainian conscript army, while neonazi volunteers from Sweden and Croatia have flocked to join the Ukrainian fascist “punishment battalions” accused of appalling war crimes against civilians.

Nato’s aggressive rhetoric serves as ideological preparation for further military aggression against the antifascist forces in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. In reality, Nato is engaged in an imperialist push eastward, against Russia itself.

Jens Stoltenberg announced this week that Nato “will provide practical support for Ukraine, with modernising and reforming the defence army and of course we are also adapting our own defence posture to the fact that we see that the security environment in Europe is changing because of the actions of Russia in Ukraine.”

In the same vein US Vice-President Joe Biden (whose son Hunter has been quick to enrich himself in Ukraine, joining the board of several strategic energy companies) has upped the ante by stating that “the costs to Russia will rise” if it doesn’t dance to Nato’s tune.

Such predatory and irresponsible behaviour increasingly threatens Europe and the world with more and intensified war, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Saru is calling on all those who cherish peace and oppose Nato’s aggressive push for a new war with Russia to come to the US embassy, 24 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 2LQ at 12 noon Sunday February 22nd 2015 and join the call to “Stop Nato’s war in Ukraine — Peace for the Donbass.”

David Ayrton is chair of Solidarity with Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine (Saru).