Sanctions, Pouring Weapons Into Ukraine 'Not the Way' to Deal With Conflict, Peace Group Says

LOS ANGELES (Sputnik) - Imposing sanctions on Russia and sending more weapons into Ukraine are not the ways to address the ongoing conflict in the country, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin said.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a big mistake and should not have happened. And, unfortunately, a lot of people are suffering because of it. But the sanctions are not the way to deal with that. And pouring more weapons into the conflict is not a way to deal with that either," Benjamin said.

Benjamin also said CODEPINK opposes the US sanctions on fertilizer and grain from Russia.

"We are against sanctions that hurt people and we've seen the effects of US sanctions in many countries that make it hard for people to have access to food," she said.

The measures the US and its allies have imposed on Russia are "another kind of economic warfare," Benjamin believes.

The peace activist stressed that they want to see ceasefire negotiations and a solution to this crisis.

"I think that there's been solutions out there for a long time including the Minsk agreements, where there would be an internationally supervised referendum in the Donbas, where Ukraine would be a neutral country," Benjamin said.

Benjamin also said she disagreed with people that say Ukraine should be allowed to join NATO.

"I don't think that's good for the rest of the world, because it means that Russia feels insecure, feels threatened and we have the conflict that we have now," Benjamin said.

Commenting on the recent applications by Sweden and Finland to join NATO, Benjamin said that she has argued for the dissolution of the alliance for years.

"We are part of a group that's been part of an alliance called 'No to NATO,' that for decades has been saying 'NATO should dissolve,'" she added.

Benjamin said NATO is not a defensive organisation, it is an offensive one.

"We were against its expansion from the original 13 countries that formed it, we're against Finland and Sweden joining, we think that's only further antagonizing Russia. So I think it's a bad development and we stick to our idea that NATO should be disbanded," Benjamin added.

Benjamin spoke at the People’s Summit, which is being held at the same time with the Summit of the Americas.

The Ninth Summit of the Americas is taking place in Los Angeles from Monday to Friday.