EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDSDAY, JUNE 23, 2021

U.S.-Russia Strategic Stability Talks Moving, and Citizen Action for New Paradigm Makes All the Difference

June 22, 2021 (EIRNS)—Official confirmation has been made that U.S.-Russia talks on nuclear strategic stability, mandated by the June 16 Biden-Putin Summit, are formally in the works; and there are critical expressions of support. What will make all the difference—as it already has to date—is to engage more and more citizens in active mobilization, as through the Schiller Institute process of dialogue, and in particular over the two days of international deliberation at this weekend’s conference hosted by the Schiller Institute, “For the Common Good of All People, Not Rules Benefiting the Few!”

Yesterday Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov announced that he has sent proposals to U.S. authorities for how the stability talks can proceed. He did this within a day of returning to his post in Washington from Moscow, following the June 16 Geneva meeting between Presidents Biden and Putin. Antonov said June 21,

“All participants [left Geneva] with the hope that Russian-U.S. relations would stabilize. Certainly, we expect that tomorrow will be better, better not only for Russia and the U.S., but the entire world.... In the early hours of today, we sent our colleagues a series of proposals on the meetings, on the need to hold a serious conversation on how we will live together. We have no other option but to live without quarrelling on this planet. That’s because, as Russian President Vladimir Putin stated many times, Russia and the U.S. bear special responsibility for international peace and security. We should cooperate and there is no other option.”

Later in the day Ned Price, spokesman at the U.S. State Department said that preparations for the first U.S.-Russia meeting were underway. The U.S. delegation will be led by a senior State Department official.

One strong view on how the talks should proceed comes from Russia, from Dmitry Stefanovich, an expert at the Primakov Institute for World Economy and International Relations. He stressed that there are two parts to the mandate of the June 16 Biden-Putin agreement. One is discussion on nuclear arms control. The second matter is bilateral dialogue for risk management to avert triggering war through accident or other exigency.

The danger from deliberately high-risk acts is clear from the latest NATO forward deployment plans. Next week in the Black Sea begins a NATO-Ukraine joint military exercise, “Sea Breeze,” involving more than 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft, and participation from 32 countries for 12 days (June 28-July 10). Right now, in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth floats with its escorts and contingent of F-35B stealth fighters, ready for combat action in Syria and Iraq, ostensibly against ISIS.

Add to this war danger, the worsening conditions of both the pandemic and famine. There are COVID-19 surges in the Southern Hemisphere in South America and Africa, as well as new waves in Central Asia.

The extent of hunger and famine is increasing. Today, the World Food Program issued a release, “41 Million People Now at Imminent Risk of Famine,” increasing the previous WFP estimate, up from 34 million, of the number of people who could die this year from starvation, without emergency aid. Executive Director David Beasley said, “I want to emphasize just how bad it is out there. Today, 41 million people are literally knocking on famine’s door. The price tag to reach them is about $6 billion. We need funding and we need it now.”

There is no “natural” physical constraint causing these terrible disasters. They result from decades of deliberate suppression of economic development by the London-Wall Street imperium, which now is imposing drastic reductions in energy, water, food, chemicals, industry, farming, and other basics, to bring about mass depopulation in the name of “saving the planet.”

But at the same time, thousands of people are stepping up in opposition. This weekend’s Schiller Institute conference is a rallying point in the mobilization for the world anti-Malthusian alliance.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche today described our situation as “tense but promising.” Among the points she remarked in her briefing was the initiative by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Today in Russia is the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, on the 80th anniversary of the attack on the Soviet Union by Hitler’s forces. Putin wrote a guest column published in today issue of the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, titled, “Being Open, Despite the Past.” It could not more embody the mode of thinking and acting called the “coincidence of opposites,” conceptualized in the 15th century by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, and today advocated by Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

Putin concluded his article, addressing Europe specifically, but by implication the world in general:

“The world is a dynamic place, facing new challenges and threats. We simply cannot afford to carry the burden of past misunderstandings, hard feelings, conflicts, and mistakes. It is a burden that will prevent us from concentrating on the challenges at hand. We are convinced that we all should recognize these mistakes and correct them. Our common and indisputable goal is to ensure security on the continent without dividing lines, a common space for equitable cooperation and inclusive development for the prosperity of Europe and the world as a whole.”