Juana Garcia/The Cougar
As the conflict between Ukraine and Russia continues, UH’s Russian and Eastern European Initiative reacts to how the war is unfolding.
Last week, the initiative released a statement that went through with condemning the violence against Ukraine and putting blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The Russian and Eastern European Initiative at the University of Houston condemns Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine,” the statement said. “The current political establishment headed by President Vladimir Putin is responsible for innocent deaths, displacement of hundreds of thousands (and potentially millions) of people and economic devastation in Ukraine that had no justification.”
The invasion partially stems from Russia’s dissatisfaction with U.S. efforts to bring Ukraine into membership with the North Atlantic Trade Agreement. Following a series of talks between the conflicting countries and the United States, Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Since then, many people and organizations, including UH’s Student Government Association, have taken it upon themselves to condemn the violence that is occurring in this conflict and going against Ukrainians.
One initiative in the works going to SGA’s agenda on Wednesday is attempting to convince the University to divest from companies that invest in arms manufacturing companies.
“We stand with all people of Ukraine who deserve peace and prosperity rather than destruction and fear, as well as with those people of Russia who are standing up to the autocratic regime and protesting the war,” the REEI statement said. “Imperialism should be a thing of the past. Our solidarity is with those who fight it.”
