Zarah Sultana MP

I deplore Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which has unleashed horrific death and destruction across the country. That is why, shortly after the war began, I spoke in a debate on the topic in the House of Commons, joining colleagues in calling for, as I said at the time, “an urgent ceasefire with every effort made to reach a diplomatic end before more lives are lost and an even more terrifying wider European war is triggered.”

I also paid tribute to the bravery and humanity on display in the region, in spite of the horrors of war, both from the Ukrainian people themselves and Russian anti-war activists. You can see that speech here.

I have also spoken of my concerns of the war being escalated on other occasions, for example at the beginning of March 2022 I argued against pundits who wanted to appear “tough” and were advocating a no-fly zone in the region. I warned that this could trigger a war between two nuclear-armed powers, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

This is an existential threat due to the danger of full-scale nuclear war, which is why I am a supporter of nuclear disarmament. For that reason, I have, for example, written to the government to call on it to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Similarly, I have joined the Bishop of Coventry at the Lord Mayor’s Committee on Peace and Reconciliation, calling for an end to the threat of nuclear war.

The importance of this call is well-known in Coventry, a city marked by the appalling costs of war, and I have been honoured to join moving ceremonies in Coventry Cathedral marking the anniversary of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima by the United States.

This crime and threat of a future catastrophic nuclear war should remind us all of the importance of peace and diplomacy.

Zarah Sultana MP
Member of Parliament for Coventry South