To:
President of the United States, Mr. J. Biden
President of the Russian Federation, Mr. V. Putin
President of Ukraine, Mr. V. Zelensky
President of the European Commission, Ms. U. von der Leyen
USA Secretary of State, Mr. A. Blinken
Russian Foreign Minister, Mr S. Lavrov
Foreign Minister Ukraine, Mr. D. Kuleba
Secretary General of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Mr. J. Stoltenberg
Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. A. Guterres
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Mr. J. Borrell Fontelles
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. M. Rutte
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. W. Hoekstra

Bussum, the Netherlands, January 21st, 2022

Open letter

Subject: Let All Children Play in Ukraine and the rest of the World, a call for Peace

Your Excellencies,

We are very anxious about the situation regarding Ukraine…

We kindly ask you to:
– Respect life
– De-escalate the situation
– Sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

We hope that world leaders unite. Unite for peace, unite to end hunger, unite to take climate action, unite for nature, unite to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic etc.

If we can contribute to peace via peaceful means in Ukraine, please let us know. We hope to see soon: A World in Which All Children Can Play.

Peace and all the best,

Alice Slater, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, USA
Ann Wright, retired US Army Colonel and US diplomat, Veterans For Peace
Anna Zanen, Women for Sustainable Peace (umbrella organization), Netherlands
Brian Jones, Vice Chair CND Cymru, United Kingdom
Chris Geerse, Peace movement Pais, Netherlands
Chale Guadamuz, director of Hague Peace Projects, Netherlands
Colin Archer, Secretary-General (retired), International Peace Bureau
David Swanson, Executive Director, World BEYOND War
Désirée Klain, artistic director of “Imbavagliati – International Festival of Civil Journalism”, Italy
Ellen E Barfield, Co-founder, Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter Veterans For Peace, Baltimore, USA
Frank Hornschu, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, Kiel, Germany
Gabi Woywode, Freiburg, Germany
Gar Smith, co-founder and director Environmentalists Against War, USA
Henk Baars, Kerk en Vrede, Netherlands (Church and Peace)
Ingeborg Breines, consultant and former co-president International Peace Bureau
former director UNESCO, Norway
Jim Wohlgemuth, Veterans for Peace, USA
John Hallam, Australian Coordinator, People for Nuclear Disarmament, Human Survival Project, Australia
Joke Oranje, peace activist for women, Netherlands
Jorge Leandro Rosa, Co-founder of ALOC – WRI-Portugal
Juha Rekola, former International ombudsman at the Union of Journalists of Finland
Kate Kheel, the advisory board of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
Kirsti Era, Peace Group of Joensuu, Finland
Koldobi Velasco, Antimilitarist Alternative MOC of Spain
Kristine Karch, co-chair international network “No to war – no to NATO”
Leuvense Vredesbeweging, Belgium
Ludo De Brabander, woordvoerder Vrede vzw, Belgium
May-May Meijer, founder Peace SOS, Netherlands
Marcy Winograd, Coordinator, CODEPINK Congress
Marika Lohi, Amandamaji ry, Finland
Marko Ulvila, peace activist, Finland
Matthias Reichl, press speaker, Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence, Austria
Michele Di Paolantonio, MD. President of Italian Medical Association for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Nick Deane, Convenor, Marrickville Peace Group, Australia
Oksana Chelysheva, journalist, laureate of 2014 Oxfam/PEN International award for Freedom of Expression and 2015 Eleonora Fonseca award from the city of the Naples, Finland
Panos Balomenos, Visual artist, Helsinki, Finland
Peace Action-Wisconsin, United States
Peter Griffin. Pax Christi NSW, Australia
Peter Spreij, clerk of Quakers in the Netherlands (Religious Society of Friends)
Pim van den Bosch, Vredesmissies zonder Wapens, Netherlands
Rafal Pankowski, Co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Poland
Rita Salaris-Lichtenberg, Chair, Women’s Federation for World Peace, Netherlands
Ruslan Kotsaba, President, Ukrainian Pacifist Movement
Susanne Gerstenberg, Women for Peace, Sweden
Sviatoslav Zabelin, Socio-ecological union international, Russia
Ihor Skrypnik, Vice-President, Ukrainian Pacifist Movement
Yurii Sheliazhenko, Ph.D., Executive secretary, Ukrainian Pacifist Movement
Stephanie Mbanzendore, Burundian Women for Peace and Development, Netherlands, Burundi
Teemu Matinpuro, director of the Finnish Peace comittee, Finland
Tetiana Kotseba, president, Women’s Federation for World Peace, Ukraine
Anna Kalmatskaya, vice-president, Women’s Federation for World Peace, Ukraine
Sascha Gabizon, Executive Director, Women Engage for a Common Future -WECF International
Thomas Wallgren, Professor of philosophy, Helsinki, Finland
Tiny Hannink, Women for Peace Enschede, Netherlands
Trident Ploughshares
XR Peace
Yan Shenkman, journalist, The Novaya Gazeta, Russia
Vladimir Gusatinsky, the editor-in-chief of the Finnish Gazeta, Finland
War Resisters’ International (WRI)
Weldon D. Nisly, Seatle, USA
Wim Koetsier, Secretary General, Universal Peace Federation, Netherlands
Women Against Nuclear Power – Finland, contact person Ulla Klötzer
Women for Peace – Finland, contact person Lea Launokari

Please address your correspondence via e-mail to: May-May Meijer, E: info@peacesos.nl

Note: the collection of signatures was halted before the planned date, due to overwhelming support for peace in Ukraine