“My greetings to the peace conference being hosted by our great friends in Podemos today.

When there’s a war on, and the escalation of that war is imminent, that is the time to talk about peace.

The declaration that we have collectively signed recognises that it is wrong for one country to invade another, how wrong war crimes of any sort are, committed by anybody and how there has to be an international process to both bring about a ceasefire and a solution and resolution to the issues that have occasioned the war in the first place.

Because, if we don’t do that, escalation will continue.

Nuclear weapons are available to both Russia and NATO, and the unthinkable is therefore possibly becoming the thinkable.  So a peace process is absolutely essential.

Behind every war, and there are many other wars happening all around the world, in Yemen, the Congo, the occupation of Palestine and the other conflicts that take place and get much less publicity such as the conflict in West Papua and many others.

Behind all of them are two factors.  One is the sale of arms and the pressure of the arms sellers on governments and militaries on both sides of the conflict.  The other is the greed and corruption that comes from big corporations trying to take over natural resources of much poorer countries.

So our declaration and call for peace is about the survival of this world.  Today, this conference is going to be dealing with some very important issues.

And here at the Peace & Justice Project, we are working with all of the peace groups and organisations.  We are also working to expose the undemocratic, unaccountable pressure and power of the arms industry and arms trade.

Today we can achieve a great deal, and when it’s difficult, and it often is, that is the time to raise the simple word: peace.”