As the G20 debates which version of victory over Russia, they would prefer, the people of Ukraine, who have born the horror of the current war must have the final say,

The military and economic support given to Ukraine must remain unconditional , we cannot buy the outcome the US, India, China , Europe or Great Britain prefers, we must accept the right of the Ukraine people to determine the nature of the peace and recognise that they may not want to make peace with Russia till the time is right for Ukraine, not the rest of the world.

Ukraine was not the aggressor , they are fighting a defensive war against an invading force, we should not forget that. Zalensky has made it clear he does not want to appropriate Russia as part of a settlement, he is not even calling for regime change, he simply wants Ukraine’s borders back to where they were before the first Russian landgrab in 2014.

We chose not to own the war and we cannot own the peace. But we can make a just peace more likely, by continuing to support Ukraine’s attempts to defend their people and their infrastructure so that people do not die from weapons or from hardship caused by the loss of the means to heat or cook or even light their houses.

Set against their hardships , our hardships are minimal and we are still providing shelter to Ukrainian refugees, displaced and for the moment our charge. We cannot – in a mere 9 months , decide that enough support is enough. Support for the relatively few Ukranians we have taken into our system, must also be unconditional. We cannot start using refugees as tokens in the debate.

As I listen to the G20 talk of the need to close the war down, I ask myself – whose war is this to win, who’s peace is it to make?

Let us pray for peace in the east, but let’s not try to decide it.