A EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR PEACE 

IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA AND EUROPE

— of citizens, by citizens, for citizens

 

At the G7 summit on 17 June 2025, the President of the European Council, António Costa, presented Donald Trump, President of the United States, with a Cristiano Ronaldo football shirt, signed by the player himself, on which was printed the following appeal: ‘Play for peace. As a team’.

A fair appeal, but with the wrong messenger and recipient

Cristiano Ronaldo’ s appeal expresses a legitimate and urgent desire. But it has the wrong messenger (António Costa) and the wrong recipient: the G7 — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) + the European Union (EU) as an extra-numerary participant.

The only team interested in playing for peace and capable of doing so with commitment and fairness is the one made up of the ordinary citizens who make up the peoples of these countries and other countries, including European countries that are not members of the European Union.

A task for citizens

It will therefore be up to us, ordinary citizens, to take the initiative and act to build lasting peace in Europe. (If we do so, governments will be forced to obey us or fall).

What can we do immediately to achieve this? We can call a European Conference for Peace in Ukraine, Russia and Europe.

With what wachtwords? This is the most sensitive point. To begin with, we propose the following:

● Formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission along the lines of those that have been so successful in post-apartheid South Africa and post-independence East Timor.

This independent commission could begin its work immediately after the signing of the Peace Agreement – hearing complaints (from all sides) of human rights violations since 2014 – independently of the forensic investigation processes leading to war crimes trials, which will necessarily be very lengthy.

● War crimes trials should be organised by the respective States, as suggested by the eminent jurist Alfred de Zayas: trials for alleged Russian war crimes by Russian courts; trials for alleged Ukrainian war crimes by Ukrainian courts.  

● Permanent military neutrality of Ukraine enshrined in its Constitution. Ukraine's renunciation of its goal of joining NATO, with the repeal of the articles of the Ukrainian Constitution that express this goal (Articles 85[5], 102, 116 [1]).

● Legal guarantees that Ukraine will not allow the manufacture, receipt, transit or deployment of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction on its territory.

● Legal guarantees that Ukraine and Russia will not allow the establishment of military bases or the presence of foreign military contingents on their respective territories.

● Recognition of the right to self-determination (Article 1(2), Article 55 and Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations; Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) in its various forms (regional autonomy, federalism, secession, voluntary integration into another country) for the population of Crimea and the populations of the eastern and southern oblasts of Ukraine who feel more Russian than Ukrainian and who have freely expressed their will through referendums.

● Legal guarantees for the protection of the Russian language as a co-official language of Ukraine and the cultural rights (including religious freedom) of Russian-speaking Ukrainians (52% of the Ukrainian population), as well as the cultural rights of Ukrainians who speak minority languages (e.g. Hungarian and Romanian).

● End of all sanctions ⎼ ban on media outlets (RT, Sputnik, etc.) broadcasting in the EU; visa and travel bans in the EU, Schengen area, UK and Ireland; asset freeze; economic import and export restrictions ⎼ a total of more than 10,279 sanctions (882 sanctions between 17 March 2014 and 22 February 2022, plus 9,237 from 22 February 2022 to 17 January 2025) imposed on Russia by Switzerland (3,226), the EU (2,482), France (2,423) and the UK (2,078).

These are the eight minimum measures necessary to achieve a lasting peace agreement in Ukraine and Russia.

To build lasting peace in Europe, it is necessary to outline and approve a European Cooperation and Security architecture that covers all European countries (including Russia) and scrupulously respects the principle of the indivisibility of international security: the notion that international security is interdependent — that is, there can be no security for some countries without security for others, or at the expense of the security of others.

This architecture should include the following confidence-building and development measures:

● Elimination of all US and Russian nuclear weapons (and all existing infrastructure for their use) outside their respective national territories — such as NATO air bases in Europe that house US nuclear warheads: Incirlik (Turkey); Aviano and Ghedi-Torre (Italy); Kleine Brogel (Belgium); Büchel (Germany), Volkel (Netherlands), as well as air bases housing nuclear warheads that Russia has positioned in Belarus under the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

● Eradication of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Europe – by denunciation/withdrawal from its Treaty (provided for in Article 13) by its European member countries – either (i) by simultaneous denunciation by all of them, or (ii) by successive individual denunciation/withdrawal by its European member countries, or (iii) by concerted denunciation/ withdrawal of successive groups of its European member countries, or (iv) by a combination of (ii) and (iii), and Eradication (concurrent with the eradication of NATO from the European continent) of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Europe by denunciation/withdrawal from its Treaty (provided for in Article 11) by its European member countries — Russia, Belarus, Armenia (+ Serbia as an observer member). 

These measures, in turn, pave the way for the end of nuclear weapons, a necessary condition for preventing a nuclear apocalypse, which requires:

● the prohibition of designing, testing, producing, manufacturing, acquiring, possessing or stockpiling nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as provided for in Article 1 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), approved by the UN General Assembly on 4 December 2017.

It should be noted that the TPNW has so far been signed by 93 countries, of which 70 have already ratified it. The countries that have ratified it are mostly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and are not nuclear powers. Of the 31 member countries of NATO (including the US, France and the UK, which possess nuclear weapons, and the 22 EU countries that are also members of NATO), none have signed and ratified the treaty. This clearly shows that this organisation is a nuclear alliance that is very jealously protective of its destructive power.

● The simultaneous and mutually controlled dismantling (by inspectors from all parties involved) of the nuclear arsenals of Russia, the US, France, the UK and other nuclear powers: China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.

Number of nuclear warheads held by the nine nuclear powers in 2025. Source: SIPRI, 2025

 

The principle to be applied in this task is very simple and has already proven its worth: ‘Trust but verify.’ The task is colossal, but achievable, as demonstrated by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed between the Soviet Union (and later Russia, the successor state) and the US in 1987, also known as the INF Treaty (Intermediate Nuclear Forces), which lasted until 2019, when it was broken by the US.

The INF Treaty provided for the destruction of nuclear missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometres within three years. And this was done successfully. In total, 2,692 missiles were destroyed before 1991 — that is, almost all the intermediate-range nuclear missiles and just over 4% of the total nuclear arsenal of both countries in 1987.  One of the innovations of the INF Treaty was the adoption of procedures for mutual verification of the destruction of nuclear weapons by inspectors from each country.

A real security system will not be established on Earth until, at the very least, nuclear disarmament treaties have been signed and ratified by all States that possess nuclear weapons, and nuclear weapons have been eradicated.

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Those wishing to sign this Call for a European Citizens' Conference for Peace in Ukraine, Russia and Europe are invited to contact u8189072106@gmail.com. Please indicate your name, country of origin, profession and email address. (Rest assured that your email address will remain confidential.)

They will be added to the list below, updated on 26 October 2025, which lists the first signatories of the Call.

The signatories, listed in alphabetical order by surname, represent a diversity of professions, nationalities and expertise, illustrating the plurality of citizens committed to promoting peace on the European continent.

List of signatories

·       Jorge Aires (Portugal): Major general (retd) of the Portuguese Air Force

·    José Baptista Alves (Portugal): Coronel (retd) of the Portuguese Air Force, April military [*]

·       João Sousa Andrade (Portugal): Economist, university professor, researcher

·       António Avelãs (Portugal): Secondary school teacher, trade union leader

·       Patrik Baab (Germany): Journalist, university professor, non-fiction writer

·       Manuel Begonha (Portugal): Captain of sea and war (retd) of the Portuguese Navy, April military

·       Carlos Branco (Portugal): Major general (retd) of the Portuguese Army, specialist in conflict resolution

·       Tony Brenton (United Kingdom): Diplomat, former ambassador of United Kingdom in Russia (2004-2008)

·      Jean Bricmont (Belgium): Theoretical physicist, philosopher, university professor, non-fiction writer

·      Jorge Costa Campos (Portugal): Journalist, documentary filmmaker, professor at polytechnic higher education

·       Luís Alfaro Cardoso (Portugal): Veterinarian, researcher, university professor

·       Isabelle Casel (Germany): Freelance artist, peace activist, advisor

·       José Cavalheiro (Portugal): Engineer, university professor, researcher

·       António Rocha Carrilho (Portugal): Vice-admiral (retd) of the Portuguese Navy

·       Rolf Christianson (Sweden): Art lecturer

·     Alain Corvez (France): Coronel (retd) of the French Army, international strategy adviser

·     Michel Collon (Belgium): Journalist, writer, founder of Investig’Action (website, video broadcasting channel, book publishing, research on disinformation)

·       Pedro de Pezarat Correia (Portugal): Major general (retd) of the Portuguese Army, April military

·       Raul Luís Cunha (Portugal): Major general (retd) of the Portuguese Army, historian, non-fiction writer

·       Glenn Diesen (Norway): Political scientist, university professor, non-fiction writer, videographer 

·     Hugo Dionísio (Portugal): lawyer, independent researcher

·   Jean-Christophe Emmeneger (Switzerland): former journalist, researcher specialising in the history of intelligence agencies, travel writer

·     Dom Januário Torgal Ferreira (Portugal): Bishop Emeritus of the Armed Forces and Security Forces of Portugal

·       Paulo Fidalgo (Portugal): Physician, gastroenterologist, non-fiction writer

·       Carlos Fino (Portugal): Journalist (reporter, international correspondent,

war correspondent), non-fiction writer

·       Mattias Forsgren (Sweden): Secondary school teacher, non-fiction writer

·      Júlio Manuel Dias Gomes (Portugal): Economist, university professor, non-fiction writer

·       Ulrike Guérot (Germany): Political philosopher, peace activist, university professor, non-fiction writer

·     Manuel Martins Guerreiro (Portugal): Rear admiral (retd) of the Portuguese Navy, April military

·    Jacques Hogard (France): Colonel (retd) of the French Army, historian, geopolitical consultant, non-fiction writer

·       Hakan Julander (Sweden): Actor, poet, podcaster

·       Cipriano Justo (Portugal): Physician, university professor, non-fiction writer

·       Mertz Laakso (Sweden): Entrepreneur, non-fiction writer

·       Luís M. Loureiro (Portugal): Journalist, university professor, non-fiction writer

·       Pascal Lottaz (Switzerland): Political scientist, university professor, videographer

·     António M. J. Rosado da Luz (Portugal): Colonel (retd) of the Portuguese Army, April military, economist

·     Seamus Martin (Ireland): Journalist, former Moscow correspondent for The Irish Times

·       Albino Matos (Portugal): Jurist, non-fiction writer

·       Alexander Mercouris (United Kingdom): Journalist, political analyst, videographer

·       Guy Mettan (Switzerland): Journalist, columnist, Member of Parliament, non-fiction writer

·       Matts Nilsson (Sweden): Jurist, non-fiction writer

·    José Manuel Costa Neves (Portugal): Major general (retd) of the Portuguese Air Force, April military

·       António José Avelãs Nunes (Portugal): Jurist, economist, university

professor, non-fiction writer

·       Rui Pereira (Portugal) : Journalist, university professor, non-fiction writer

·       Henrik Petersen (Sweden): Fiction writer

·    Ian Proud (United Kingdom): Diplomat, former economic adviser at the British Embassy in Moscow (2014–2019), non-fiction writer

·     Christopher Read (United Kingdom): Emeritus Professor of History

·      João Luís B. Pena dos Reis (Portugal):  Deputy Attorney General (retd) of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Portugal

·       Alastair Renfrew (United Kingdom): Philologist, historian, university professor

·     Craig Roberts (Wales, United Kingdom): conductor, creative, musical director of both Symphonic Brass Wales and Lewis-Merthyr Bands.

·       Geoffrey Roberts (Ireland): Historian, university professor

·       Fabrice Saint-Pol (France): Capitaine de corvette (Commander) [retd] in the reserve (Marine Nationale), Civil Engineer

·       Richard Sakwa (United Kingdom): Political scientist, historian, university professor

·   Michael Sergius von der Schulenburg (Germany): Member of the European Parliament, diplomat, non-fiction writer

·      José Aranda da Silva (Portugal): Colonel (retd) of Portuguese Army, April military, pharmacist, non-fiction writer

·      Robert Skidelsky (United Kingdom): Economist, historian, university professor, non-fiction writer, member of the House of Lords

·       José Catarino Soares (Portugal): Linguist, professor at polytechnic higher education, non-fiction writer

·       Henry Söderström (Sweden): Economist, non-fiction writer

·       Richard Turpin (Sweden): Stage director

·    Harald Walach (Germany): Psychologist, philosopher, university professor, non-fiction writer

·    Alfred-Maurice de Zayas (Switzerland): Jurist, philosopher, university professor, non-fiction writer

 

[*] The term “April military” is used formally to denote military officers who participated in the overthrow of the Salazar fascist regime on 25 April 1974.

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Conference programme

November 22, 2025. Lisbon

 

Item 1. Welcome and acknowledgements. José Catarino Soares (Portugal). 9.30am to 9.45am.

Item 2. Opening address. Luís Alfaro Cardoso (Portugal). 9.45am to 10am.

Item 3: Testimonies of war and daily life in Donbass.From 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m with a coffee break at 11.15 pm.

Five speakers: Guy Mettan (Switzerland), Christelle Néant (France) Benoît Paré (France), Jean-Christophe Emmeneger (Switzwerland), Patrick Baab (Germany). Moderator : Bruno de Carvalho (Portugal).

Lunch. 12.30-14.30 pm

Item 4: Narratives and reality of war in Ukraine and Russia. From 14.30 p.m. to 16.10 p.m with a coffee break at 16.10 pm.

Four speakers: Jacques Hogard (France), Michel Collon (Belgium), Alastair Renfrew  (England, UK). Geoffrey Roberts (Ireland). Moderator: José Catarino Soares (Portugal).

Item 5. Initiatives promoting peace in Ukraine, Russia and Europe. From 16.30pm to 18.50pm. 

Five speakers: Isabelle Casel (Germany), Hakan Julander  (Sweden), Robert Skidelsky (England, UK), Ian Proud (England, UK), Carlos Branco (Portugal). Moderator: José Aranda da Silva (Portugal).

Item 6. Closing address. Raul Luís Cunha (Portugal). 18.50pm-19pm