Protests in US and France against NATO for weaponising and provoking Ukraine war

Twitter user @Gabe ZZOZZ shared some images and video from Times Square in New York, where a significant portion of the local population had assembled to protest the NATO alliance for arming Ukraine and restarting the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

The protester claims that NATO is a war machine rather than a peace association that has murdered millions of innocent people worldwide over the past 73 years. Additionally, they emphasised that US officials are prioritising providing Ukraine with weapons worth billions of dollars above focusing on the issues in their nation.

The US has sent multiple multibillion-dollar aid packages and pricey, high-tech military systems like Patriot and HIMARS since the beginning of the conflict.

The US has committed about $27.5 billion to security aid for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity from January 2021. This includes the roughly $26.8 billion spent since February 24, when Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In order to help Ukraine maintain its territorial integrity, safeguard its borders, and enhance interoperability with NATO, the United States has given around $29.6 billion in security aid since 2014.

The same demonstrations were held in Paris, France, where many Europeans protested NATO for inciting war, which led to a host of issues across the continent, including price increases, an increase in homelessness, higher energy prices, political instability, and the possibility of nuclear war.

They requested that financing for the war should immediately come to an end and that money be redistributed to social services like housing and education.

The protesters in Times Square asked that US officials pay attention to their nation before indiscriminately arming Ukraine. They also discussed the significant issues that have been more prevalent in the US since the start of the war, such as rising education costs, price inflation, homelessness, rising gas prices, and an economic crisis.

The group also slammed President Joe Biden, claiming that while the number of people living on the streets in the United States and its areas is continuously increasing, Biden is only worried about helping Ukraine militarily. President Biden is more concerned with Ukraine and Zelensk than their own country and people.

In the United States, there were 326,126 homeless people in 2021, and in 2022, that number rose by 22%. This year, the number of homeless people has almost reached 500,000. Los Angeles and New York are where they mostly call home.