Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I extend our deepest solidarity with and support to the Ukrainian people. They are now the victims of war crimes carried out by Putin's army. There is no justification for this imperialist invasion. Russian troops should be withdrawn immediately and all refugees fleeing from Ukraine should be welcome into the EU and Ireland.

I will address the campaign from large sections of the establishment to paint anyone who opposes escalation and the risk of nuclear war as, in some way, pro-Putin. It is a disgusting slur designed to silence opponents of war in order to further the plans on display in this debate today to undermine Ireland's neutrality. The idea that we are in some way soft on Putin is patently ridiculous. One should look at the record.

Who condemned Putin's horrendous invasion of Chechnya? While Mr. Tony Blair rolled out the red carpet for Putin during that war, the socialist left opposed it. Who spoke out against Putin's jailing of Pussy Riot and the repression of LGBTQ activists? It was the left. Who is on the streets in Russia in protest against the war right now? A Putin ally in the Duma has called them Trotskyists and left scum. Of course, it is much broader than the organised left.

I want to be very clear. It is not pro-Putin to say we do not want an escalation and to point out the dangers of a spiral towards an all-out war between nuclear powers, or to say we are against sanctions that are already having a devastating effect on the lives of Russian people. It is not pro-Putin to oppose the one-sided nature of this motion, with no mention of NATO expansion into eastern Europe, no mention of the rights of minorities in Ukraine and no commitment to Ireland's continued non-membership of NATO.

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