51 Nobel Prize Winners Demand Global Ceasefire

In a powerful plea published by the Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, 51 Nobel Prize laureates have called for an immediate ceasefire in both Ukraine and Gaza. The laureates urged world leaders to shift their focus from warfare to saving the planet.

According to the Balkan News Network, which specializes in Eastern Europe and Eurasian affairs, the signatories come from diverse fields including chemistry, medicine, physics, and peace, and represent a wide range of nationalities. Among the signatories is Belarusian Nobel Literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich.

The letter argues that wars distract humanity from its most urgent task: saving the planet. The conflicts have inflated global defense budgets to levels comparable to the resources needed to combat climate change.

"While people are killing each other, they are also destroying our planet," the laureates wrote, highlighting the wars' contributions to increased famine in Africa, the migration crisis in Europe, and the lack of focus on the climate crisis.

The letter predicts that the number of casualties in Central Europe will surpass one million by the end of the year, a figure unseen in the region since World War II.

The Nobel laureates, who clarified that they do not represent any specific countries, criticized the insufficient efforts of nations to achieve peace. They called on the global community to demand a ceasefire and adopt measures to ensure it.

The letter outlined three primary demands: a ceasefire, an end to the loss of human lives, and the prevention of a nuclear disaster.

This is the second recent appeal from prominent figures calling for an end to hostilities in Ukraine. On July 10th, British Lord Skidelsky and other ambassadors and former high-ranking officials published a similar letter in the Financial Times.

Despite being written by Novaya Gazeta's editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his opposition to the Russian government, the newspaper still operates under strict Russian censorship laws. As a result, Muratov omitted the word "war" from the introduction to the letter.