On Monday, 21 December, Cymdeithas y Cymod travelled to Bala, and sent four letters to key heads of state calling for peace and a ceasefire in Ukraine. The group sent a letter to Vladimir Putin, Volodomyr Zelensky, Rishi Sunak and Mark Drakeford.
Cymdeithas y Cymod said: “Letters addressed to President Zelenksyy and President Putin urge these leaders to negotiate a ceasefire and just peace agreement as soon as possible for the sake of the elderly, the defenceless and all civilians and soldiers caught up in this horrific war.
“Cymdeithas y Cymod alongside other peace organisations in Wales expresses its fear that for the first time ever, nuclear power stations are in the front line of war adding an existential threat to the conflict.”
The group asked Reverend Phillip de la Haye, a retired minister who lives in Bala, to sign the letters. Mr de la Haye said: “These letters originate from a deep desire for peace and reconciliation between these two nations”.
Awel Irene, Cymdeithas y Cymod’s co-ordinator, added: “Our primary aim in doing this is to raise awareness and support for negotiations. We feel that including letters to Mark Drakeford and Rishi Sunak is to show that we feel war is not the answer, and that continued war is not what the people in Ukraine need. Why don’t we as a small Welsh village show our support as much as everyone else? The west must bear responsibility for its actions in prolonging and indeed encouraging the war. It is high time that all governments woke up to the fact that the vast majority of people want peace and understanding between nations.”
Cymdeithas y Cymod is part of an international peace movement that objects to war and violence called the Fellowship of Reconciliation, both groups believe in non-violent methods of conflict resolution and working towards peace.
Ms Irene said: “Cymdeithas y Cymod’s origins go back to the first world war, when people spoke out against conscription. It was formed out of the statement of a German pastor and an English quaker, who both said ‘we will not fight each other’.
“We were one of the fellowship’s founding groups, and now it’s set up in over 40 countries across the world.
“Cymdeithas y Cymod became an independent Welsh branch of the fellowship in the 1980s.”