Five Western scientists wrote a letter urging US policymakers and the rest of the scientific community to “avoid barring all Russian scientists” in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
In their letter, published Thursday in the journal Science, the scientists said Vladimir Putin and his associates deserve “all appropriate and targeted sanctions against the Putin regime that the horrified world can devise.”
But, they said, it would be a major setback if the world were to punish Russian scientists for their government’s actions.
“Closing all interaction with Russian scientists would be a serious setback for a variety of Western and global interests and values, which include making rapid progress on global challenges related to science and technology, maintaining non-ideological lines of communication across national borders, and ideological opposition. . stereotypes and indiscriminate persecution,” the scientists wrote.
The lead author of the letter was John Holdren, professor of environmental science and policy at Harvard University. Holdren was previously the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the Obama administration.
Scientists noted that all participated in international collaborations and expressed support for Ukrainian scientists. However, they emphasized that Russian scientists deserve the same security. Scientists have noted that thousands of Russian academics and students living in the West have publicly criticized the Russian government for its attack on Ukraine.
“Surely these Russians should not be grouped with the leaders of the Russian state,” the letter read. “Instead, humanitarian measures must be taken to ensure that, as their visas and passports expire, they are not forcibly repatriated to face not only isolation from their Western counterparts, but also, quite possibly, persecution.”
Nina Federoff of Pennsylvania State University, Neal Lane of Rice University, Nick Talbot of Sainsbury Laboratory and Toby Spribille of the University of Alberta were also the authors of the letter.
Source: CNN Brasil
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