The EU must support Ukraine with whatever is needed for Kyiv to win its war against Russia, say MEPs in a resolution adopted on Thursday.
In the text, passed by 451 votes in favour, 46 against with 49 abstentions, MEPs take stock of the two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Highlighting how the war has fundamentally changed the geopolitical situation in Europe and beyond, they point out that the main objective is for Ukraine to win the war, warning of serious consequences if that does not happen. MEPs say that other authoritarian regimes are watching how this develops to assess their own leeway for exerting aggressive foreign policies.
For Kyiv to win, there should be “no self-imposed restriction on military assistance to Ukraine”, with Parliament reaffirming the need to provide the country with whatever is needed to regain full control over its internationally recognised territory.
Supply Ukraine with ammunition, missiles and air-defence systems
MEPs state that there are still huge differences in the level of military support provided by EU member states to Ukraine and call for the necessary investments to be made in the European defence industrial base. This is paramount in order to meet Ukrainian needs and replenish depleted stocks in the EU. MEPs list sophisticated air-defence systems, long-range missiles such as TAURUS, Storm Shadow/SCALP, various types of artillery and ammunition (155 mm in particular) and drones and weapons to counter them, as particularly important for Ukraine.
All EU and NATO allies should support Ukraine militarily with no less than 0.25% of their GDP annually, say MEPs, who also urge EU countries to immediately enter into dialogue with defence companies, in order to ensure increased production and deliveries of ammunition, shells and missiles to Ukraine, which should be prioritised over orders from other third countries. In addition, they call on the U.S. House of Representatives to adopt its long-stalled military assistance package for Ukraine without any further delay.
Russian assets must be confiscated
The resolution underlines the urgency for a solid legal regime to allow Russian state-owned assets frozen by the EU to be confiscated and used for reconstructing Ukraine and to compensate victims of the war. Russia must be obliged to pay reparations imposed on it to ensure that it contributes substantially to rebuilding Ukraine.
MEPs also call on the EU to maintain and extend its sanctions policy against Moscow and Russia’s ally Belarus. This includes banning Russian uranium and metallurgical imports to the EU, terminating nuclear cooperation with Russia and imposing a full embargo on EU imports of Russian agricultural and fishery products as well as fossil fuels and liquefied natural gas transported by sea through pipelines.
Parliament also condemns all those countries, companies, associations and individuals that are helping Moscow circumvent EU restrictive measures, stating that these disruptive practices should be criminalised at EU level.
Source – EU Parliament