On the need for unwavering EU support to Ukraine after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

B90149/2024

European Parliament resolution on the need for unwavering EU support to Ukraine after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

(2024/2526(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine and on Russia, in particular its resolutions of 1 March 2022 on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, of 19 May 2022 on the fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine, of 19 January 2023 on the establishment of a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine and of 15 June 2023 on the sustainable reconstruction and integration of Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic community,

–having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,

–having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),

–having regard to the Geneva Conventions,

–having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas the Russian Federation has been waging an unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022, in continuation of previous aggressions since 2014, and continues to persistently violate the principles of the UN Charter through its aggressive actions against the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and to blatantly and grossly violate international humanitarian law, as established by the Geneva Conventions of 1949;

B.whereas the UN General Assembly, in its resolution of 2 March 2022, immediately qualified the Russian war against Ukraine as an act of aggression in violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, and, in its resolution of 14 November 2022, recognised the need to hold the Russian Federation accountable for its war of aggression and legally and financially responsible for its internationally wrongful acts, including by making reparation for the injury and damage caused;

C.whereas the ICC has been conducting an investigation into the situation in Ukraine since 2 March 2022 and on 17 March 2023 issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Maria Lvova-Belova, so-called Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, for the war crime of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children; whereas the ICC following two ad hoc declarations by Ukraine, has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide when committed on the territory of Ukraine since November 2013, but does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression defined in Article 8 bis of the Rome Statute in this situation, as neither Ukraine nor the Russian Federation have ratified the Rome Statute and the amendments related to the crime of aggression; whereas the EU supports the establishment of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression;

D.whereas, as a reaction to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has adopted 13 sanctions packages of unprecedented scope against the Russian Federation, has provided over EUR 80 billion of support to Ukraine in the form of humanitarian and emergency assistance, budget support, macro-financial assistance and military aid, has welcomed millions of refugees from Ukraine and has expressed its support for the people of Ukraine and their leadership by granting the country the status of a candidate country for EU membership;

E.whereas the EU and its Member States, together with international partners and NATO allies, continue to provide substantial military support to Ukraine in order to assist it in exercising its legitimate right to self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter against Russia’s aggression; whereas military support to Ukraine, however, is being delivered in an insufficiently coordinated manner and unevenly across Member States;

F.whereas Ukraine’s armed forces are currently facing an acute shortage of artillery shells and ammunition, which severely reduces Ukraine’s ability to deter Russian attacks and has led to withdrawals from strategic positions;

G.whereas the US Congress has failed to adopt a new USD 60 billion package of support to Ukraine for 2024 which has essentially led to a halt in US aid commitments and military deliveries to Ukraine; whereas to fully replace the US military support in 2024, the EU and its Member States would have to double their current level and pace of military support;

H.whereas the EU is establishing the so-called Ukraine Facility, a EUR 50 billion package of economic and financial support for Ukraine for the years 2024-2027, which will help the Ukrainian State deliver essential services to its citizens such as maintaining schools, hospitals and social security, as well as support private investment and grant technical assistance in order to work towards Ukraine’s economic and social recovery from the war, and its modernisation and reconstruction;

I.whereas, despite broad international condemnation of its war of aggression against Ukraine and unprecedented sanctions, the Russian political and military leadership, with the support of its regular army and proxies, continues to terrorise the people of Ukraine through indiscriminate attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure, targeted attacks on critical infrastructure, forced deportations and adoptions of deported children, mass killings, torture and rape;

1.Underlines that Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine is a brutal attack against the peaceful life of European citizens and a grave violation of international law which threatens the security and stability, democracy and prosperity of the entire European continent in an unprecedented manner and which therefore requires equally unprecedented actions and unwavering solidarity and unity in response;

2.Acknowledges that the two-year anniversary of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine highlights that efforts made so far have not yet been sufficient to end the aggression; recalls the lessons learnt from the devastation caused by World War II and therefore urges the EU and its Member States to again demonstrate their solidarity and capacity to act against the devastation caused by Russia in Ukraine, in particular by increasing their military support to Ukraine and their capacity to deter further aggressions by Russia;

3.Urges the EU, its Member States and their international partners to undertake even more effective military, political and diplomatic efforts, and in particular to massively increase their military support to Ukraine in order to ultimately stop Russia’s war of aggression and allow Ukraine to liberate all its people, re-establish full control over its entire territory within its internationally recognised borders and deter any further aggression by Russia; insists that any peaceful solution to the war must be based on full respect for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, the principles of international law, accountability for war crimes and the crime of aggression, and Russian payments for the massive damage caused in Ukraine;

4.Reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the people of Ukraine who, two years after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, continue to experience destruction, loss of life and home as well as human suffering to an unbearable extent, but continue to show remarkable courage and resilience in fighting for their right to freedom, personal safety, and respect for their fundamental freedoms, and democratic and human rights;

5.Reiterates its condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its demands that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally cease its attacks against residential areas and civilian infrastructure, terminate all military activities in Ukraine, withdraw all military forces, proxies and military equipment from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine, end forced deportations of Ukrainian civilians, release and return all detained Ukrainians, and permanently cease violating or threatening the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine;

6.Underlines that military support to Ukraine is a reaction to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its breach of international law and the UN Charter and aims to stop the persistent violations of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity that have been ongoing since 2014;

7.Calls therefore on the EU and its Member States to step up their efforts to ensure effective and sustainable long-term military support to Ukraine; calls on the Member States to take all necessary action to fulfil their commitment of March 2023 to deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine as swiftly as possible; recognises the efforts made, in particular by the Member States in providing military support and by the VP/HR in coordinating it; underlines, however, that insufficient deliveries of weapons and ammunition risk undermining the efforts made so far and therefore urges the Member States, especially those who are lagging behind, to substantially increase and significantly accelerate their military support with a view to not only allowing Ukraine to defend itself against Russian attacks but also to regain full control over its entire internationally recognised territory; welcomes the initial proposal by the High Representative for the creation of a EUR 20 billion Ukraine Assistance Fund within the European Peace Facility, dedicated to supporting the Ukrainian armed forces with up to EUR 5 billion per year between 2023 and 2027; regrets that the Member States have lowered this ambition to a EUR 5 billion top-up and urges them to reach a rapid agreement in this regard; welcomes the VP/HR’s proposal for an increased target of 60 000 Ukrainian soldiers to be trained in 2024; urges the Member States, however, to accelerate the development of military ammunition production capacities, with particular focus on joint projects with Ukraine; calls on the Member States to submit additional orders to ammunition industries in order to deliver the production to Ukraine and to ensure that manufacturers strictly prioritise the delivery of ammunition to Ukraine over exports to third countries; calls on the EU and its Member States to explore the possibilities for joint ventures and close cooperation with defence industries from like-minded third countries for the purposes of providing the necessary ammunition to Ukraine; welcomes the security agreements concluded between EU Member States and Ukraine as a signal of long-term military support to Ukraine;

8.Calls on the EU and its Member States to fulfil the commitments of the 2022 Versailles Declaration and to accelerate the full implementation of the Strategic Compass by enhancing European military cooperation at industrial and armed forces level, in order to make the EU a stronger and more capable security provider that is interoperable and complementary with NATO; welcomes Member States’ and EU institutions’ increased budgets and investments in defence, and calls for an increase in targeted spending, joint procurement and joint investment in defence research and development; stresses that concrete steps should be taken towards Ukraine’s integration in EU defence and cybersecurity policies and programmes during the EU membership process;

9.Expresses its support for Ukraine’s peace plan, which lists important elements that will need to be addressed in establishing a just peace and calls on the EU and its Member States to actively support the efforts at increasing international support for re-establishing peace and justice;

10.Calls on the Council to maintain its sanctions policy against the Russian Federation, but to continue enhancing its effectiveness and impact with a view to ultimately undermining Russia’s ability to continue waging the war; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure and monitor swift implementation and strict enforcement of all sanctions and to continuously review their effectiveness; welcomes the thirteenth sanctions package of 24 February 2024, and calls for consideration to be given to including persons identified by Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and to continue preparations for further sanctions, including sanctions against individuals and entities and sectoral sanctions, in particular on imports of all Russian fossil fuels, including fossil and liquefied natural gas transported by pipeline or shipment, as well as on the uranium and nuclear energy industry, and also to fully align the sanctions against Belarus with those against Russia;

11.Calls on the Council to systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention by third parties and third countries and to adopt and strictly implement restrictive measures against all entities facilitating the circumvention of sanctions and providing the Russian military complex with military and dual-use technologies and equipment; calls, in this regard, on the Council to consider the introduction of secondary sanctions based on a step-by-step approach;

12.Reiterates that the Russian Federation’s deliberate attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine, destruction of civilian infrastructure, use of sexual violence and rape as a weapon of war, deportation of thousands of Ukrainian citizens to the territory of the Russian Federation, forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children, and other serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law all constitute war crimes for which all perpetrators must be held accountable;

13.Expresses its full support for the ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the ICC into the situation in Ukraine based on alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide; urges Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC and its amendments and formally become a member of the ICC in order to support international efforts to establish accountability for serious international crimes; calls for the EU to make further diplomatic efforts to encourage the ratification of the Rome Statute and all its amendments globally;

14.Reiterates its call for the establishment of a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression committed by the leadership of the Russian Federation against Ukraine; reiterates its call on the Commission, the Council and the EEAS to provide all necessary political, financial and practical support necessary for the establishment of a special tribunal; expresses its support for the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine, which will support the ongoing efforts of the Joint Investigation Team and be based in The Hague, as a first concrete step towards the establishment of the special tribunal;

15.Reiterates its firm conviction that the Russian Federation must pay for the massive damage caused in Ukraine; welcomes therefore the Council’s decision to set aside, as a first step, extraordinary revenues generated by assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia immobilised under EU sanctions, which will allow them to be used to make a financial contribution to the EU’s support for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine through the Ukraine Facility; calls on the Commission and the Council to urgently take the work forward and propose legislation to enable the confiscation of immobilised state-owned Russian assets for the purpose of Ukraine’s reconstruction;

16.Emphasises the need to support Ukraine in re-establishing the conditions that will allow its people to resume a safe and prosperous economic and social life and to recover from the profound consequences of the war on mental health, for internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes, and in particular for the country’s younger generation to develop personal, educational and entrepreneurial projects in their home country of Ukraine; welcomes therefore the EU’s commitment to providing, together with international partners and in close cooperation with the authorities of Ukraine, support to Ukraine’s economic and social recovery and reconstruction, in particular through the establishment of the EU’s Ukraine Facility and its EUR 50 billion package of economic and financial support for the years 2024-2027; encourages the Ukrainian authorities, together with international donors, to put to use the successes of the country’s 2014 decentralisation reform and to empower local authorities and communities in the reconstruction and recovery process, inter alia by giving them a prominent role in decision-making about reconstruction projects and by continuing their capacity-building with a view to strengthening public financial management and project management capacities; in addition, underlines the need to take into account the concerns, needs and expertise of internally displaced persons and refugees as their reintegration into local communities will be crucial for strengthening Ukraine’s societal and institutional resilience, and unity;

17.Welcomes the European aspirations of the people of Ukraine and calls on Ukraine’s political leaders and authorities to vigorously pursue the EU-related reform agenda and the priorities set out in the Commission’s report of November 2023 in order for the Council to adopt the negotiation framework for accession negotiations as soon as possible;

18.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to significantly increase their measures aimed at countering the complex hybrid threat posed by the Russian Federation; calls in particular for efforts to enhance education and awareness-raising among European citizens, and for sufficient resources to be allocated to counteract disinformation, and to develop and implement countermeasures to mitigate the increased use of artificial intelligence technologies in disinformation, in particular with a view to protecting European democratic processes and societal cohesion ahead of the upcoming European elections;

19.Urges the Russian people to protest against the war crimes being perpetrated in the name of the Russian Federation by the country’s leadership and its proxies and thereby to contribute to ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to increase support to civil society, anti-war opposition and independent media in and from Russia and to continue to provide protection and temporary shelter to those Russians who are being prosecuted due to their opposition to the regime;

20.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine.