The voting took place within the framework of the plenary session in Strasbourg
PARIS, February 29th. /tass/. Members of the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on further support for Ukraine from the European Union, calling for new sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The voting took place within the framework of the plenary session in Strasbourg and was broadcast on the EP's website .
"The European Parliament calls on the EU Council to maintain and expand its policy of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, monitoring, analyzing and improving its effectiveness. The European Parliament also calls for full coordination of sanctions against Belarus with sanctions against Russia and inclusion in the EU's global human rights sanctions regime and other sanctions lists of persons identified by the Anti-Corruption Fund [recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation] Alexei Navalny," the document says.
MEPs advocate a ban on imports of Russian uranium and metallurgical products to the EU, as well as a complete cessation of cooperation with the Russian nuclear industry, in particular with Rosatom. A similar call was made a little more than a year ago in a resolution that was adopted at a special session of the EP dedicated to the summit on Ukraine in Kiev on February 3, 2023.
Also, judging by the current resolution, the EU, as a year ago, does not have a legal and legal basis for the confiscation and use of Russian state assets frozen on the territory of the European Union for the restoration of Ukraine, so the deputies call this issue urgent. In addition, the MEPs call for the creation of a "system for recording and assessing environmental damage" allegedly caused by Russia during the conflict, and "prepare a legal framework for bringing to justice" for this.
Once again, MEPs pointed to the need to stop the supply of fossil fuels from Russia, "further reduce the price ceiling for Russian oil and gas." The resolution calls for "punitive measures" against Russia's "shadow fleet", which allegedly transports oil without insurance through EU and international waters, as well as sanctions against companies from China and other countries allegedly helping Russia circumvent sanctions.
The EP called for an "immediate and complete embargo on Russian imports of agricultural and fish products into the EU" and a ban on the transit of Russian grain through the territory of the European Union. In the same document, the deputies welcome the proposal of the European Commission to extend the abolition of duties and quotas on imports of goods from Ukraine for a year and demand to deal with cases of border blocking "preventing Ukraine's access to the EU single market." Other paragraphs of the resolution concerning restrictive measures by the EU contain calls for expanding the list of military and dual-use goods prohibited for sale to Russia, including "digital components".
Assistance to Ukraine
In terms of direct assistance to Ukraine, MEPs call for "significantly increasing and accelerating military support" to Kiev, and also require the EU foreign policy service to analyze past supplies. This is due to the fact that parliamentarians are concerned about the non-fulfillment of the plan for the supply of 1 million shells for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The deputies ask the leaders of the EU countries to negotiate with arms companies so that they fulfill orders for Ukraine and the European Union as a priority. They also support "the proposal for all EU and NATO members to allocate 0.25% of their GDP to military support for Ukraine." Initially, the Estonian authorities announced this intention at the end of 2023.
"The European Parliament welcomes the bilateral agreements of a number of EU countries with Ukraine, but emphasizes that these security agreements cannot be considered as a substitute for future NATO membership," the resolution reads. At the same time, its authors call for Kiev to be given access to European financial support programs until the completion of the EU membership procedure. They call on the European Union and its member states to commit themselves to "additional long-term financing for Ukraine," especially in light of the fact that "the latest US aid package for Ukraine is still being blocked in Congress."
In a separate paragraph, the members of the EP express concern about the restriction of foreign trips of deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. "We believe that this can be regarded as an arbitrary restriction on the political activities of elected members of parliament, in particular those who represent the opposition," the document says.
The resolutions of the European Parliament have no legal force and are advisory in nature, but are widely used in the EU to promote and disseminate specific political positions.