MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States
16.9.2024 - (2024/2799(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 136(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Michael Gahler, Andrzej Halicki, Sebastião Bugalho, David McAllister, Siegfried Mureşan, Željana Zovko, Andrius Kubilius, Pekka Toveri, Rasa Juknevičienė, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Nicolás Pascual De La Parte, Mika Aaltola, Wouter Beke, Gheorghe Falcă, Niclas Herbst, Sandra Kalniete, Marcin Kierwiński, Ondřej Kolář, Vangelis Meimarakis, Danuše Nerudová, Ana Miguel Pedro, Davor Ivo Stier, Michał Szczerba, Alice Teodorescu Måwe, Ingeborg Ter Laak, Riho Terras, Matej Tonin, Inese Vaidere
on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B10-0028/2024
B10‑0036/2024
European Parliament resolution on the continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine and Russia, in particular those adopted since the escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022 and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula on 19 February 2014,
– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Russia has been carrying out an illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022, continuing what it started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and the subsequent occupation of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions;
B. whereas Ukraine and its citizens have shown unwavering determination in successfully defending their country, despite the high cost in civilian and military casualties; whereas Russia has been intentionally perpetrating large-scale and systematic atrocities in the occupied territories, and indiscriminately attacking residential areas and civilian infrastructure; whereas millions of Ukrainians continue to be displaced inside and outside Ukraine, having fled from Russia’s aggression; whereas this inhumane conduct by the Russian forces and their proxies constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity;
C. whereas since 24 August 2024, Russia has been carrying out its biggest aerial bombardment campaign against Ukraine, involving large numbers of ballistic missiles and drones; whereas this assault has been targeting critical civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools, universities and houses, in an attempt to break the resilience of the Ukrainian people; whereas energy infrastructure has also been targeted in an attempt to break down the country’s integrated power grid and destabilise the functioning of the remaining nuclear power plants, which could lead to accidents similar to Chernobyl ahead of the autumn and winter months; whereas over a hundred people have been killed in these strikes so far and around a thousand have been injured;
D. whereas the EU and its Member States have thus far contributed more than EUR 100 billion in financial, humanitarian, refugee and military assistance to Ukraine, including approximately EUR 40 billion in military aid, with a further EUR 21 billion reportedly to be allocated by 2025; whereas the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) has trained over 55 000 members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in both combined arms training and specialised training; whereas NATO will ensure an annual financial contribution to Ukraine of EUR 40 billion;
E. whereas in July 2024, the EU made its first regular payment of approximately EUR 4.2 billion under the newly established Ukraine Facility; whereas this payment follows the previous bridge and pre-financing support, totalling EUR 12.2 billion since the establishment of the Facility in March 2024;
F. whereas sales of Russian fossil fuels to the EU since the outbreak of the full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine have exceeded EUR 200 billion, which is double that of the total funding provided to Ukraine over the same period;
G. whereas Ukraine’s Western partners have been providing weapons systems to support its legitimate defence; whereas these partners have also introduced restrictions on the use of these weapons systems for attacking targets on Russian territory for fear of a possible escalation of the war;
1. Reaffirms its positions on the continued support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders and the EU’s unwavering commitment to providing political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support for as long as it takes to secure Ukraine’s victory; calls for the EU and its Member States to actively work towards maintaining and achieving the broadest possible international support for Ukraine;
2. Reiterates that Ukraine, as a victim of aggression, has the legitimate right to self-defence in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter; recalls that the significant, although still insufficient, military assistance provided by the EU, the US and like-minded partners is designed to allow Ukraine to effectively defend itself against an aggressor state and to re-establish full control over its entire internationally recognised territory;
3. Demands that Ukraine’s Western partners immediately lift all restrictions on the use of weapons systems delivered for the legitimate self-defence of Ukraine in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter, in order to allow strikes on legitimate targets within Russian territory; recalls that these unilateral and discriminatory restrictions hinder Ukraine’s ability to effectively counter the attacks on its cities and infrastructure, which increases the already staggering civilian death toll;
4. Recalls that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is part of a broader set of objectives against the West and our democracy and values; reiterates its belief that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to EU and NATO membership; calls for the EU and its Member States to increase their military support to Ukraine in whatever form is necessary to achieve a Ukrainian victory; reiterates its previous position that all EU Member States and NATO allies should collectively and individually commit to supporting Ukraine militarily, with no less than 0.25 % of their GDP annually; underlines that the insufficient or delayed delivery of weapons and ammunition risks undermining the efforts made so far; urges the Member States, therefore, to substantially increase and significantly accelerate their military support and to boost the capacity of their military industries; welcomes the NATO decision guaranteeing military supplies worth at least EUR 40 billion in the near future;
5. Reiterates its firm conviction that Russia must provide financial compensation for the massive damage it has caused in Ukraine; welcomes, therefore, the recent decision of the Council to direct extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilised Russian assets to support the Ukrainian war effort; welcomes, furthermore, the G7 decision to offer Ukraine a USD 50 billion loan secured through immobilised Russian state assets; calls for the EU to establish a sound legal regime for the confiscation of Russian state-owned assets frozen by the EU;
6. Underlines the responsibility of Ukraine’s Western partners to commit to providing long-term and sustained financial support for Ukraine; recalls analyses that suggest that Ukraine’s military needs are at the level of approximately EUR 100 billion annually; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to propose long-term financial assistance for the reconstruction of Ukraine, building on the experience of the newly established Ukraine Facility;
7. Calls for the EU institutions and the Member States to accelerate the integration of the Ukrainian defence industry into the EU’s Defence Technological and Industrial Base, and to cooperate with Ukraine to increase its military production capacity;
8. Urges the EU institutions to accelerate the adoption of the European defence industry strategy so as to ensure the timely availability and supply of defence products, which would in turn allow for the timely provision of military support to Ukraine;
9. Calls on the Council to maintain and expand its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus, while monitoring, reviewing and enhancing its effectiveness and impact; calls on the Council to ban the import of Russian potash with immediate effect; calls on the Council to systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention by EU-based companies, 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;
10. Calls for the EU and its Member States to actively support efforts to ensure accountability for war crimes within existing international courts and institutions, and for the crime of aggression through the establishment of a special international tribunal, among other methods;
11. Calls for the EU and its Member States to introduce a full ban on re-exported Russian refined oil products, and to impose targeted sanctions on all physical and legal persons that facilitate their transport and distribution throughout the EU; calls, furthermore, for the implementation of ‘rules of origin’ documentation, which would ensure the true origin of oil products imported to the EU;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the United Nations, the US Government and Congress, and NATO.