European Parliament resolution of 16 February 2023 on one year of Russia’s invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine (2023/2558(RSP))
Date: 2023-02-16
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Russia, Russo-Ukrainian issue, Ukraine, civilian victim, humanitarian aid, military cooperation, military intervention, territorial law, war, war crime








C_2023283EN.01003401.xml










11.8.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 283/34






P9_TA(2023)0056
One year of Russia’s invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine
European Parliament resolution of 16 February 2023 on one year of Russia’s invasion and war of aggression against Ukraine (2023/2558(RSP))
(2023/C 283/09)

The European Parliament,






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having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine and on Russia, in particular since the escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022,










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having regard to the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part (1), and to the accompanying Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the European Union and Ukraine, signed in 2014,










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having regard to the UN Charter, the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions and the additional protocols thereto and to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,










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having regard to Ukraine’s application for EU membership of 28 February 2022 and the European Council’s consequent granting of candidate status on 23 June 2022 based on a positive assessment by the Commission and in line with the views expressed by the European Parliament,










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having regard to the joint statement following the 24th EU-Ukraine Summit of 3 February 2023,










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having regard to the European Council conclusions of 9 February 2023,










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having regard to the speech given by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy upon his visit to Parliament on 9 February 2023,










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having regard to Rule 132(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas Russia has been carrying out an illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022; whereas this war of aggression constitutes a blatant and flagrant violation of the UN Charter and of the fundamental principles of international law; whereas Ukraine has suffered from Russian aggression ever since protests broke out in November 2013 against the decision by the then president to suspend the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement; whereas Russia’s actions in Ukraine over the past year continue to threaten peace and security in Europe and worldwide;










B.


whereas Russia’s forces have conducted indiscriminate attacks against residential areas and civilian infrastructure; whereas thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, have already been murdered and many more have been tortured, harassed, sexually assaulted, kidnapped or forcibly displaced; whereas this inhumane conduct by Russian forces and their proxies is in total disregard of international humanitarian law; whereas on 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of the partly Russian-occupied Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, in addition to its previous annexation of the Crimean peninsula; whereas Russia’s attempt to ethnically cleanse occupied parts of Ukraine has included mass atrocities; whereas Russia aims to destroy Ukraine’s national identity and erase Ukrainian culture and statehood;










C.


whereas millions of Ukrainians have been displaced inside and outside Ukraine, having fled from Russia’s aggression; whereas Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine will keep forcing people to flee their homes; whereas Russia’s war crimes will leave a generation of Ukrainian children traumatised and millions of Ukrainian civilians and military personnel requiring treatment for mental distress, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder;










D.


whereas the liberation of Ukrainian territories has led to the discovery of overwhelming evidence of structural and widespread human rights violations and war crimes committed by Russian forces and their proxies, such as summary executions and burials in mass graves, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, the use of civilians as human shields, the forced displacement of civilians (including children) to Russia, the destruction of ecosystems, the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects, including illegal cluster munitions in densely populated areas, and the targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, homes and schools;










E.


whereas women and girls are particularly at risk during humanitarian and displacement crises, as they continue disproportionately to be the victims of gender-based violence;










F.


whereas the Russian blockade of Ukraine’s grain exports over the last year has created the risk of famine for many millions of people inside and outside Ukraine, which is reminiscent of the Holodomor;










G.


whereas Russia’s war of aggression shows its colonial attitude towards its neighbours; whereas as long as Russia remains an imperial state, it will continue its efforts to maintain the ever-looming threat of aggression on the European continent; whereas numerous international actors have recognised Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and a state which uses means of terrorism, which should now be followed by concrete measures;










H.


whereas Ukraine is now a recognised candidate for membership of the European Union and has received massive support in all areas from the EU, including unprecedented military support; whereas since February 2022, the overall assistance pledged to Ukraine by the EU, its Member States and European financial institutions amounts to at least EUR 67 billion, including military assistance;










I.


whereas despite the Russian aggression and the precarious socio-economic situation, the Government of Ukraine has managed to achieve some success in its continued decentralisation and democratisation reforms;










J.


whereas the Russian war of aggression is the largest military conflict on the European continent since the end of the Second World War and reflects the growing conflict between authoritarianism and democracy;












1.


Reiterates its unwavering solidarity with the people and leadership of Ukraine and its support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognised borders;












2.


Reiterates its strongest condemnation of Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine. as well as of the involvement of the regime in Belarus; demands that Russia and its proxy forces cease all military actions, in particular their attacks against residential areas and civilian infrastructure, and that Russia withdraw all military forces, proxies and military equipment from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine, end its forced deportations of Ukrainian civilians and release all detained Ukrainians;












3.


Pays tribute to the brave people of Ukraine, rightful laureates of the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, who are courageously defending their country, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, while also defending freedom, democracy, the rule of law and European values against a brutal regime that seeks to undermine our democracy and weaken and divide our Union;












4.


Expresses its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the courageous defenders who have sacrificed their lives in defence of Ukraine, its people, freedom and democracy; calls for continuous and increased support from the EU and its Member States for the treatment and rehabilitation of injured defenders of Ukraine;












5.


States its resolve to contribute to maintaining the Ukrainian people’s spirit of resilience and faith in a better future in which peace will reign in Ukraine and Europe, no part of Ukrainian territory will be under Russian occupation and no Ukrainian or other citizen will feel threatened or under attack for their wish to live in peace, safety and prosperity and with respect for European values and principles;












6.


Praises the solidarity shown by EU citizens, civil society, Member States and the EU itself towards Ukraine and its people; supports the continuous extension of the Temporary Protection Directive (2) for persons fleeing Ukraine as a consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine;












7.


Believes that the outcome of the war and the stance taken by the international community will play a crucial role in affecting future action by other authoritarian regimes, which are closely observing the course of the war;












8.


Underlines that the main objective for Ukraine is to win the war against Russia, understood as its ability to drive all the forces of Russia, its proxies and allies out of the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine; considers that this objective can be met only through the continued, sustained and steadily increasing supply of all types of weapons to Ukraine, without exception;












9.


Demands that Russia permanently cease violating or threatening the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and other neighbouring countries; stresses that Russian aggression is not limited to Ukraine, as it has a detrimental security and economic impact on all the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries, in particular the Republic of Moldova, which is constantly facing Russian political blackmail, security threats and provocations aimed at destabilising the government and undermining democracy and that threaten to derail the country’s European path; takes note of the recent statement by President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu concerning the risk of a coup d’état in the country; calls for the EU and its Member States to continue supporting the Republic of Moldova, as its vulnerabilities could weaken Ukraine’s resilience and affect Europe’s security; calls for the EU and its Member States to promote solidarity and cooperation under the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative, using all necessary resources to respond adequately to emerging threats and to ensure the stability and prosperity of the region;












10.


Underlines that President Putin, other Russian leaders and their Belarusian allies who planned and gave the relevant orders to start this war of aggression against Ukraine must be held accountable for the crime of aggression they have committed; insists further that those accomplices enabling the Russian regime must also be held accountable for their role in Russia’s war of aggression;












11.


Reiterates its call on the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) and the Member States to support accountability for the crimes committed during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, especially the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and alleged genocide; reiterates, therefore, its call on the Commission, the VP/HR and the Member States to work together with Ukraine and the international community on setting up a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine by Russia’s leaders and their allies;












12.


Calls on the VP/HR, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Member States and their diplomatic services to continue working as closely and intensely as possible with international partners to increase the unity of the international community in condemning and countering Russia’s war of aggression and in establishing accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression; reiterates its full support for the work of the International Criminal Court in helping to end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community;












13.


Condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war and stresses that this constitutes a war crime; calls for the EU and host countries of women and girls who have fled Ukraine to guarantee access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, particularly emergency contraception, including for survivors of rape, and to support the provision of these services in Ukraine;












14.


Underlines the continued need to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as to address the needs of the millions of people displaced from and within Ukraine, in particular those belonging to vulnerable groups; reiterates that the continued forced relocation and deportation of Ukrainian children, including those from institutions, to Russia and their forced adoption by Russian families is in breach of Ukrainian and international law; underlines that forcibly transferring children of a group to another group constitutes the crime of genocide, according to the Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; calls on the international community, in this regard, to support the Ukrainian authorities’ efforts to collect, document and preserve evidence of the human rights violations committed during the Russian war against Ukraine;












15.


Welcomes and fully endorses the statement by President Zelenskyy in his address to the European Parliament that ‘This is our Europe. These are our rules. This is our way of life. And for Ukraine, it’s a way home’; reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine’s membership of the European Union; reiterates its call for innovative, complementary and flexible interaction between the ongoing work on the implementation of the Association Agreement in force and the accession negotiation process, thus allowing for Ukraine’s gradual integration into the EU single market and sectoral programmes, including access to EU funds in the respective areas, so that Ukrainian citizens can reap the benefits of accession throughout the process and not only upon its completion;












16.


Underlines that the Russian war of aggression has fundamentally changed the geopolitical situation in Europe, which necessitates bold, brave and comprehensive political, security and financial decisions by the EU; reiterates, in this context, its support for the European Council’s decision to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine; calls on Ukraine, the Commission and the Council to work towards the start of accession negotiations this year; believes that Ukraine’s membership of the EU represents a geostrategic investment in a united and strong Europe and that it equates to showing leadership, resolve and vision;












17.


Welcomes the European Council’s decision to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine; underlines that accession to the EU must take place in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, based on respect for the relevant procedures and conditional upon the fulfilment of the established criteria, in particular the so-called Copenhagen criteria for EU membership, and remains a merit-based process that requires the adoption and implementation of relevant reforms, in particular in the areas of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, a market economy and implementation of the EU acquis; calls on the Ukrainian Government to continue to strengthen local self-government, a reform that has received significant national and international acclaim, and to embed the success of the decentralisation reform in the overall architecture of Ukraine’s repair, recovery and reconstruction processes;












18.


Reaffirms its support for providing military aid to Ukraine for as long as necessary; recognises the efforts made by the Member States in providing and by the VP/HR in coordinating military support to allow Ukraine to exercise its legitimate right to defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression; reiterates its call on the Member States to nevertheless substantially increase and accelerate their military support with a view to not only allowing Ukraine to defend itself against Russian attacks, but also to enabling it to regain full control over its entire internationally recognised territory; calls on the Member States, the US, the UK and Canada to swiftly deliver on their pledge to provide Ukraine with modern battle tanks; underlines the importance of maintaining close coordination and unity among Ukraine’s allies on the analysis of critical requests by the Ukrainian authorities for heavy weaponry and advanced air-defence systems; calls for serious consideration to be given to supplying Ukraine with Western fighter jets, helicopters and appropriate missile systems and to substantially increasing munitions deliveries;












19.


Calls on the Council to maintain its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus, while monitoring, reviewing and enhancing its effectiveness and impact; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the swift implementation and strict enforcement of all sanctions; calls on the Council to adopt its 10th sanctions package by the end of February 2023, to substantially broaden the scope of the sanctions, in particular those on the economy and the energy sector by prohibiting imports of Russian fossil fuels, uranium and diamonds, and those against persons and entities, to sanction all persons associated with the so-called Wagner Group and other Russian-funded armed groups, militias and proxies, including those active in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and for the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines to be completely abandoned in order to stop financing Putin’s war machine with EU money; calls on all Member States to remain united in their response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and on all EU candidate countries and potential candidates to align with the EU’s sanctions policy;












20.


Asks the Commission for an impact assessment on the effectiveness of sanctions on the Russian war effort and on the circumvention of sanctions; recalls that the violation of restrictive measures has been added to the EU list of criminal offences;












21.


Calls on the EU and its Member States to take further action to continue the international isolation of the Russian Federation, including with regard to Russia’s membership of international organisations and bodies such as the United Nations Security Council;












22.


Is deeply concerned about reports that several third countries are collaborating with Russia to help it circumvent sanctions, including reports that Iran and North Korea have been continuously supplying military equipment to Russia and that Chinese state-owned defence companies are shipping dual-use equipment, navigation equipment, jamming technology and fighter aircraft parts to Russia and reports of ‘shadow tanker’ activities, and asks the Commission to guarantee that no gas imports from third countries, such as Azerbaijan, could be whitewashing Russian gas under European sanctions; calls for the EU, the Member States and their allies to strengthen the effectiveness of the sanctions already imposed, to take urgent steps to block any attempt to circumvent these sanctions and to work on a secondary sanctions mechanism that would close any loopholes; condemns those countries that are helping Russia to avoid the effects of the sanctions imposed and calls for the EU to rigorously prosecute companies, associations and individuals who participate in the circumvention of sanctions;












23.


Calls on the Commission and the co-legislators to complete the legal regime allowing for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen by the EU and for their use to address the various consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the reconstruction of the country and compensation for the victims of Russia’s aggression; underlines its conviction that once the war ends, Russia must be obliged to pay reparations imposed on it to ensure that it makes a substantial contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine;












24.


Reiterates its condemnation of the recent decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in qualifications for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games under a neutral flag, which runs counter to those countries’ multifaceted isolation and will be used by both regimes for propaganda purposes; calls on the Member States and the international community to exert pressure on the IOC to reverse this decision, which is an embarrassment to the international world of sport, and to adopt a similar position on any other sport, cultural or scientific events;












25.


Calls for the EU and its Member States to actively support the diplomatic efforts made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has proposed setting up a nuclear safety and security protection zone around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; stresses the importance of preserving the integrity of infrastructure and ensuring easy access to nuclear sites for the IAEA mission; calls for the EU institutions and Member States to ban Rosatom from ongoing investments in critical infrastructure in the EU and for all its activities in the EU to be stopped;












26.


Calls for the EU institutions to extend the opportunities for Ukrainian elected representatives and officials to study and observe the work of the EU institutions; calls for procedures to be launched to establish the Eastern Partnership Academy for Public Administration;












27.


Calls for the EU and its Member States to work strategically and proactively to counter hybrid threats and to prevent Russia’s interference in political, electoral and other democratic processes in Ukraine and in the EU, in particular malicious acts aimed at manipulating public opinion and undermining European integration; calls for the EU and its Member States to increase resilience against disinformation and disruptive campaigns designed to undermine democratic processes and create divisions in Ukraine and in the EU and to close the gap by ensuring that European broadcasting companies and television channels do not provide services to any sanctioned Russian television channels nor contribute to the spread of Russian disinformation content;












28.


Calls on the UN General Assembly to keep Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on its agenda and calls on the EU’s partners around the world to continue to provide political and humanitarian support for Ukraine as it defends its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; calls on the EEAS and the Member States to increase their engagement with world leaders from other regions with regard to support for Ukraine and to strengthen international pressure on the Russian regime;












29.


Expresses its gratitude to the countries that have shown unprecedented unity, solidarity and support for Ukraine since the first hours of the war and continue to do so;












30.


Expresses its solidarity and support for the courageous people in Russia and Belarus protesting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; demands that Member States protect and grant asylum to Russians and Belarusians being persecuted for speaking out against or protesting the war, as well as Russian and Belarusian deserters and conscientious objectors;












31.


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 International Olympic Committee and the Russian and Belarusian authorities.






(1)  OJ L 161, 29.5.2014, p. 3.

(2)  Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof (OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12).