What changed

B100156/2025

B100158/2025

European Parliament resolution on continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after three years of Russia’s war of aggression

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,

– 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 136(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 acts of aggression 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;

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the war in Ukraine,

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;

A. whereas Russia has been waging an illegal war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022;

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 EU supports the establishment of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression;

B. whereas the war in Ukraine has displaced 10.3 million people, including 6.3 million within Member States; whereas the World Bank estimates that the costs of reconstruction could reach USD 486 billion; whereas the war has put significant strain on much of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, including nuclear power plants;

D. whereas, in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has adopted 16 sanctions packages of unprecedented scope against Russia, has provided over EUR 67 billion of support to Ukraine in the form of humanitarian and emergency assistance, budget support and macro-financial assistance, and over EUR 48 billion of military aid, has welcomed more than four million refugees from Ukraine and has expressed its support for the people of Ukraine and their leadership by launching negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU;

C. whereas the EU and the Member States have provided over EUR 135 billion to support Ukraine, including EUR 45 billion in military assistance; whereas 65 % of EU assistance has been provided in the form of grants; whereas the United States has spent over USD 175 billion to support Ukraine, including USD 106 billion in direct governmental and military aid;

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 UN Charter, against Russia’s aggression;

D. whereas the United States remains by far the largest supplier of arms to Ukraine and most EU Member States currently lack the capacity to replace the military equipment it provides to the country; whereas at present, any attempt to substitute US military aid with European contributions would come at the expense of the EU’s own stockpiles and overall military readiness, thereby weakening future defence against Russia;

F. 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;

E. whereas the Trump administration has engaged in diplomatic efforts with the Russian authorities to reach a peace settlement in Ukraine, and President Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible; whereas neither side is positioned to achieve a decisive military victory, making peace negotiations the only viable resolution to the conflict;

1. Reaffirms its belief that Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine is a brutal attack against the peaceful life of European citizens in a sovereign country and against the principles of cooperation and security in Europe, as agreed under the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, as well as a grave violation of international law and the UN Charter; emphasises that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine threatens the security and stability, democracy and prosperity of the entire European continent in an unprecedented manner and therefore requires equally unprecedented actions in response;

F. whereas France and the United Kingdom have proposed deploying peacekeeping troops in Ukraine; whereas Australia, Canada and Türkiye have expressed their openness to participating in such an initiative; whereas Poland, Romania, Hungary and Italy have stated that they would not deploy troops in Ukraine; whereas Russia has warned that it would consider foreign military forces in Ukraine to be ‘legitimate targets’ if they were deployed without the authorisation of the UN Security Council;

2. 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 on 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;

1. Condemns Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, launched on 24 February 2022; reiterates its solidarity with the people of Ukraine and its commitment to Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty;

3. Expresses its dismay that, after three full years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, efforts made so far have not yet been sufficient to end the aggression; urges the EU, its Member States and their international partners and transatlantic allies 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; underlines that the negative global consequences of any future Russian aggression far outweigh the military and financial commitment needed today to definitively end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and deter future aggressions;

2. Reiterates that after three years of continuous and devastating war, terrible human losses and horrific destruction, the time has come to review the EU’s strategy regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war;

4. Reaffirms its commitment to supporting Ukraine’s desire for a just and lasting peace that must be based on full respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the principles of international law, accountability for war crimes and the crime of aggression, and Russian payments for the massive damage caused in Ukraine, and that must effectively exclude any further aggression by Russia; urges the EU and its Member States to work with like-minded partners to ensure that peace negotiations take place in accordance with the above principles; recognises that peace negotiations will require compromises on both sides; underlines, however, that Russia’s aggression is unprovoked, unjustified and illegal, and that the EU, its Member States and all countries which adhere to the UN Charter must reject any compromise proposals that would further undermine the principles of international law and the rules-based international order;

3. Reiterates that Europe has also suffered the consequences of the war, and the continent is in dire need of stability and a ceasefire; calls for a new and comprehensive strategy to pursue a peace settlement that guarantees long-term security for Ukraine and the EU;

5. Strongly disapproves of any attempts at blackmailing Ukraine’s leadership into surrendering to the Russian aggressor for the sole purpose of announcing a so-called peace deal; considers that Russia’s imperial aggression towards Ukraine, and other neighbouring and European countries, will not cease unless a fair and sustainable peace is reached in Ukraine; concludes that, taking into account Russia’s history of violating previous agreements and fundamental principles of international law, such a peace can only be reached through strength, including effective security guarantees;

4. Notes that in the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, it is crucial to strengthen the Member States’ defence capabilities; emphasises that decision-making in the field of defence policy must remain a competence of the Member States; reiterates that any action related to defence must not aim to escalate tensions on the continent, but rather to reach a level that will deter any hostile actions while establishing and maintaining peace;

6. Expresses its strong disapproval of the latest US statements, decisions and actions under the Trump administration, which derail previous efforts at ending Russia’s war of aggression, effectively undermine the security of Ukraine and therefore endanger the security of Europe and, instead, embolden the Russian aggressor, and furthermore jeopardise a decades-long transatlantic partnership based on common security and prosperity;

5. 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 Russian authorities and the US Government.

7. Notes the unwavering commitment of 26 EU Member States to Ukraine, but calls for the EU and its Member States to substantially enhance and accelerate military support to Ukraine in order to allow Ukraine to legitimately defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression and put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations about its future; underlines that Ukraine and its leadership must be empowered to resist and prevent further Russian attacks and reject hasty deals that weaken its security in the medium to long term and risk subjecting Ukraine and other countries, including EU Member States, to renewed Russian aggression;

8. Urges all Member States to immediately provide additional military assistance and to engage in joint procurement of additional capabilities, in particular ammunition for air defence and artillery; urges Member States and their defence industries to invest in and partner with the Ukrainian defence industry in order to maximise the full potential of its production capabilities so as to produce critical equipment in the most efficient way, as demonstrated by the ‘Danish model’; urges restrictions to be lifted on the use of Western weapons systems delivered to Ukraine against military targets on Russian territory as these are used to launch attacks against Ukraine’s population and critical civilian infrastructure;

9. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to increase the effectiveness and impact of sanctions on Russia in order to definitively undermine Russia’s ability to continue waging its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and threatening the security of other European countries; welcomes the 16th sanctions package of 24 February 2025 but calls for the preparation of the next sanctions package to begin already; calls in particular for a full embargo on imports of Russian fossil fuels and liquefied natural gas, as well as anti-circumvention measures, such as sanctions against non-EU countries and entities that provide Russia with military and dual-use goods and technologies; calls for further actions against the Russian ‘shadow fleet’, in the light of sanctions circumvention, sabotage of critical infrastructure and environmental risks;

10. Reiterates that Russia’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;

11. Emphasises 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; welcomes Ukraine’s ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC, which allowed it to become a state party to it as of January 2025; in this context, expresses its utmost concern about the US sanctions against the ICC, its prosecutors, judges and staff, which constitute a serious attack on the international justice system; calls on the Commission to urgently activate the Blocking Statute and on the Member States to urgently increase their diplomatic efforts in order to protect and safeguard the ICC as an indispensable cornerstone of the international justice system; reiterates its full support 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;

12. Reiterates its firm conviction that Russia must pay for the massive damage caused in Ukraine and therefore calls for the confiscation of Russian state assets immobilised under EU sanctions and their use to support Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction;

13. 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.