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European Parliament resolution on four years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and European contributions to a just peace and sustained security for Ukraine

P10_TA(2026)0056

(2026/2599(RSP))

Four years of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and European contributions to a just peace and sustained security for Ukraine

PE782.958

European Parliament resolution of 24 February 2026 on four years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and European contributions to a just peace and sustained security for Ukraine (2026/2599(RSP))

The European Parliament,

I. whereas the Military Police of the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Penitentiary Service are holding an undetermined number of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians in incommunicado detention, with Ukrainian human rights organisations estimating that up to 16 000 Ukrainian civilians have been illegally deprived of their liberty;

✦ Formal Changes the decimal separator in the amount from 1.3 to 1,3 billion euros.

J. whereas some Member States are still paying Russia for fossil fuels on a monthly basis, spending EUR 1.31,3 billion on Russian fossil fuels in December 2025 alone; whereas the EU remains the largest buyer of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline gas, accounting for almost half (49 %) of Russia’s total LNG exports and 35 % of Russia’s pipeline gas exports;

1. Pays tribute to the thousands who have sacrificed their lives for a free and democratic Ukraine and in defence of our shared European values over the four years of Russia’s war of aggression; emphasises that Ukraine’s resilience remains a lasting testament to the strength of democracy when confronted with tyranny; reiterates its unwavering solidarity with the people of Ukraine and its support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognised borders; reaffirms its full support for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on terms determined by Ukraine and acceptable to its people; strongly underlines Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter; reiterates its firm belief that Russia’s aggression must fail and Ukraine must prevail;

5. Urges the EU and its Member States to assume more responsibility for security on the European continent and to continue providing unwavering support to Ukraine; highlights that any agreement aimed at ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine goes well beyond Russia and Ukraine, with profound implications for the European security order as a whole; insists that nothing about Ukraine should be decided without Ukraine, and nothing about Europe without Europe;

✦ Adds a paragraph welcoming a law allowing Ukrainian Orthodox parishes to disaffiliate from the Moscow Patriarchate and noting a request by Romanian Orthodox parishes.

6. Welcomes the adoption of the law that will allow Orthodox parishes from Ukraine to disaffiliate from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate and to decide freely on their new hierarchical affiliation; notes that, in August 2024, Romanian Orthodox parishes in Ukraine submitted a request for the recognition of the ‘Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine’ as a religious association, so that Romanian Orthodox parishes disaffiliating from the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate could affiliate with it;

7. Calls for the EU, its Member States, their transatlantic allies and international partners to undertake even more effective military, political and diplomatic efforts, and in particular to massively increase military support to Ukraine and substantially enhance comprehensive pressure on Russia in order to definitively stop Russia’s war of aggression and enable Ukraine to liberate all its people and re-establish full control over its entire territory within its internationally recognised borders;

17. Strongly condemns the systematic deportation, forcible transfer and attempted assimilation of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation; calls for the immediate and unconditional cessation of these practices and the safe and unhindered return of all unlawfully deported Ukrainian children; expresses its support for the organisations and persons engaged in retrieving these children, and for the ‘Bring Kids Back UA’ initiative; welcomes the work of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children as a key platform for coordinated international action, including tracing deported children, verifying their identity, legal status and whereabouts, securing their return and pursuing accountability;

✦ Adds two paragraphs condemning sexual and gender-based violence as a war crime, criticizing narrow interpretation of the Temporary Protection Directive, and calling for more support for trafficking victims.

18. Strongly condemns the use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war and stresses that this constitutes a war crime; also condemns sexual and gender-based violence in the transit centres in Ukraine and across the EU; regrets the fact that the Temporary Protection Directive is interpreted so narrowly that many women who have fled Russia’s war of aggression cannot access abortion care or other sexual and reproductive health treatments, including treatment following sexual abuse; reiterates its call, in its resolution of 29 February 2024, on the Commission to review the directive in order to ensure that all Member States are obliged to offer the same care that women could otherwise receive in Ukraine;

19. Stresses that the number of Ukrainians identified as victims of human trafficking in the European Union is alarmingly high, and has increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion; calls on the Member States to increase their support, including through economic means, for the victims and for preventative measures;

20. Calls for the EU and its Member States to impose sanctions on the Military Police of the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Penitentiary Service for their systematic involvement in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and incommunicado detention; calls, moreover, for the EU and its Member States to impose personal sanctions on all institution heads and other Russian officials of Russian penitentiary institutions in which Ukrainian civilians are illegally detained; calls for the EU and its Member States to ban the entry into the Schengen area of Russian military personnel who have participated in the war of aggression against Ukraine; urges the Member States to systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention and ensure full and effective implementation;

24. Urges the Commission to actively support international justice mechanisms and ensure accountability and reparations for war crimes and the crime of aggression; encourages the EU and its Member States to support the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine;

✦ Adds a paragraph welcoming Ukraine's accession to the ICC, reaffirming support for its investigation, and calling on the Commission to activate the Blocking Statute against US sanctions.

25. Welcomes Ukraine’s accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC); reaffirms its strong support for the ICC’s investigation in Ukraine and its overall efforts to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression; expresses its utmost concern about the US sanctions against the ICC, its prosecutors, judges and staff; calls on the Commission to activate the Blocking Statute to protect the ICC from extraterritorial sanctions;

26. Calls on the Ukrainian authorities to uphold parliamentary pluralism as a cornerstone of democratic governance and to ensure constructive and meaningful cooperation with all parliamentary political forces represented in the Verkhovna Rada;

✦ Adds a paragraph commending Ukrainian healthcare services and the grassroots medical movement 'Be Like We Are'.

27. Commends the paramount work done on a daily basis by Ukrainian healthcare services, and in particular Ukrainian nurses, throughout the war; highlights, against this background, the important work done by the Ukrainian medical movement ‘Be Like We Are’, a grassroots movement made up mostly of nurses, in supporting healthcare workers and defending their rights;

28. Notes the unwavering commitment of most EU Member States to Ukraine, but stresses its dissatisfaction with those Member States that obstruct or actively undermine EU positions and policies; recalls the principle of sincere cooperation under Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union, which requires Member States to refrain from any measure that could jeopardise the achievement of the EU’s objectives; calls on the Council to urgently resolve the deadlock preventing the operationalisation of the Ukraine Assistance Fund under the European Peace Facility, which is essential for the implementation of the EU’s long-term security commitments to Ukraine;