The European Union and its Member States must hand Ukraine “whatever it needs” in order to win its defensive war against Russia, the bloc’s Parliament has declared.
MEPs voted on February 29 to approve a resolution urging there to be “no self-imposed restriction on military assistance to Ukraine”, and that all munitions for the country required for it to retake its lost territory should be provided “without delay’.
According to the resolution, European countries ought to be focused on handing over “sophisticated” air-defence systems, long-range missiles such as the Taurus and Storm Shadow, alongside substantial supplies of artillery shells, especially 155mm calibre ammunition.
Member States should also examine ways of providing Ukraine with military-capable drones, as well as weapons capable of countering the aggressor’s use them.
Representatives added that such support should amount to no less than 0.25 per cent of the annual GDP of each Member State, although there was there no reference as to whether or not any EU country was militarily neutral, such as Ireland.
It also called for the creation of a “solid legal regime” to allow for frozen Russian funds to be used to help rebuild Ukraine and compensate civilian victims of the war.
“Russia must be obliged to pay reparations imposed on it to ensure that it contributes substantially to rebuilding Ukraine,” read the press release published after the vote.
Politicians also denounced third-party countries that it said “are helping Moscow circumvent EU restrictive measures”, arguing “these disruptive practices should be criminalised at EU level”.
Over 30,000 Ukrainian troops have died defending the country from Russia’s recent invasion, says Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. https://t.co/71uyQs15DI
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 26, 2024
The vote came amid attempts by Brussels to pile pressure on Russia as it renews its assault on Ukrainian positions.
It also comes after the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in mysterious circumstances in a Siberian Russian prison in February.
Many Western commentators are convinced Navalny died at the hands of the Russian Government, with the opposition politician’s wife Yulia Navalnaya telling the European Parliament a couple of days ago week that the Kremlin was behind her husband’s death.
“Putin killed my husband,” she told MEPs.
The European Parliament also voted on February 29 in favour of openly backing Russia’s opposition.
“Alexei Navalny embodied the struggle for freedom of Russia and for democracy in Russia with his dream of a ‘Beautiful Russia of the future’,” parliamentarians agreed.
“Ukraine’s decisive victory may lead to genuine changes in the Russian Federation, in particular de-imperialisation, de-colonialisation and re-federalisation, all of which are necessary conditions for establishing democracy in Russia.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western countries there was a “genuine risk” of nuclear war if they sent their own troops to fight in Ukraine. https://t.co/CLkq1Now0w
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 29, 2024
