The European Parliament calls for immediate lifting of restrictions on Ukraine's Western weapons strikes on Russia

The European Parliament calls for the immediate lifting of restrictions on Ukraine's strikes with Western weapons against Russia Diana Kwasniewska

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on lifting restrictions/Collage by Channel 24 (illustrative photo of Russian media and the European Parliament)More interesting audio newsListen00:0000:411.25×1.25xAudio synthesized using AI.More Audio NewsTurn off

The European Parliament calls for the immediate lifting of restrictions on Ukraine's strikes deep into Russia. In particular, they demand that EU countries allow Western weapons to be used against legitimate military targets in Russia.

The corresponding resolution was adopted by the European Parliament on September 19. It says that Ukraine must be able to fully defend itself.

What is known about the European Parliament statement

The European Parliament calls on Member States to immediately lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons systems supplied to Ukraine against legitimate military targets on Russian territory, as this hinders Ukraine's ability to fully exercise its right to self-defence in accordance with public international law and leaves Ukraine vulnerable to attacks on its population and infrastructure, the European Parliament resolution says.

425 MEPs voted “for”, 131 voted against, and 63 voted “against” abstained.

The document states that without lifting the current restrictions, Ukraine:

• cannot fully exercise its right to self-defence,
• remains vulnerable to attacks on its population and infrastructure.

The Parliament stressed that insufficient supplies of ammunition and restrictions on their use could undermine the impact of the efforts made today, and regrets the reduction in bilateral military assistance to Ukraine from EU countries.

MEPs also reiterated their call on Member States to fulfil their commitment to deliver one million ammunition to Ukraine by March 2023, and to accelerate the supply of weapons, air defence systems and ammunition, including Taurus missiles, the European Parliament said.

There they reiterated their position, according to which all EU countries and NATO allies should collectively and individually commit to providing Ukraine with military support annually in the amount of at least 0.25% of their GDP.

The European Parliament resolution also calls on EU member states to continue and expand the EU Council's sanctions policy against Russia, Belarus, as well as non-EU countries and organizations that provide Russia with military and dual-use technologies

MEPs condemned Iran's recent transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia and called for increased sanctions against Tehran and North Korea for their role in supporting Russia's war against Ukraine, the European Parliament explained.

They also want to see more Chinese individuals and entities on the EU sanctions list, as well as tougher measures to systematically tackle the problem of sanctions circumvention by EU companies, third parties and non-EU countries.

MEPs stressed that, while calling on the EU and its Member States to work towards a peaceful solution to the war, any solution must be based on full respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

MEPs explained that accountability for Russian war crimes and reparations and other payments by Moscow are important aspects of any solution. MEPs therefore want the EU and like-minded partners to create a robust legal regime for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen by the EU as part of its efforts to compensate Ukraine for the huge losses it has suffered.