Resolution on the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine

(2023/C 229/06)

THE EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

Having regard to the Constituent Act of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly of 3 May 2011 and the Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit of 15 December 2021,

Having regard to the Commission and External European Action Service joint staff working document of 2 July 2021 entitled ‘Recovery, resilience and reform: post 2020 Eastern Partnership priorities’ (SWD(2021) 186),

Having regard to Articles 3 and 17.3 of the Rules of procedure of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly,

Having regard to UN resolution 68/262 of 27 March 2014 entitled ‘Territorial integrity of Ukraine’, UN resolution ES-11/1 of 2 March 2022 entitled ‘Aggression against Ukraine’, UN resolution ES-11/2 of 24 March 2022 entitled ‘Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine’, UN resolution ES-11/4 of 12 October 2022 entitled ‘Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Defending the Principles of the Charter of the United Nations’ and UN resolution ES-11/5 of 14 November 2022 entitled ‘Furtherance of remedy and reparation of aggression against Ukraine’,

Having regard to the declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the invasion of Ukraine by armed forces of the Russian Federation of 24 February 2022,

Having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 19 January 2023 on the establishment of a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine ( 1 ) and to other European Parliament resolutions adopted since 24 February 2022 condemning Russian full-scale military invasion into Ukraine,

Having regard to resolution 2787-IX of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 1 December 2022 stating that the Russian Federation’s membership of the UN is illegitimate since it was admitted to the UN in violation of Article 4 of the UN Charter and thus unlawfully appropriated the right to veto criticism of its own abuses,

whereas the Russian Federation has been carrying out an illegal, unprovoked, unjustified and full-fledged war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022;

whereas the lack of relevant and immediate reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and occupation of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions created preconditions for further aggression;

whereas this war of aggression constitutes a blatant and flagrant violation of the UN Charter, of the Final Act of the first Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe Summit of Heads of State or Government and of the fundamental principles of international law;

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 inhuman conduct by the Russian forces and their proxies totally disregards international humanitarian law;

whereas Russia’s forces have conducted deliberate indiscriminate attacks against residential areas and civilian infrastructure, with devastating consequences for civilians;

whereas Russia’s illegal attempt to annex the territories of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, in addition to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, are blatant violations of the goals and principles of the UN Charter and of the norms and principles in other acts of international law;

whereas Russia’s approach to justifying its invasion undermines every international security agreement and creates global security challenges and the preconditions for further aggression;

whereas Russia’s hybrid war concept implies the creation of areas of conflict and instability that undermine the territorial integrity and security of the countries the Kremlin wants to take control over;

whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine represents the most serious security threat for the Eastern Partnership, the EU and its Member States and Eastern partner countries as well as for the rules-based international order;

whereas Russia has weaponised energy and food, blocked Ukrainian ports, interrupted global food supply chains, destroyed food security and led to food crises and starvation in Asian and African regions;

1. Condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression on Ukraine, its illegal occupation of Ukrainian regions, and its involvement in both military and cyber warfare in the Eastern Partnership region;

2. Welcomes unprecedented sanctions imposed by the European Union and individual states against Russia, and expresses expectations for extending sanctions for energy trade in full, completely ban of supply to Russia with components for weapon or any other military purpose production and double-use goods, for imposing sanctions against companies working in financial sector or operating virtual asset that helps Kremlin to circumvent effective sanctions;

3. Condemns the involvement of the Lukashenka regime in Belarus in Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine and calls for further sanctions against Belarus;

4. Identifies corruption, money laundering and illicit funding as mechanisms to provide assistance to Russian government-connected groups supporting aggression against Ukraine and calls for greater efforts to combat them;

5. Underlines its unequivocal support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Eastern Partnership countries within their internationally recognised borders and its unwavering commitment and determination to defend those principles;

6. Condemns the fact that the Russian Federation organised illegal ‘referendums’ in regions within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine and attempted to illegally annex the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine following the organisation of these ‘referendums’; considers these ‘referendums’ to be null and void for the international community;

7. Reaffirms that territorial acquisitions resulting from the threat or use of force can never be recognised as legal;

8. Condemns the massive and grave violations of human rights and war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces, their proxies, including in the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine;

9. Deplores the dire human rights and humanitarian consequences of the hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and expresses grave concern at the high number of civilian casualties, including women and children, at the number of internally displaced persons and refugees in need of humanitarian assistance, and at the violations and abuses committed against children;

10. Expresses grave concern about the impact of Russian aggression on food, energy, environmental and nuclear security globally;

11. Calls for an immediate cessation of the Russian Federation’s missile and drone attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and of any deliberate attacks on civilian targets, including those that are residences, schools and hospitals;

12. Notes with great concern that Russian missiles launched at Ukrainian civilian infrastructure occasionally enter the airspace of other sovereign states, including NATO members; calls in this respect on the internationally community to swiftly and adequately react to such blatant provocation; points out that if the international community does not react to the violation of sovereign states’ airspace, Russia will engage in further provocative actions;

13. Calls for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, the end to the blockade of all Ukrainian ports and for the restoration of safe and freed navigation in the Black Sea and Azov region;

14. Insists that those responsible for crimes of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held accountable;

15. Underscores the urgent need for the EU and its Member States, in close cooperation with Ukraine and the international community, preferably through the UN, to push for the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine perpetrated by the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation and its allies and to find a legally sound agreed way forward on this matter; believes that establishing such a tribunal would fill the large gap in the current institutional international criminal justice set-up and should be based on the standards and principles that apply to the International Criminal Court enshrined in the Rome Statute;

16. Calls on the international community to continue providing active support and assistance to Ukraine in every possible way and in close coordination with Ukraine in order to allow Ukraine to exercise its legitimate right to defend itself, to resist and stop the aggression, to liberate its people and to regain full control over its entire internationally recognised territory;

17. Understands the importance of maintaining a secure environment for media freedom and calls for Russian state media or private media affiliated to persons or companies under sanctions that jeopardise European security and promote war to be identified as propaganda outlets;

18. Welcomes the ‘Peace Formula’ plan and encourages implementation of all its steps; welcomes the efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace and security in Ukraine and in the whole Europe;

19. Emphasises that Russia must provide full compensation to Ukraine for its crime of aggression, war crimes and the destruction in Ukraine;

20. Calls for the establishment of a legal framework providing for the confiscation of sanctioned Russian assets in order to provide compensation for the victims of the war and to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine;

21. Underlines the need to strengthen the hard security dimension of the Eastern Partnership countries, which would constitute a significant contribution to strengthening international peace and security;

22. Condemns the clear abuse of the right to veto in the Security Council by the Russian Federation;

23. 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.

( 1 ) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0015.