Resolution on the EU position on the proposed plan and EU engagement towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine

The European Parliament adopted by 401 votes to 70, with 90 abstentions, a resolution on the EU position on the proposed plan and EU engagement towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.

The text adopted in plenary was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, Renew and Greens/EFA groups.

Parliament recalled the EU’s goal remains a just and lasting peace that is grounded in international law and fully respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty. The initiative to end the war in Ukraine recently endorsed by the US administration has raised legitimate concerns regarding the United States’ commitment to international law and the security of Europe and Ukraine.

Parliament urged the EU and its Member States to assume more responsibility for security on the European continent.

Parliament underlined that any peace agreement must oblige Russia to fully compensate Ukraine for all material and immaterial harm and damage it has caused. It stressed that any such agreement must guarantee full accountability under international law for the crime of aggression and the war crimes committed by Russia, its allies and its proxy forces against Ukraine and the people of Ukraine, before the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. Furthermore, the resolution stressed, that it must also guarantee the return of all prisoners of war, civilian detainees and kidnapped Ukrainian children, as well as the withdrawal of all Russian forces from the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine.

Member States are called on to adopt and implement, without further delay, a legally and financially sound ‘reparation loan’ to Ukraine, backed by the frozen Russian assets. Parliament stressed that the fate and conditions of investment of these assets are not a matter for negotiation without the EU.

Moreover, Parliament recalled its position that the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory will not be legally recognised by the EU and its Member States as Russian territory. It highlighted, moreover, that as part of robust international security guarantees and in order to prevent any future violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, a robust international peacekeeping and observation mission should be deployed with a UN Security Council mandate on both sides of the line of contact.

According to the resolution, any agreement with Russia should:

- be preceded by a ceasefire and be backed by effective measures to monitor the implementation of commitments and deter delayed fulfilment of obligations, and be underpinned by robust EU and US security guarantees to Ukraine that will prevent and immediately counteract any renewed aggressions;

- include a commitment by Russia to immediately cease its hybrid warfare against the EU and its partners, including Ukraine. Parliament insisted that no sanctions will be lifted before a peace agreement is negotiated and implemented.

Lastly, Parliament is convinced that genuine negotiations, backed by the full political, military and economic weight of the transatlantic community and its international partners, can establish a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine, paving the way for a fair and inclusive economic and social recovery.