The European Parliament on Thursday urged EU member states to consider sending fighter jets to Ukraine to repel Russia’s invasion, and to use frozen Russian funds to rebuild the country.
The resolution adopted on the occasion of the first year of war, which began on February 24, 2022, was approved this Thursday in plenary by 444 votes to 26, with 37 abstentions, and urges the 27 Member States of the European Union to (EU) to “extend military aid to Ukraine for as long as necessary”.
MEPs suggest that countries “seriously consider the supply of fighter jets and helicopters, suitable missile systems and a significant increase in the supply of ammunition to Kiev”.
“Ukraine must not only be able to defend itself, but must also regain control of all its internationally recognized territory,” the parliament added in the resolution.
A few days before the presentation of the 10th package of sanctions against Russia and after the unraveling of parts of this “bloc” that wants to hit the Russian economy and countries, such as Iran, that support the Kremlin (Russian presidency) in the invasion, the European Parliament also called for the adoption of tougher sanctions that block any attempt by Moscow to circumvent them.
At the same time, MEPs want Russian assets frozen and confiscated since the start of the war to be used to rebuild Ukraine in what they call an effort to “compensate the war victims”.
The resolution also includes a point devoted to the need for the EU to initiate peace negotiations between Kiev and Moscow, an idea that, despite not being removed, is becoming less and less part of the main actors’ discourse.
On the Moscow side, according to Western sources, a major offensive is expected in early spring and a response to sending state-of-the-art Leopard 2 tanks, a response already suggested by Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov earlier this month .
The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, has insisted on the need to arm Ukraine sufficiently to withstand a new Moscow offensive, an idea shared by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell , including by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and by most NATO member states.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
Source: DN
