The European Parliament demands that Ukraine be allowed to use Western weapons to target military targets in Russia

AUTHOR: M.J.

Today, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Union to lift the existing ban on Ukraine targeting legitimate military targets in Russia with weapons obtained from the West.

The resolution states that Ukraine must be fully able to defend itself, and that without the lifting of the current restrictions, it does not have the opportunity to exercise the right to self-defense and remains exposed to attacks on the population and infrastructure.

In the new convocation of the European Parliament, 425 deputies voted for the resolution, 131 were against it, and 63 abstained, the European Parliament announced.

The MPs also reiterated the position that all EU members and NATO allies should commit to allocating no less than 0.25 percent of GDP annually for military aid to Ukraine.

The document also expresses regret over the declining bilateral arms deliveries to Ukraine from EU countries, and calls on the Union members to fulfill their promise from March 2023 to send Ukraine one million pieces of artillery ammunition.

It is also estimated that the delivery of ammunition, weapons and anti-aircraft systems, including Taurus cruise missiles, should be accelerated.

In the resolution, EU members are invited to preserve and expand the policy of sanctions against Russia, Belarus and countries that, despite the ban, supply Russia with technologies that can be used for military purposes.

For this purpose, the document calls for stricter measures against the circumvention of sanctions, whether they are based in the EU or in third countries.

They also asked for tougher sanctions against Iran and North Korea due to the recent export of ballistic missiles to Russia, as well as for a larger number of individuals from China to be on the sanctioned list.

With the assessment that Russia's responsibility for war crimes and destruction is of key importance and that Moscow must pay compensation, the MPs in the resolution called on the EU to establish a legally irrevocable regime of confiscation of Russian state property, which is currently frozen in to the European Union.