(Strasbourg) In a resolution adopted by a large majority, MEPs who are holding their plenary session in Strasbourg are calling on the 27 EU leaders to exclude Russia from the G20 and other multilateral organisations, such as UNHRC, Interpol, the World Trade Organisation, and UNESCO. This is to give “an important sign that the international community will not return to business as usual with the aggressor state”.
To make the sanctions more effective, the European Parliament calls for Russian banks to be excluded from the SWIFT system, “for all vessels connected to Russia to be banned from entering EU territorial waters and docking at EU ports and for road freight transport from and to Russia and Belarus to be prohibited”.
MEPs also demand the seizure of “all assets belonging to Russian officials or the oligarchs associated with Putin’s regime, their proxies and strawmen, as well as those in Belarus linked to Lukashenko’s regime”.
With regard to the shocking atrocities “that undeniably amount to war crimes” committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, particularly in Bucha, and the almost complete destruction of Mariupol, Volnovakha and other cities and villages, MEPs stress that the “perpetrators of war crimes must be held accountable and call for a special UN tribunal for the crimes in Ukraine to be set up”.
Parliament reiterates that “deliveries of weapons must continue and be stepped up to allow Ukraine to effectively defend itself” and also supports further defensive aid given to the Ukrainian armed forces individually by EU member states and collectively through the European Peace Facility”.
MEPs call for “safe humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians fleeing bombardments and for the EU’s humanitarian aid networks in Ukraine to be boosted”.