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Ahead of the EU-Ukraine summit, the European Parliament (EP) reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine's EU membership, reiterating the need for a merit-based accession process.

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On Thursday, Parliament adopted a resolution detailing its expectations from the upcoming summit between EU and Ukraine political leaders in Kyiv on 3 February.

Regarding the prospect of Ukraine's EU membership, the text asks the EU to "work towards opening accession negotiations and support a roadmap outlining the next steps to enable Ukraine to join the EU's single market".

Reaffirming their commitment to Ukraine's future EU membership following the country's formal application on 28 February 2022, MEPs stressed that accession is a process based on merits, involving compliance with the relevant procedures and the implementation of EU-related reforms and accession criteria.

They also call on the Ukrainian authorities to introduce substantial reforms to effectively align with EU membership criteria as soon as possible.

Parliament urges EU member states to increase and speed up their military aid to Kyiv, in particular the provision of weapons, but also substantial political, economic, infrastructural, financial and humanitarian support.

Parliament also calls on leaders to prioritize a comprehensive recovery package for Ukraine at the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit.

This package should focus on relief, reconstruction and recovery in the short, medium and long term.

The support would further help promote economic growth in post-war Ukraine.

Assessing Ukraine's recovery needs, the resolution also reiterates Parliament's call to use the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank, as well as the assets of Russian oligarchs, to finance post-war reconstruction. 

Zelensky wants to speed up plans for Ukraine's EU membership

Underlining the importance of EU countries continuing to show unity in the face of Russian aggression, MEPs are calling on member states to adopt a tenth package of sanctions against Moscow as soon as possible and to continuously and actively propose new sectors and individuals to target the sanctions.

Parliament is also calling for sanctions to be imposed on companies such as Lukoil and Rosatom, which are still present on EU markets.

Officials involved in a wide range of illegal activities, including forced deportations and holding fake referendums on occupied Ukrainian territory, should also be sanctioned.

Finally, the resolution reiterates the calls of the members of the EP for an immediate and complete embargo on the import of fossil fuels and uranium from Russia to the EU, as well as for a complete rejection of the use of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

The text was adopted with 489 votes "for", 36 votes "against" and 49 votes "abstaining", reported the press center of the EP in Sofia.

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