Peace in Ukraine will be worthless unless any eventual settlement holds Russia to account for the Putin regime’s war of aggression against Ukraine, ECR MEP Adam Bielan said today as MEPs discussed the EU’s role in a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace.

Any settlement that effectively rewards imperialism, partitions Ukraine or legitimises a war of conquest would simply “embolden Russia in its imperial revisionism” and do nothing to tackle the threat posed by the Kremlin to Europe’s security, he told MEPs.

Mr Bielan, the ECR Group’s coordinator on the Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told MEPs that accountability should be both financial - through confiscating frozen Russian assets to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction - and criminal, by prosecuting the perpetrators of war crimes.

Mr Bielan said:

“We must state a fundamental truth – there can be no lasting peace without justice, and no justice without Ukraine’s full sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the complete withdrawal of every Russian soldier.

“Any credible peace process must be led by Ukraine and supported by the EU. It cannot be imposed upon Kyiv by anyone.

“The EU must help to provide robust long term security guarantees for Ukraine and use Russia’s foreign sovereign assets to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

“Ukraine continues to suffer while the Council continues to hesitate on this issue.

“Russia must pay to rebuild the country it tried to destroy.”