The European Parliament (EP) has called on the Council of the European Union to extend its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus and enhance control over the sanctions circumvention.

The corresponding resolution was adopted by 495 votes on Wednesday in Strasbourg during the first plenary session of the EP, 137 MEPs voted against and 47 abstained. A total of 679 MEP participated in the vote.

"[The EP] calls on the Council to maintain and extend its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus while monitoring, reviewing and enhancing its effectiveness and impact; calls on the Council to systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention by EU-based companies, third parties and third states and to adopt and strictly implement restrictive measures against all entities facilitating the circumvention of sanctions and providing the Russian military complex with military and dual-use technologies and equipment," it is said in the document.

The EP called on the European Commission to propose long-term financial assistance for the reconstruction of Ukraine, building on the experience of the newly established Ukraine Facility.

It also condemned "the recent barbaric attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv; expresses its full solidarity with and condolences to the families of the victims."

The EP recalled in the resolution the documented occurrences of torture, rape and the abduction of children and called for the EU and its Member States "to actively support efforts towards ensuring accountability for war crimes within existing international courts and institutions, as well as for the crime of aggression, through the establishment of a special international tribunal, among other methods."

The EP reiterated its firm conviction that Russia must provide financial compensation for the massive damage it has caused in Ukraine. In this context, it welcomed the recent decision of the Council to direct extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilized Russian assets to support the Ukrainian war effort, as well as the G7 decision to offer Ukraine a $50 billion loan secured through immobilized Russian state assets.

For this purpose, the EP called for the EU "to establish a sound legal regime for the confiscation of Russian state-owned assets frozen by the EU."

In addition, the EP condemned the increasing number of hybrid attacks carried out by Russia against the EU and its Member States with the aim of weakening European support for Ukraine using information manipulation, covert destabilization attempts and corruption of political figures. The EP says it is "appalled by reports that an assassination attempt was plotted by Russia against the CEO of a European defense company."