MONTREAL – NATO Allies must remain unbowed in their support for Ukraine and urgently provide battlefield-vital weapons to help it hold the lines and turn the tide in the war, lawmakers at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly said Saturday.  

A report approved by the Assembly’s Defence and Security Committee (DSC), underlined the pressing need to supply Ukraine with the munitions and weapon systems it needs.  

The report, drafted by US Congressman Rick Larsen, stressed that modern air-defense systems, precision-guided long-range weapons, artillery systems, fighting vehicles, F-16 fighter planes, and small-arms ammunition are clear priorities.  

“While Russia is certainty taking significantly more losses in terms of men and equipment than Ukraine, its strategic depth in terms of domestic resources, sanctions circumvention outlets and external support gives it the resolve to stay in the fight,” Larsen told lawmakers at the Assembly’s annual session in Montreal. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s forces are stressed at every level, facing shortages of munitions, manpower, and air defence systems, Larsen noted. With limited air-defense capabilities, Ukraine “is being forced to make devastatingly costly decisions to either protect frontline defences or critical civilian infrastructure and citizens,” stated his report.  

Larsen also highlighted the worrying trend of growing authoritarian regime cooperation and its impact on the Russia’s war in Ukraine. Allies should be alarmed by the increasingly aligned interests and disruptive policies of the “Moscow-Tehran-Pyongyang-Beijing axis.” 

“We should be… deeply unsettled that this authoritarian cooperation is now extending to non-state actors, further escalating existing conflicts as well as conventional and nuclear risks across the globe,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Russian economy has performed above expectations and demonstrated resilience despite Western sanctions.  

In a report adopted by the Assembly’s Economics and Security Committee (ESC), Hungarian legislator Tamas Harangozo noted that Russia has built a “more insulated war-time economy,” supported by steady oil and gas revenues as well as high defence spending.  

“The transformation of Russia’s economy to a war footing has important long-term consequences and, in fact, could become a structural factor in prolonging the war as it has created myriad economic stakeholders,” he stated. 

The Russian economy has avoided the harshest impacts of international sanctions by deepening trade relations with the “axis of evasion,” referring to China, North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, the report underlined. Harangozo thus recommended strengthening sanctions enforcement through tighter direct and new secondary sanctions. 

“For that we need a strong alliance and strong political leadership. One country cannot do it alone, it needs strong will to do it,” he concluded. 

A separate debate in the Committee on Democracy and Security (CDS) discussed how malign actors increasingly weaponise and target cultural heritage. Their aims include coercion, domination and destabilisation of opponents, cultural cleansing, strategic communications, and funding operations.  

The Head of the Canadian Delegation and CDS Special Rapporteur, Julie Dzerowicz, argued that Russia has been weaponising cultural heritage in its war against Ukraine and has intensified its attacks, damaging or destroying numerous sites of cultural significance, including churches, monuments, museums, memorials, and universities.  

The destruction of these sites has been even more wide-spread, and systematic in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.  

“[Russia] simultaneously uses culture as a fallacious justification for its war and targets it as a direct object of war in its attack against its peaceful, democratic, and sovereign neighbour,” Dzerowicz stated.  

The report called on Allies to reiterate their commitment to ending misappropriation and destruction of cultural heritage. It specifically denounced Russia’s destructive and manipulative actions in Ukraine and recommended the inclusion of sanctions on heritage-related crimes within international sanctions regimes.  

“Allied governments should systematically sanction individuals and entities involved in the destruction, misappropriation, and illicit traffic of cultural heritage from conflict zones,” the report emphasised.  

In addition, the report recommended stepping up bilateral support to conflict-affected countries to protect, safeguard, and restore their cultural heritage. Such support should include monitoring damage and risks, providing resources and training, and supporting a clear post-war recovery strategy for cultural sites.

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