Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko welcomes a European Parliament resolution regarding the situation in the Sea of Azov.

"I am grateful to the MEPs for calling for additional targeted sanctions for the Kremlin's aggressive actions in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. I hope for the practical implementation of these initiatives by the institutions and the EU member states," the head of state wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.

Poroshenko said that Russia must understand that all its actions in violation of international law and bilateral agreements will continue to receive a strong and adequate response from the democratic community.

"The European Union, together with Ukraine, will resist the creeping annexation of the Sea of Azov by Russia and violation of the freedom of navigation," he wrote.

According to Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the resolution adopted by the European Parliament condemned the "excessive" stopping and inspection by Russia of commercial vessels, which caused delays of up to one week. The European Parliament recognizes Russia's right to carry out inspections, but is convinced that this right "should not be abused or carried out for political reasons." The document also says that the European Commission should assess the economic damage caused by this "de facto blockade" and consider possible ways to support the carriers and ports that have been negatively affected, in particular by strengthening the EU's engagement in Mariupol and Berdiansk.

The European Parliament is also "gravely concerned about the continued militarization of the Sea of Azov and Black Sea region, particularly of the illegally occupied and annexed Crimea peninsular." The EP does not comment on Kyiv's actions in the resolution, but regrets that the Sea of Azov has become a new maritime dimension of belligerent Russian actions against Ukraine."

One of the specific measures could be the appointment of an EU special envoy for Crimea and Donbas, and his mandate should also cover the Sea of Azov, the resolution says. In addition, MEPS propose that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) mandate, which covers the entire territory of Ukraine, including maritime areas, also cover the new area of tensions in the Azov Sea.

The European Parliament also highlights the possible danger of Russia seizing existing Ukrainian oil and gas fields in the Sea of Azov once Moscow "achieves its aim of transforming it into an internal lake within the Russian Federation."

The exact number of votes in support of the resolution is not yet known, because it was a hand vote. The draft resolution was proposed by five factions - the European People's Party, the Social Democrats, the European Conservatives and Reformists, the Liberals, and the Greens.

A number of European deputies wanted to state in the resolution the call of the EU to introduce new sanctions against Russia, but this proposal did not find the support of all five factions, in particular, the Social Democrats. At the same time, the European Parliament asked the EU Council to make it clear that "the targeted sanctions against Russia will be reinforced if the conflict in the Azov Sea escalates further."