Europe Backs Special Tribunal to Prosecute Russia Over Ukraine War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the move, saying it was a moral duty for Europe to hold Moscow accountable for the war.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C) with other European dignitaries next to body bags as they visit the town of Bucha, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 8, 2022. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

European nations on Friday backed a special tribunal to prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

At a meeting in Lviv, Ukraine, ministers from numerous European nations signed off on the tribunal and praised the work done to establish it.

The tribunal will be set up by the Council of Europe, the continent’s top human rights monitoring body.

The council was formed after World War II to uphold human rights and the rule of law, with its headquarters in Strasbourg, France.

The next meeting of its ministers will be in Luxembourg later this month.

It has 46 members, including all 27 European Union member states.

Moscow denies all allegations that its troops have committed atrocities in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion was unleashed in February 2022.

Kyiv accuses the Kremlin’s forces of having committed thousands of war crimes.

Foreign ministers signed the “Lviv statement,“ a document marking the conclusion of work done to draft the necessary legal instruments for the tribunal.

The tribunal could start operating as early as next year.

“Today, we take a decisive step towards justice for Ukraine. The special tribunal will ensure that those most responsible for the aggression against Ukraine are held accountable,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

“Every inch of Russia’s war has been documented. It leaves no room for doubt in Russia’s manifest violation of the United Nations Charter. It leaves no room for impunity. Russia’s aggression will not go unpunished.”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said: “We stand fully behind the special tribunal to hold to account those responsible for the heinous crime of aggression against Ukraine.

“The people of Ukraine deserve justice, and we will do everything in our power to make sure they get it.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was a moral duty for Europe to hold Russia accountable for the war.

“A strong tribunal for the crime of aggression can—and must—make any potential aggressor think twice,” he said in a video address to the meeting.

In a post on social media platform X accompanying his video address, he added: “At the heart of today’s Europe is respect for every human being. We must protect this Europe—the Europe of human dignity, and therefore of law, human rights, and accountability for crimes against people and nations.

“Without accountability, declared rights are not truly real, and respect for human dignity begins to fade.”

The Kremlin was unresponsive to the news, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Moscow did not intend to react to the plan on Friday.

The move from Europe comes on top of a now two-year-old open International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Putin over the deportation of Ukrainian children, something Moscow has described as meaningless.

Separately, Britain on Friday announced a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, placing asset freezes on several directors of oil trading company Coral Energy Group, which is now known as 2Rivers Group.

The wider package of sanctions targeted an estimated 100 oil tankers from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet.”

News of the tribunal and the sanctions came as Moscow hosted celebrations and a military parade for Victory Day, at which the guest of honor was Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who met Putin on Thursday for talks.

During the meeting, Xi said China and Russia should remain committed to cooperation and “eliminate external interference,” according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry.

Other foreign leaders attending the Victory Day anniversary celebrations in Moscow include Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and representatives from Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, Venezuela, and several countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.