- The Eurocommissioner drew attention to the necessity of Russia’s responsibility for war crimes.
- The US peace plan included amnesty and the reintegration of Russia into the economy.
- The UN has documented crimes against humanity committed by Russian troops.
- The Council of Europe created a tribunal to prosecute crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine must not absolve the Russian leadership of responsibility for war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces, he declared European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath. TASR informs about it according to the Politico magazine report.
Statements of the Irish Commissioner Frreflect the concerns of European states regarding the original American peace plan, which included a promise of full amnesty for acts committed during the war as well as plans to reintegrate Russia into the world economy.
“I don’t think history will be kind to any efforts to erase Russian crimes in Ukraine,” McGrath said, which according to Politico set the EU’s red line for a possible future peace deal. According to the commissioner, negotiators must ensure that efforts to reach a cease-fire do not result in Russia not being held accountable for the abduction of approximately 20,000 Ukrainian children and the killing of civilians in Bucha and Mariupol.
If Russia were granted impunity, “we would be sowing the seeds for the next wave of aggression and the next invasion.” According to the commissioner, this would be a “historical error of enormous proportions”.
Ukrainian authorities say that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine they have started investigate more than 178,000 crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces. In late October, the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded that the Russians had committed crimes against humanity when they attacked the Ukrainian population with drones, and war crimes in the forcible resettlement and deportation of civilians.
In order to prosecute crimes of aggression against Ukraine, a special tribunal was established this year under the auspices of the Council of Europe. According to the Council of Europe, the tribunal will have the mandate to prosecute high-ranking officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, filling the gap created by jurisdictional limitations of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which in March 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin for kidnapping Ukrainian children. Russia has announced that it will not accept the tribunal’s verdicts.
However, not all European leaders want to continue to put pressure on Russia, stated Politico magazine. According to him, Hungary repeatedly blocked the adoption of new EU sanctions, especially towards oil and gas companies that are dependent on Russia, and high-ranking German politicians also came up with the proposal to cancel the sanctions on the operators of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
So far, even the American administration led by Trump has not shown much interest in prosecuting Putin or other Russian officials. On the contrary, in fact, the head of the White House constantly describes his Russian counterpart in a positive light, despite criticism for the ongoing attacks on Ukraine, and often talks about the fact that they have “good talks”. In addition, Trump expressed the hope that the US and Russia will establish new economic and energy partnerships, and the presidents even discussed holding hockey games in their countries after the end of the warPolitico recalled.
