The tribunal will hold Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ministers to account for the invasion of Ukraine.Kyiv’s European allies have endorsed the creation of a special tribunal to hold top Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, to account for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
European Union foreign ministers, who met in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Friday, signed off on the tribunal, named the “Lviv statement”, to mark the conclusion of the technical work to draft the legal body.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, told reporters there was no space for “impunity”.
“Russia’s aggression cannot go unpunished and therefore establishing this tribunal is extremely important,” Kallas said.
“This tribunal will ensure that those most responsible for the aggression against Ukraine are held accountable,” she added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said the tribunal was part of the continent’s moral duty 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. Advertisement
Meanwhile, Russia declined to respond to news of the tribunal. “We are not reacting to this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to the TASS state news agency.
France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot and foreign ministers of European countries attend a signing ceremony after a Ukraine-EU meeting, in Lviv [Roman Baluk/Reuters]
An EU official t …
