Foreign ministers meeting in Lviv – including UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy – have signed a document supporting the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials over the war in Ukraine.
As we reported earlier (9.09am post) the intention is to pursue Moscow over a “crime of aggression”.
Lammy joined his Ukrainian counterpart and 17 other foreign ministers in the western Ukrainian city, where they welcomed the completion of the technical work
required to set the tribunal up.
It will operate within the framework of the
Council of Europe.
That is the continent’s leading human rights watchdog, formed after the Second World War.
The tribunal could begin operating next year.
It will “ensure that those most responsible for
the aggression against Ukraine are held accountable”, the EU’s head of foreign
policy, Kaja Kallas, told reporters.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address to the meeting that the initiative could deter future aggression.
“A strong tribunal for the crime of aggression can – and
must – make any potential aggressor think twice,” he commented.
Lammy said ministers were “sending a powerful message to Putin and his cronies
and those that stand with him that freedom will prevail”.
An EU official said the tribunal would need to respect the
immunity of Putin and his officials while in office, but that a
prosecutor would be able to prepare a proposed
indictment for when that immunity dropped.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin over the
deportation of Ukrainian children.
But Moscow has described that as “null and void”.
The ICC cannot prosecute Russian officials for the crime
of aggression in Ukraine because Russia is not a member of the
Rome Statute, which created the court, and Ukraine was not a
full member at the time of the invasion.
Ukraine says Russian troops have committed many thousands of war crimes – something Moscow denies.