The Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine reported on August 30, 2022, that Ukraine is conducting negotiations with some countries of the European Union regarding the location of the international tribunal regarding the top military leadership of Russia.
Source: The Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Smyrnov
“Ukraine is the injured party in this war, and therefore we do not insist that this tribunal be located in Ukraine. We are conducting practical negotiations with individual EU countries and, again, we are optimistic that the first founding documents and the deployment of an office for the work of this tribunal can be at the end of this year.”
According to him, there is no alternative to creating a separate special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression.
“We weighed all the alternatives, assessed all the possible risks, we thought of going through the UN Security Council as an option, but we understand that Russia can block this process for us. For half a year, not a single proceeding related to the investigation of the crime of aggression has been investigated, so we take the initiative to create an international criminal tribunal with a clear mandate specifically to investigate the crime of aggression. Specific practical negotiations with international partners are ongoing.”
The Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine also informed that Ukraine received the resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the decision of the European Parliament, which fully supports the idea of creating this tribunal.
“The question of the special tribunal on Putin and the top military leadership is not a question of the war in Ukraine. It is a question of the civilizational choice of the entire planet.”
See also: The Russian Federation fired 16 missiles at Ukraine’s southern city
