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Today, we have taken further steps towards establishing a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. There has to be a clear division between war crimes and the crimes of aggression.  

War crimes can be prosecuted by the ICC (International Criminal Court), but the crime of aggression can only be prosecuted by [a] Special Tribunal. 

It is clear that the crime of aggression is a leadership crime, so without the crime of aggression there would not be any war crimes either. Therefore, it is extremely important that there is also accountability for the crime of aggression. 

No one from Russia's leadership is untouchable. That is the message that this tribunal sends.  

We had in this process involved, of course, Ukraine, [European] External Action Service, European Commission, Council of Europe, also 37 states. There is a broad international support for this initiative and that reflects also the shared commitment to accountability, which is important that nobody is really untouchable. 

Accountability is also integral part of a just and lasting peace and also the tribunals have to be set up before the war is over. Our experts are concluding work on the core legal text for the Tribunal. It is also very important to send a signal that unpunished crimes only encourage further aggression.  

That is why this work is extremely important, that we move on with the Special Tribunal. It is a breakthrough on the major principles. Of course, there's a lot of legal issues around such tribunal, but I think the lawyers have done an excellent work and we can definitely take further steps with this. 

Q&A 

Q. We just heard that there are 41 countries participating in the core group. How do you value internationally, or even globally, the recognition and support of this initiative? We know that the European Union tried very hard to engage as many sides to this as possible, politically. The second question also goes in that direction. President of the US Donald Trump wants to negotiate with Putin. Of course, in parallel we have this aiming of achieving the highest judgement. This Tribunal will be created in order to claim that Putin has committed the highest possible crime, the crime of aggression. How do you think the creation of this Tribunal would affect these negotiations?  

First, we have a saying: when there are three lawyers there are four opinions. Therefore, having the lawyers agreeing on the core principles is – of course, the group cannot be that big. While there have been different opinions how this tribunals should be set up, and that is why I think now there is the understanding on how it could be and then it is also the basis to really invite other countries in. It has to be an international tribunal and, therefore, there are countries which are [from the] European Union but also from outside. Seeing what is going on in the world, it is the interest of every country in the world that this international law is developed further to also have very clear rules for accountability. So, I really invite all countries to join this initiative, and we can move forward with this.  

On your other question. I think there is no doubt that Putin has committed the crime of aggression – which is deciding to attack another country, to attack the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine. He has been quite open about this. This is a crime of aggression, it is a leadership crime, and without that crime there would not be any killings on the ground, there would not be any attacking of civilian infrastructure, of civilians, rapes on the ground. It is very much interlinked. Therefore, we cannot just say that the crime of aggression goes unpunished, because without this there would not be all the other crimes either. If we say that we punish – and the International Criminal Court will prosecute war crimes – then we cannot leave out the crime of aggression. I think this is also part of putting the pressure on also Putin, on the regime, to really stop this war and also to give a clear signal to other aggressors or ‘would be’ aggressors in the world who are maybe contemplating on attacking neighbouring countries. Because there will be nobody who is left unpunished for the crimes committed. That is why I think these signals are important. Who talks to whom is of course everybody's decision to make, but it is clear that we have to continue with this tribunal for the accountability and for just peace in Ukraine. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-266673