Leaders of 37 member countries of special Russia tribunal coalition hold remote summit

On 9 May, leaders of the 37 member countries of the coalition (Core Group) for establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine held a meeting at which they confirmed their support for creating such a mechanism.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Details: Representatives of the coalition’s 37 member states joined the summit, which was chaired by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Quote: "The summit demonstrated the unity of the coalition and proved that the accountability of Russia's top leadership for the crime of aggression is inevitable. All the participants unanimously confirmed their support for holding Russia's top political and military leaders accountable for launching the war of aggression against Ukraine," the communiqué states.

Following the summit, the coalition’s member states adopted a joint statement supporting the idea of establishing such a mechanism of justice.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, who was visiting Kyiv on 9 May, was present in person.

"The EU supports the creation of a dedicated tribunal to try Russia's crime of aggression. As a first step, we must collect, store and analyse evidence. For this, we are setting up an International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine," she said after the meeting.

In his speech, Zelenskyy noted that discussions about the structure of the special tribunal and other details can continue, but emphasised that "it must be a tribunal".

"I am glad that there is an absolutely clear agreement between us that the aggressor’s accountability for the crime must be inevitable. And it is the aggressor’s accountability for the crime of aggression," he added.

Reminder: In his speech in The Hague, Zelenskyy criticised the idea of a "hybrid" tribunal, which, as far as is known, Ukraine's Western allies are more inclined towards.

In an interview with European Pravda, Anton Korynevych, ambassador-at-large at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the decision on what the tribunal for Russia’s crime of aggression will look like has yet to be made.

The coalition (Core Group) of states to create a Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression was set up on the initiative of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Currently, it includes 37 states, including G7 and EU countries and some countries of the Global South.

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