Council of Europe and Ukraine to begin preparations for creation of special tribunal against Russia

On 30 April, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers (CMCE) directed the Secretary General to produce documentation that might potentially lead to the signing of an agreement with Ukraine to establish a special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression.

Source: Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Foreign Minister welcomed the decision of the CMCE and thanked all its members who supported this step.

Quote: "This significant decision directs the CoE Secretary General to prepare the necessary documents to facilitate consultations in the Core Group on the Tribunal and the potential project of an agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe on its actual establishment," he stressed.

Furthermore, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister stated that the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has approved ongoing work on a potential additional agreement on the financing of such a tribunal.

"This is an important practical step towards putting the tribunal into action. Each such step brings us closer to proving that justice for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is inevitable," Kuleba emphasised. 

Discussions on the special tribunal for the crime of aggression persist since 2022, although there has been no actual movement on this problem in a long time.

The major reason is that Ukraine favours the establishment of an international tribunal (on the basis of an international organisation), whereas key Western allies prefer the so-called hybrid format (in which the tribunal is held under Ukrainian law but with the backing of foreign partners).

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