Ukraine and Council of Europe sign agreement to create tribunal to prosecute Putin over war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset have signed an agreement to establish a Special Tribunal to investigate crimes of aggression against Ukraine, European Pravda reports.

The agreement was signed at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg, where Zelensky arrived following the NATO summit in The Hague.

As the outlet explains, the tribunal will make it possible to investigate top state officials who are typically shielded by personal immunity — in this case, members of Russia’s leadership. However, trials and sentencing would be possible only once those individuals have left office.

Plans for the tribunal were first reported in February. At the time, a source told European Pravda that the effort was “essentially a tribunal against Putin.” Kaja Kallas, the E.U.’s foreign policy chief, said the initiative was intended to increase pressure on Putin and his government to end the war.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova. They are accused of overseeing the illegal deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.