European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
(Picture: AP)The European Union will try to set up a specialised court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
European Commision president Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the body is ready to start working with the international community “to get the broadest international support possible for this specialised court”.
Ukraine has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it holds responsible for starting the war.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) launched its own investigation into alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes days after Moscow's invasion, but it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute aggression in Ukraine.
"While continuing to support the International Criminal Court, we are proposing to set up a specialised court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia's crime of aggression," Mrs von der Leyen said.
Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation", has denied targeting civilians and said the invasion does not amount to illegal aggression against Ukraine.
The G7 agreed on Tuesday to set up a network to coordinate investigations into war crimes as part of a push to prosecute suspected atrocities in Ukraine.
The European Commission has also proposed confiscating Russian assets that have been frozen to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, exploring legal options with the EU's partners to compensate Kyiv for damage to the country. Russia says the freezing of its central bank's reserves and the assets of its citizens are illegal.
Also on Wednesday, Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) turned its attention to three countries shaken by Russia's invasion of Ukraine — Bosnia, Georgia and Moldova.
The states have concerns that the war exposes them to political, energy and territorial uncertainty.
At talks in Romania, the foreign ministers of the three countries met with their Nato counterparts to discuss ways that the world's biggest security organisation might be able to help.
