EU plans war crimes court to make Russia answer for invasion of Ukraine

• Published date: 01 December 2022

The European Union has outlined plans to make Russia answer for war crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine and pay reparations for its invasion, as Kyiv pressed western allies to deliver more air defence systems to counter missile strikes by Moscow's forces

"Russia must pay for its horrific crimes, including for its crime of aggression against a sovereign state. This is why . . . we are proposing to set up a specialised court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia's crime of aggression," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday.

"Secondly, Russia must also pay financially for the devastation that it caused. The damage suffered by Ukraine is estimated at €600 billion. Russia and its oligarchs have to compensate Ukraine for the damage and cover the costs for rebuilding the country."

Oligarchs

The EU says it has blocked €300 billion in Russian central bank reserves and frozen €19 billion belonging to Russian oligarchs, since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

In a separate statement, the European Commission proposed in the short-term to "set up a structure to manage the frozen public funds, invest them and use the proceeds in favour of Ukraine". It said: "In the long-term: once the sanctions are lifted, the central bank assets will need to be returned. This could be linked to a peace agreement, which compensates Ukraine for the damages it has suffered. The assets that would need to be returned could be offset against this war reparation."

The Kremlin says western sanctions are illegal and any appropriation of Russian assets would amount to theft.

At the same time, Moscow has warned Nato powers that they risk being dragged into the war if they continue to provide Ukraine with increasingly powerful weapons.

Ukraine is pushing hard for more air defence weapons, particularly the US-made Patriot system, after Russia destroyed more than a third of its power grid...