The number of countries that support the creation of a UN-backed special tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine is increasing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on March 20.
Zelenskiy said in his evening address that he held conversations earlier in the day with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to thank them for joining an international group that is preparing the creation of the special tribunal.
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"The circle of partners who are ready to work together to punish Russia for aggression is inevitably expanding. And it makes the prospect of punishment more and more realistic," Zelenskiy said.
He said he also spoke about the special tribunal on March 20 in an address to a conference of European justice ministers in London.
"I appealed to the participants of the conference and called on them to support all elements of the international effort so that the aggressor would be accurately punished," he said.
The European Parliament in January adopted a recommendatory resolution on the creation of a special tribunal regarding the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted unanimously one week later to establish the tribunal.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), however, has said he opposes the EU proposal. Karim Khan said in December that his court is capable of effectively considering war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
The ICC on March 17 issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing the Russian leader of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Lvova-Belova, a Russian children's rights official who allegedly directs the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The Kremlin dismissed the warrant, arguing that it is void because Russia is not in the ICC's jurisdiction. Ukraine is also not a member of the ICC.