Dpa
amsterdam/ Brussels
The EU’s top official vowed on Monday to leave “no stone unturned” when it comes to making Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for the war against Ukraine.
“We will leave no stone unturned to hold Putin and his henchmen accountable,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement marking the opening of a centre for the prosecution of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The centre is located at the EU justice agency Eurojust in The Hague.
“The new international prosecution centre will play a key role in making sure that the perpetrators are brought to justice,” she said.
Western states have long been looking for ways to prosecute Russia, possibly with a special tribunal. The International Criminal Court (ICC), also based in The Hague, has already issued international arrest warrants for Putin on suspicion of war crimes such as the alleged deportation of minors from Ukraine to Russia. However, the court is not allowed to initiate proceedings on the war itself.
Ukraine, several EU states and the ICC are involved in the centre. A central database for evidence on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide has already been set up at Eurojust.
Von der Leyen has also said it was imperative for the European Union to address the issue of its enlargement as soon as possible to include countries such as Ukraine and Moldova to guarantee they do not fall under the influence of Russia or China.
Meanwhile, in an effort to get Russia to extend a key grain agreement with Ukraine, the European Union is thinking about offering concessions, including allowing a Russian bank to circumvent sanctions, diplomats told dpa on Monday.
They said the idea is to permit the Russian Agricultural Bank to establish a subsidiary to be able to use the international financial communication network Swift again for the processing of certain payments.
The bank itself is currently not allowed to do this because of sanctions due to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The diplomats said the EU is not lifting sanctions against the agricultural bank because there would probably not be the needed consensus among EU-member states to do so.
But by allowing a new subsidiary to use Swift, opponents would probably not be able to block such a move. Supporters of the measure point out that grain exports are very important not only for Ukraine, but also for recipient states in Africa and Asia.
Moreover, in their view, Russia must be prevented from blaming the West for a possible failure of the agreement.
Russia blocked the neighbouring country’s grain exports for months after the invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Then, in mid-2022, an agreement was reached between the two warring parties, mediated by the United Nations and Turkey.
After that, Ukrainian grain was shipped again.
Most recently, it was extended for another two months in mid-May — combined with Moscow’s demand that its own exports now also be facilitated.
With the looming expiration of the extension in mid-July, Russia has threatened to let the agreement expire.
