Russian Foreign Ministry calls special tribunal “worthless” for Russia and declares it a hostile demarche
Russian officials have been very critical of the creation of a Special International Tribunal to investigate crimes of aggression against Ukraine, stressing that this initiative is a “hostile demarche” and has no legal force for Moscow. Such a speech was made by the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who on June 25 strongly reacted to the signing of an agreement between President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, which officially launched the work of the special tribunal. In her comments, Zakharova clearly stated that Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of this judicial body over the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and called any “attachment” to it for other countries “worthless.” She stressed that for Russia, the decision of any special tribunal on this case will have no legal force, and its adoption will be perceived as a “hostile demarche” aimed not at finding ways to resolve the conflict, but on the contrary, at deepening the current crisis around Ukraine. Zakharova also spoke sharply at the Council of Europe, accusing this organization of creating “quasi-legal mechanisms against Russia,” which, according to her, is part of a hybrid campaign to isolate the country. This earlier signing of the agreement was one of the key events that took place on June 25 at the Council of Europe building in Strasbourg. During this event, President Zelensky, as part of his first visit to this organization, laid the foundation for the formation of an international tribunal in The Hague, which aims to hold senior officials of the Russian leadership accountable for crimes of aggression. The special tribunal is intended to deal with crimes normally protected by the immunity of senior officials, with the possibility of passing sentences only after they have lost their positions. This means that high-ranking officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be able to participate in the justice process, but one of the steps to this will be their resignation and loss of immunity. For more information on the arrangements surrounding the creation of the tribunal, see our article “Nuremberg for Putin: All about the tribunal for the Russian leadership being created in The Hague.” We also recommend reading the analysis “The Tribunal from The Hague to Strasbourg: Explaining the Consequences of the Agreement Signed by Zelensky,” which contains a detailed analysis of the potential consequences of this initiative for international justice and security.