Progress in the creation of a special tribunal for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin should be viewed in dynamics. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said this in a commentary to LB.ua.
Commenting on Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's statement about the lack of practical progress in the creation of the tribunal, Kostin stressed the complexity of the discussion on the court model.
"Of course, this work is not easy - since the Second World War, no one in the world has prosecuted a crime of aggression at the international level. We are doing our best to take into account the positions of all partners and at the same time achieve the main goal - to ensure Russia's full responsibility for its crimes," Kostin said.
The Prosecutor General stressed that today the discussion of the special tribunal has moved to the level of discussion on the format and features.
"When I am asked whether there is any practical progress in the establishment of the tribunal, I emphasise that everything should be considered in dynamics. In March 2022, most international partners did not take this initiative seriously. And in 6 months, in October 2022, the first countries officially supported the need to establish a tribunal for the crime of aggression. Today, more than 40 countries are working within the Core Group on its legal model," Kostin said.
According to him, whenever the tribunal is established, Ukraine must prepare everything necessary for the start of the trial.
"The task is to systematise and analyse the evidence to develop a strategy for prosecuting the crime. And while the discussion on the tribunal's model continues, 16 prosecutors from 6 countries are already working on it at the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression - ICPA - in the Hague. Ukraine's position is clear and unambiguous: only a tribunal with jurisdiction to try the main criminal, Putin, will be able to ensure true justice for all victims and survivors of Russian aggression," Kostin said.