
Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, announced that during a recent meeting in Lviv, Ukraine and its European allies agreed to create a special tribunal aimed at prosecuting war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Additionally, a funding allocation of 1 billion euros for Ukraine’s defense sector was approved.
The formal agreement to establish the tribunal was signed by Kaja Kallas along with Michael McGrath, the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law. Attendees included Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and foreign ministers from several EU countries—such as France, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK’s David Lammy—who gathered in Lviv after their informal summit in Warsaw the previous day. Canada has also expressed support for the initiative.
The Core Group, which endorsed the Declaration to create the special tribunal, consists of member states from the Council of Europe. The next step toward formalizing this tribunal will occur during the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe meeting in Luxembourg on May 13-14, 2025.
The special tribunal, which will focus on “aggression crimes,” will collaborate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has already issued international arrest warrants for several Russian leaders, including Vladimir Putin.
Regarding the allocation of 1 billion euros for the Ukrainian defense industry, these funds will come from the interest accrued on frozen Russian assets held by the Russian Central Bank within the EU.
Since the onset of the war in 2022, the West has frozen approximately 235 billion euros in Russian assets, most of which are situated in Europe. Recently, the EU decided to utilize the interest generated from these assets to support aid efforts for Ukraine. (9/5/25)













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