Ukraine, Council of Europe Seal Pact for Tribunal on Russian Aggression

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed an accord in Strasbourg on 25 June establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The body will be created under the aegis of Europe’s top human-rights organisation, which expelled Russia after its 2022 invasion, and will possess full international legal personality.

The tribunal is intended to prosecute senior Russian political and military leaders for planning and launching the full-scale invasion—an offence the International Criminal Court cannot try because of jurisdictional limits. Kyiv says the court will be based in The Hague and modelled on previous ad-hoc tribunals, with trials allowed in absentia if necessary.

“Every war criminal must know there will be justice, including President Putin,” Zelenskyy said at the signing ceremony, calling the agreement “a very important step.” Berset urged other states to join the mechanism, while Ukraine’s government began preparing legislation for swift ratification by the Verkhovna Rada.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move as a “hostile demarche.” Legal experts note that sitting heads of state enjoy immunity and that Moscow is unlikely to cooperate, but supporters argue the tribunal will preserve evidence, deter future aggression and, over time, close a persistent accountability gap in international law.