U.S. says it supports and promotes international push to hold Russia accountable for war crimes In Ukraine

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it is "promoting and supporting" accountability for Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine "in every viable way that we think will be effective." as Spokesperson Ned Price put it, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Washington's comments came as the European Commission's chief, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that an international center for the prosecution of crimes in Ukraine will be set up in The Hague.

Asked by TURAN whether the Biden administration would support the idea of a special tribunal against the Russians, Price told a daily press conference that the U.S. had been "in constant conversation" with Ukraine, as well as with allies and partners around the world, to determine mechanisms that can promote the goal of accountability for "those Russian officials who were either directly responsible for perpetrating or responsible for ordering what ultimately turned out to be war crimes."

"We’ve spoken quite a bit about our support for the Ukrainian prosecutor general, for that office that has already undertaken prosecutions, has secured convictions through free and fair trials, and has actually sentenced individuals to prison terms for the war crimes that they have committed on sovereign Ukrainian soil. That is a process that is well underway," Price said.

He went on to add, "there are other processes that are underway to varying degrees as well. The OSCE has its own process that we’ve supported. The ICC is engaged in a process that we are supporting. The UN, too, has an accountability mechanism that the U.S. helped to establish."

Asked whether Washington thought Putin should be punished in a courtroom, Price said "that is a question for legal authorities."

The spokesperson also said that the Biden administration has been working with Congress about "new vehicles" that would allow it to apply on Russia additional measures in response to the atrocities that it is perpetrating against the people of Ukraine."

Early this week, Ukraine's general prosecutor visited Washington for meetings with officials and lawmakers to push for further U.S. support in Ukraine’s legal battles. against Russia.

While President Biden has last year described Russia’s aggression against Ukraine as committing “genocide,” the administration has resisted Ukraine’s push to label Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism," but considers supporting compromise terms such as “aggressor state" to avoid legal consequences of the terrorism designation.

Alex Raufoglu

Washingtoin D.C.