Iceland and Poland take key step toward tribunal against Russia - Ukrainian FM
Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister (photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Iceland and Poland have confirmed their readiness to join the agreement necessary for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for investigating crimes of Russian aggression against Ukraine, reports Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X.
"We are grateful to our Icelandic and Polish partners for taking this important step. It marks a turning point: with 17 confirmations, we have officially crossed the bare legal minimum of @coe member states required to put the agreement to a vote," Sybiha wrote.
The minister noted that this concerns the Enhanced Partial Agreement (EPA) on the Steering Committee of the Special Tribunal. He said it can now be submitted for consideration and adopted at the ministerial level during the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Chisinau on May 14-15.
"Less than a year have passed since we gave the green light to the Tribunal on May 9th, 2025, when we gathered European foreign ministers in Lviv. And now we have prepared all legal steps to put the Tribunal into action," the official said.
According to Sybiha, Ukraine will continue to collect signatures from countries to join – both within the Council of Europe and beyond, on all continents and in all regions.
"We encourage all states to join this historic accountability effort. Criminals in Moscow must realize that justice is inevitable. From ordinary Russian executors to the highest military and political leadership. Accountability is critical for a lasting peace," the Foreign Minister added.
Special tribunal for Russia
Work continues in Europe on establishing a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. In June of last year, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, signed an agreement to establish a Special Tribunal to try the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Prior to that, on May 9, 2025, a key international meeting took place in Lviv, where the foreign ministers of dozens of European countries, together with representatives of the Council of Europe, gave the political green light to the creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
At that time, the parties agreed to move toward the practical launch of a mechanism to hold the military and political leadership of Russia accountable for starting the war.
This decision marked the first official step toward creating a separate international court that would complement the work of other institutions, including the International Criminal Court, but would focus specifically on the crime of aggression.
After that, the process moved into the legal sphere: countries began preparing agreements, gathering support, and forming the legal framework for the tribunal, which is planned to be located in The Hague.
At least 25 states have declared their readiness to become participants in the special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
