Special Tribunal for Russia could be established as early as May: MFA names important condition
Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (Getty Images)
Ukraine plans to legally complete the establishment of the Special Tribunal regarding the crime of aggression by Russia as early as May. The mechanism already has the required number of participating countries to launch, states Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, during the national telethon live broadcast.
Details of the tribunal’s establishment
According to the head of the Foreign Ministry, following a recent meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv, the number of states ready to join the agreement has increased.
Currently, 16 countries have given preliminary confirmation of their participation, which is the necessary legal minimum to launch the process.
The finalization of the arrangements is expected to take place during the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which will be hosted in Chișinău.
"We need 16 countries. We already have preliminary confirmation from such a number of countries, but they are going through the required procedures. This is important, as the next key stage in the creation of the Special Tribunal is the meeting of the Council of Europe’s foreign ministers in Chișinău in May," Sybiha emphasized.
The minister added that the goal of the Ukrainian side is to come to the May meeting with a fully prepared legal and formal framework for establishing the tribunal.
Preparations for the Special Tribunal
The international coalition to create a tribunal for the Kremlin leadership is actively expanding. In particular, on March 23, 2026, Estonia officially joined the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Management Committee of the future body.
In addition, Sweden has confirmed its readiness to join the mechanism for holding Russia accountable for the crime of aggression. In Stockholm, they stressed the importance of the inevitability of punishment for Russian officials.
The process of establishing the special tribunal moved into a practical and legal phase in the summer of 2025. At that time, within the framework of a PACE session, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed a historic agreement that laid the legal foundation for addressing crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
