Photo: RBC
Iceland and Poland have confirmed their readiness to join the agreement necessary to establish a Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
This was reported by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X.
“We are grateful to our Icelandic and Polish partners for this important step. This marks a turning point: with 17 confirmations, we have officially crossed the legal minimum number of member states required to vote on the agreement,” Sybiha wrote.
The minister noted that this concerns the Expanded Partial Agreement (EPA) on the Steering Committee of the Special Tribunal. According to him, it can now be submitted for consideration and adopted at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at ministerial level in Chișinău on May 14–15.
“Less than a year has passed since we gave the green light to the Tribunal on May 9, 2025, when we gathered European foreign ministers in Lviv. And now we have completed all the legal steps to launch the Tribunal,” he said.
According to Sybiha, Ukraine will continue collecting signatures from countries—both within the Council of Europe and beyond, across all continents and regions.
“We call on all states to join these historic efforts for accountability. Criminals in Moscow must realize that justice is inevitable—from ordinary perpetrators to the highest military and political leadership. Accountability is essential for a lasting peace,” the minister added.
Special tribunal for Russia
As is known, Europe is continuing work on establishing a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. In June last year, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Alain Berset signed an agreement on creating such a tribunal.
Earlier, on May 9, 2025, a key international meeting took place in Lviv, where foreign ministers from dozens of European countries, together with representatives of the Council of Europe, gave political approval to launch the tribunal.
At that time, the parties agreed to move to the practical implementation of a mechanism that aims to hold Russia’s military and political leadership accountable for starting the war.
This decision became the first official step toward creating a separate international court, which would complement institutions such as the International Criminal Court, but would focus specifically on the crime of aggression.
After that, the process moved into the legal phase: countries began preparing agreements, gathering support, and building the legal framework for the tribunal, which is planned to be based in The Hague.
According to reports, at least 25 countries have expressed readiness to become participants in the special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
