Ukrainian foreign minister, European Parliament president discuss coordinated steps on special tribunal

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed coordinated steps Tuesday on the creation of a special tribunal with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

“In my call with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, I encouraged the European Parliament to keep up its vital role in tackling impunity. Following the relevant European Parliament resolution, we coordinated steps toward creating a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Metsola wrote that she reiterated the European Parliament's pledge for efforts to seek justice for "war crimes" in addition to renewing demands for the creation of a special tribunal and welcoming the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday.

Kuleba said last Thursday that 33 states are already part of the core group that is working to establish the tribunal for the “crime of aggression against Ukraine.”

“As the number grows, so does trust that Russia’s leadership will be held to account,” she said.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution Jan. 19 that urges EU member states to support the creation of the tribunal to hold Russia “accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”​​​​​​​