Some 40 countries, including the United States, the European Union, Britain and Asian countries have jointly called on Russia to “end its military operations in Ukraine” and backed Kiev’s request to the International Court of Justice.
Military intervention
In a statement released in New York on Wednesday, the countries express their “support” for “Ukraine’s action against Russia in the International Court of Justice” under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to establish that Russia’s military intervention has no legal basis and is based on baseless accusations of genocide.
The text recalls that the court asked Moscow to end the war on March 16, 2022. “Russia must take responsibility for its actions. In this sense, we consider that Russia’s violations of international law involve its international responsibility “, the declaration says.
“Ukraine (…) requires full and urgent compensation from Russia for the losses and damages suffered,” the text added.
Conflict
At least 750 billion dollars will be needed to recover the country from the ruins of the conflict, according to Ukraine.
Based in The Hague, the UN’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, makes binding and unchallengeable rulings. It bases its findings mainly on treaties and conventions, but has no way of implementing its decisions.
Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Moscow to halt forced deportations in areas of Ukraine controlled by Russia, saying an estimated 9,00,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainians have been “interrogated, detained, and forcibly deported” to Russia.
“Moscow’s actions appear premeditated and draw immediate historical comparisons to Russian ‘filtration’ operations in Chechnya and other areas,” Mr. Blinken said. “President Putin’s ‘filtration’ operations are separating families, confiscating Ukrainian passports and issuing Russian passports in an apparent effort to change the demographic makeup of parts of Ukraine.”
Systematic abuses
Mr. Blinken said Mr. Putin and his government “will not be able to engage in these systematic abuses with impunity. Accountability is imperative. This is why we are supporting Ukrainian and international authorities’ efforts to collect, document, and preserve evidence of atrocities.”
Some 40 nations from the European Union and around the world are meeting on Thursday in the Netherlands to discuss with the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor how best to coordinate efforts to bring perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine to justice.
Conference
The conference is hosted by Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan and European Union Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders.
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