EU proposes to set up special court for Russia’s war crimes and use Russian frozen assets for Ukraine’s recovery

The European Commission today proposed to set up a specialised court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine.

“Russia must pay for its horrific crimes, including for its crime of aggression against a sovereign state. We are ready to start working with the international community to get the broadest international support possible for this specialised court,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, announcing this proposal.

She also announced that the European Commission intends to create in a short time a structure to legally manage Russian assets blocked or frozen  in the EU due to sanctions and invest them. 

“Russia must also pay financially for the devastation that it caused. The damage suffered by Ukraine is estimated at €600 billion. Russia and its oligarchs have to compensate Ukraine for the damage and cover the costs for rebuilding the country,” said von der Leyen. 

She added that the EU has blocked €300 billion of Russian Central Bank reserves and frozen €19 billion of Russian oligarchs’ money, which the EU could use to rebuild Ukraine.

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Press release