LUXEMBOURG, May 15 — On May 14, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe launched a legal process to establish a Special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

On May 14, Ukraine submitted an appeal for adopting an agreement on creating a Special tribunal. On the same day, foreign affairs ministers of the 46 member states confirmed their commitment to Ukraine on its path to justice by approving this appeal and starting a Special tribunal creation process.

Ministers tasked Secretary General Alain Berset to lead the process within the Council of Europe.

“Ministers welcomed the ongoing efforts to reach an agreement on the establishment of a Claims Commission for Ukraine, possibly under the auspices of the Council of Europe, and reaffirmed their determination to secure the return of Ukrainian children unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred by Russia,” said the Council.

They also emphasized the importance of stepping up support for Ukraine, in particular through the Action Plan “Resilience, recovery and reconstruction 2023-2026” which allows the Ukrainian authorities to move further down the path towards accession to the European Union.

On May 9, Ukrainian officials, the Council of Europe, and foreign ministers from European countries signed a document about political support for creating a Special tribunal.

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