Ukraine Confident ICC Will Continue Pursuing Russian War Crimes Amid Trump Sanctions

Ukraine is confident that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) work on Russia’s war crimes will continue, despite sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump on the organization, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry stated on February 7.

“We are convinced that the ICC will continue to fulfill important functions in Ukraine’s case, in particular bringing Russian war criminals to responsibility,” Reuters reported, citing Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi’s statement at a press briefing in Kyiv.

“We know that relations between the US and ICC have a long history,” said Tykhyi.

The news agency wrote that Trump authorized economic and travel sanctions against individuals involved in ICC investigations targeting US citizens or allies like Israel.

The ICC is an organization and international tribunal located in The Hague, Netherlands with the authority to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and acts of aggression committed within member states or by their nationals.

On February 6, Trump signed an executive order accusing the court in The Hague of abusing its power after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with the US president on February 4.

On February 6, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, said that US Trump is ready to escalate sanctions on Russia in a bid to end its war against Ukraine.