Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine must not lead to Russian president Vladimir Putin escaping accountability for alleged war crimes, a senior European Union official said.
Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, told Politico on Monday that negotiators should ensure any ceasefire plan does not allow Russia to avoid prosecution, setting what appears to be a new red line for any settlement.
His remarks underline concerns across Europe over the original version of the US proposal, which proposed a “full amnesty for actions committed during the war” and steps to reintegrate Russia into the global economy.
Mr McGrath said: “I don’t think history will judge kindly any effort to wipe the slate clean for Russian crimes in Ukraine.
“They must be held accountable for those crimes and that will be the approach of the European Union in all of these discussions.”
Trump’s team has pushed for a reset with Moscow, even as Russia is accused of crimes ranging from the abduction of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children to attacks on civilians in Bucha, Mariupol and other cities.
“Were we to do so, to allow for impunity for those crimes, we would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion,” McGrath added.
“And I believe that that would be a historic mistake of huge proportions.”
Ukraine’s prosecutors say they have opened more than 178,000 investigations into suspected Russian crimes since the invasion began.
A United Nations commission reported last month that Russian authorities had committed crimes against humanity through drone attacks on civilians and had carried out the war crimes of forcible transfer and deportation.
“We cannot give up on the rights of the victims of Russian aggression and Russian crimes,” McGrath said.
“Millions of lives have been taken or destroyed, and people forcibly removed, and we have ample evidence.”
In July this year, Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments against Russia, finding Moscow responsible for widespread violations of international law in Ukraine.
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued judgements in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands accusing Moscow of atrocities in Ukraine dating back more than a decade.
They include the alleged murder, torture, rape, and destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
