The United States has signaled that it may withdraw from international efforts to prosecute Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. This was reported by The Telegraph, reports UNN.
Western officials say U.S. envoys refused to call Russia an “aggressor” at a meeting of the “Core Group” of countries preparing a Nuremberg-style tribunal to try Vladimir Putin for his war crimes.
According to the newspaper, Washington also refuses to co-sponsor a United Nations statement that supports Ukraine's territorial integrity and demands that Moscow withdraw its troops from the war-torn country.
The Trump administration also refused to sign a planned G7 statement calling Russia the “aggressor” in the war with Ukraine to mark the third anniversary of the conflict on Monday.
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The US president accused Ukraine of unleashing war, called Vladimir Zelensky a “dictator” and insisted that Russia be invited back into the alliance of industrialized countries.
European officials fear that Trump's flattery of Putin could lead to the Russian despot being allowed to escape responsibility for his invasion as part of any peace settlement.
This position has put preparations for next month's final Core Group meeting in doubt.
The group is leading a coalition of 40 countries to form a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, modeled on the response to Nazi war crimes after World War II.
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This would require the U.S. and other countries that have joined Ukraine in granting jurisdiction to a special criminal tribunal to investigate both those responsible for the crime of aggression and those complicit in that crime.
The crime of aggression cannot be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“If they don't recognize that it's aggression, they can't participate,” one official said of U.S. opposition to the designation of russia as an aggressor.
Losing Washington's support for the tribunal would be a serious blow to the international reputation and standing of the project, the publication adds.
“It's quite a dramatic shift,” a European diplomat told The Telegraph.
“Rewriting history and pretending that Russia was not the one who started this war is something we simply cannot and will not accept.
The U.S. has not yet officially withdrawn from the scheme and is expected to attend its next meeting next month in Strasbourg, France.
A diplomatic note seen by The Telegraph revealed that European officials were “shocked” by US statements at a series of international meetings that Russia should be invited back into the “civilized world”.
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European capitals are now negotiating the possible collapse of the special tribunal if the U.S. does leave, as feared.
The latest US position marks a significant policy shift between Joe Biden and Mr. Trump.
The former president called Putin a “war criminal” and signed a number of international statements calling Russia an aggressor state.