The US is ceasing participation in investigations of Russian crimes against Ukraine - NYT

The Ministry of Justice has secretly informed European officials that the United States is withdrawing from a multinational group created to investigate the actions of those responsible for the invasion of Ukraine. This also applies to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the situation, UNN reports, citing The New York Times.  

The decision to withdraw from the International Center for the Investigation of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which the Biden administration joined in 2023, is the latest evidence of the Trump administration's departure from its predecessor's commitment to hold Putin personally accountable for crimes committed against Ukrainians.

The group was created to hold the leadership of Russia, as well as its allies in Belarus, North Korea, and Iran, accountable for the category of crimes defined by international law and treaties as aggression that violates the sovereignty of another country and is not initiated for self-defense.

The decision is expected to be announced on Monday in an email that will be sent to staff and members of the group's parent organization, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, better known as Eurojust.

Addition

The United States was the only country outside of Europe that cooperated with the group, sending a senior Justice Department prosecutor to The Hague to work with investigators from Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Romania.

The Trump administration is also cutting back on the work of the War Crimes Accountability Group, created in 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, which includes experienced prosecutors. It was intended to coordinate the Justice Department's efforts to hold Russians accountable for atrocities committed after the full-scale invasion three years ago.

Under the Biden administration, the team, known as WarCAT, has focused on an important support role: providing logistical assistance, training, and direct assistance to overburdened Ukrainian prosecutors and law enforcement in bringing charges of war crimes committed by Russians to Ukrainian courts.

In December 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office used the war crimes statute for the first time since its enactment nearly three decades ago to indict four Russian soldiers in absentia for torturing an American living in the Kherson region of Ukraine.

The Trump administration has not explained any reasons for withdrawing from the investigative team, other than the same explanation for other personnel and policy moves: the need to reallocate resources.

Supplement

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, who is involved in the United States' negotiating team on a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine, said that there are many elements to implement a ceasefire. In particular, it concerns a potential agreement on the Black Sea, access to ports and the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Trump has announced his intention to hold talks with Russian dictator Putin on Tuesday, March 18. The conversation will take place as part of the American leader's insistence on ending Russia's war against Ukraine.