The Trump administration has withdrawn from international organizations formed to investigate responsibility for Ukrainian invasion, with the latest indication that the White House is adopting a pro-Vladimir Putin stance.
The Justice Department said it is withdrawing from the International Centre for Prosecution of Aggression Centre against Ukraine two years after the Biden administration added it with its commitment to retain Putin to explain the 2022 violations committed by Russian troops and subsequent crimes.
A announcement by the Department of Justice was expected later on Monday.
The centre was established to hold Russian leaders and their allies accountable to allies in Belarus, North Korea and Iran for categories of crimes listed as offensive under international law to undertake and support the attack.
During Joe Biden’s presidency, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in November 2023 that the US would donate $1 million to the Hague-based organization.
“The United States has gained unwavering support for the Ukrainian people in order to defend democracy against the brutal and unjust wars being fought by the Russian regime,” Garland said at the time.
On Monday, the New York Times quoted an internal letter from the European Union’s Office of Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), the group’s parent organization.
“The US authorities have informed me that they are going to conclude their involvement in the ICPA,” wrote Eurojust President Michael Schmidt.
He said the center’s work would continue without our participation, and the group was “fully committed” to holding “the head of core international crimes” accountable.
The decision is Volodimia Zelensky Voldy Zelensky in Washington’s efforts to end a three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, following weeks of tension between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president.
After Trump publicly begged Zelenkie in the White House, the US stopped sharing military aid and intelligence news to Ukraine, but they later recovered after Kiev supported the US call for a ceasefire.
Trump previously called Zelensky a “no-election dictator,” but falsely accused him of causing an invasion, Putin said he wanted to end the war – Russian leaders have yet to agree to a ceasefire.
The Justice Department also said it would reduce the work of the war crime accountability team established by Garland in 2022, holding Russia accountable for the atrocities committed after the invasion of Ukraine.
Garland said at the time that “there are no places to hide for war criminals,” and vowed that the department “will pursue every path of accountability for those who committed war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.”
The force provided logistical assistance, training and direct support, which is being burdened by Ukrainian prosecutors investigating more than 150,000 war crimes, including prisoner summary enforcement, targeted bombing of civilians and torture.
