The United States took action today in favor of the creation of a special court which will investigate the Russian “aggression” in Ukraine and which will be based “on the Ukrainian judicial system”.

“The United States supports the establishment of a special court for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, in the form of an international court that would be based on the Ukrainian judicial system and include international actors,” a State Department spokesman said. The same official said that Washington wants this court to have “significant international support, especially from our European partners” and, “ideally,” to be based in a European country.

It is the first time the United States, a country traditionally reluctant to cooperate with international tribunals, has made clear that it favors the establishment of such a court to try crimes committed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This idea is also supported by the Europeans, who had proposed the establishment of the court since last November.

A few days ago, the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of abducting children from Ukraine.

Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

The ICC is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine, but not for Russia’s “crime of aggression” in that country.

On Monday, US Special Envoy for International Justice Beth Van Schaak said the US would like the special court to have international resources and staff. “We believe that this internationalized, but based on the Ukrainian judicial system, court (…) will offer the best chance” of justice, she added in a speech at the Catholic University of America.

Van Schaak said the special court could be based in another European country, at least initially, “in order to strengthen Ukraine’s desired European orientation.”