Ukraine’s drive to put Putin on trial

The principle of territorial integrity would be affirmed if Ukraine wins U.N. support for a special court to deal with Russia’s invasion – a “war of aggression.”

The Monitor's View

An expert spokesman for his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lately begun to give speeches to countries such as Mexico in the Global South. One key message, as he told Mexican lawmakers on April 20: Help us defend the “important principles of territorial integrity” and “protect the rules-based international order.”

Mr. Zelenskyy needs support from countries like Mexico in his drive to put Russian President Vladimir Putin on trial for “a war of aggression,” or the invasion of Ukraine in February last year. If a substantial majority of the U.N. General Assembly votes to set up a special tribunal for that particular crime – dubbed the “mother of all crimes” – it would be another moral victory that could help Ukraine win the war.

It would also affirm a global norm against cross-border invasions. That norm was set after World War II during the international trials of German and Japanese wartime leaders. Yet when the International Criminal Court was created a quarter century ago, the crime of violating borders was not directly included in the list of crimes that it could investigate on its own. One reason: a few Western countries feared their leaders might be held accountable for military interventions that lack U.N. authority.

Much of the Global South did support Ukraine in a February vote at the General Assembly by voting for a resolution calling for an end to the war. Ukraine and European leaders, with the support of the United States, are now trying to design a type of court that would win similar support. One idea is for Ukraine to set up such a court with U.N. support.

“I have seen an incredible evolution in terms of the world being increasingly united about the imperative of justice, not only to vindicate those victims and survivors whose life plans have been indelibly interrupted by Russia’s terrible war of aggression but also to create a deterrent effect,” Beth Van Schaack, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, told Euronews.

Unless Mr. Putin is overthrown by his own people and handed over to such a court, he is unlikely to be put on trial – except in absentia. Even then, though, there would be huge symbolic value in a verdict that affirms that national borders are sacrosanct in international law.

European leaders are now in intense discussion to back such a court. But it will be former colonies in the Global South – with a historic perspective on wars of aggression – that will be key to putting the crime of aggression on the international agenda. So far they are giving a willing ear to Ukraine – and to its call to rally around a principle essential to peace.