President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to as on Monday for a world tribunal to analyze and punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine, which he described as battle crimes.
“In the present day, Russian troops shelled Kharkiv utilizing rocket artillery,” Mr. Zelensky mentioned in a video posted on his Fb web page. “That is, with none doubt, a army crime. A peaceable metropolis. Peaceable residential neighborhoods. Not a single army object in sight.”
He continued: “For such against the law, there must be a tribunal. A global one. This can be a violation of all conventions. Nobody on this planet will forgive you for the homicide of peaceable Ukrainian individuals. That is Ukraine. That is Europe. That is the yr 2022. Evil, armed with rockets, bombs and artillery, should be stopped instantly.”
Mr. Zelensky proposed an array of penalties, together with closing airspace, ports and canals to Russian planes and ships. He additionally instructed that Russia must be faraway from its everlasting membership on the United Nations Safety Council, although the U.N. Constitution comprises no mechanism to try this.
However one other worldwide physique signaled motion. The prosecutor of the Worldwide Felony Courtroom mentioned earlier Monday that he would pursue an investigation into the battle in Ukraine, citing a “cheap foundation to consider that each alleged battle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity have been dedicated.”
Talking on the finish of the primary day of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, Mr. Zelensky mentioned the talks would proceed although Russia stored attacking all through them.
“These negotiations befell in opposition to the backdrop of the bombing and taking pictures of our territory, our cities,” he mentioned. “Clearly, there was a coordination of assaults with the negotiating course of. I’d contend that in such a not-so-sly means, Russia is trying to steamroll us.
“Don’t waste time. We won’t permit such a tactic. Actual negotiations can solely happen when one aspect is just not attacking the opposite with rocket artillery within the very second of negotiations.”
David Kurkovskiy contributed translation.
