According to a letter sent to members of the organization on Monday, the Ministry of Justice informed European officials that the United States would withdraw from a multinational group created to investigate leaders responsible for the invasion of Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
The decision to withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, to which Biden Administration joined In 2023It is the latest hint of the transfer of Trump’s administration from the commitment of President Joseph R. Biden jr.
The group was created to hold Russia’s leadership, along with its allies in Belarus, North Korea and Iran, responsible for the category of crimes – defined as aggression Under international law and contracts that violate the sovereignty of another country and are not initiated in self -defense.
“The US authorities have informed me that by the end of March it will close its involvement in ICPA,” Michael Schmid, President of the Group’s parent organization, the European Union agency for cooperation in criminal judiciary, better known as Eurojust, wrote by The New York Times.
The group remains “fully determined” in Ukraine to adhere to “those who are responsible for basic international crimes,” he added.
The United States was the only country outside Europe to send the prosecutor to the Hague to cooperate with investigators from Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland, Romania and the International Criminal Court.
The spokesman of the department did not answer immediately to the comment on Sunday evening.
Trump’s administration also reduces the work from the ministry A team of liability for war crimescreated in 2022 by the General Prosecutor at that time, Merrick B. Garland, and served by experienced prosecutors. The purpose was to coordinate the efforts of the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the Russian responsible for the atrocities committed as a result of the full invasion three years ago.
“There is no shelter for war criminals,” Garland said when notifying the unit.
The department added: “He will promote every way of responsibility for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.”
During the biden administration, a team known as Warcat has focused on an important support role: Provision of overloaded prosecutors of Ukraine and enforcement of law with logistical assistance, training and direct assistance in the administration of accusations of war crimes committed by the Russians to the Ukrainian courts.
The team brought one important case. In December 2023, US prosecutors used the status of war crimes for the first time since he was admitted almost three decades ago Charge four Russian soldiers In his absence with the torture of an American who lived in the Kerson region of Ukraine.
In recent comments, President Trump approached Mr. Putin while the clash with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelsky – treated so far as to false that Ukraine played a role in the provocation of Russian brutal and illegal military invasions.
“You should never start it,” Mr. Trump said in FebruaryReferring to the leader of Ukraine. “You could have agreed.” Followed in the post social mediaHe called Mr. Zelenský “a dictator without elections” and said he “did a terrible job” in office.
Trump’s administration did not provide any reason to withdraw from the examination group other than the same explanation for other staff and political steps: the need to move resources, according to people who are familiar with the situation who spoke of the condition of anonymity because they were not justified to publicly discuss movements.
