Thirty-six countries and the European Union have backed plans for the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
During a Council of Europe meeting in the Moldovan capital of Chişinău, Ministers “expressed their intention to join a new Enlarged Partial Agreement.”
Those who joined the agreement include thirty-four Council of Europe member states: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union, Australia and Costa Rica.
On June 25, 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement with the Council of Europe at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. On July 15, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law ratifying the Agreement on establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine .
On January 23, 2026, Council of Europe Secretary-General, Alain Berset announced the signing of an agreement among the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and the European External Action Service establishing a preparatory team for the future Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The conclusion of an expanded partial agreement on the steering committee at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Moldova makes it possible to launch all mechanisms of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
Once the preparatory stages are complete, the tribunal is to proceed to full-scale operations, including investigations, the filing of charges, judicial proceedings, and the rendering of judgments regarding the crime of aggression.
The tribunal is needed because no court exists with the remit to try the crime of aggression, that is, the decision to start and carry out an illegal war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, members of his inner circle, and potentially other countries are to be targeted by the tribunal. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha mentioned Belarus’ leader, Alexander Lukashenko. North Korean leaders could also feature, given that they have also sent soldiers to attack Ukraine.
Agreement To Establish Special Tribunal For Ukraine Lauded
Alain Berset, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, said that the tribunal “represents justice and hope” and “the time for Russia to be held to account for its aggression is fast approaching.” “The path ahead of us is one of justice – and justice must prevail,” he added.
“Action now needs to be taken to follow up on this political commitment by securing the Tribunal’s functioning and funding.”
Alain Berset
The EU donated 10 million euros ($12 million) in January to fund investigations and the collection of evidence, but now it will be for the signatories to decide how much each will fund the court, its composition, and when it will begin work
In a statement at the Ministerial Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Sybiha hailed the agreement, saying, “Today is a historic day … The Hague will restore justice from the ruins of war.”
“And this is not an abstract idea. Yesterday, a Russian strike on Kyiv killed 24 people, including 3 children. Their relatives are watching this meeting now. We have no moral right to fail. They deserve justice. And today’s agreement, officially approved by 37 states on three continents, makes justice inevitable.”
Andrii Sybiha
The Ukrainian government expects that the special tribunal will be fully operational in 2027.
Also, the Ministers in the Council of Europe meeting noted progress on establishing a second Council of Europe body, the International Claims Commission. That body will award financial compensation to victims of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
A so-called Register of Damage, which will guide the claims commission’s work, has already received over 150,000 claims. However, more countries need to back the claims commission before it can begin work. So far, five countries; Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, and Ukraine, plus the European Union have voted to ratify the convention underpinning the claims commission. 25 votes are required.
Once ratified, the thorny and expensive question of who will pay out compensation claims would still have to be answered. One European diplomat suggested that Russia’s frozen assets worldwide could be used for this purpose, but even they might not be sufficient.
The World Bank estimates that roughly $305 billion of Russian assets have been immobilized worldwide, just over half the $588 billion cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine.
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