The United States, Japan, Canada and almost all European countries on Wednesday signed a register of war damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a prelude to demands for reparations and lawsuits against Moscow, announced the Council of Europe meeting in Iceland.
Launched on Tuesday on the occasion of a summit of heads of state and government of the pan-European organization, this census is intended to be a first step in view of the demands for reparations addressed to Moscow for the thousands of victims and the billions of euros of destruction.
At Wednesday morning’s tally, “we have about 40 member states that have signed, and all the G7 countries on three continents,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric on the second day of the summit.
“We wanted victim-centered justice,” said the head of the legal body, best known for its European Court of Human Rights, welcoming a “necessary and urgent first step”.
The initiative, supported by the Icelandic presidency of the organization, aims to show that the file of “justice for Ukraine” is moving forward, when the prospect of a possible special tribunal for war crimes committed during the invasion remains distant.
The European Union has also signed in addition to most of its members, including France. EU member country Bulgaria, as well as Switzerland and Andorra, are finalizing their internal procedures to sign in turn, according to the Council of Europe.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the creation of the register, while emphasizing that “it does not settle the question of the payment of damages”. Europe, which seeks to use the fruits of tens of billions of frozen Russian funds to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction, could also use them for war reparations, he said.
“No reliable peace without justice”
Ukraine is part of the Council of Europe, which had excluded Russia in March 2022 after the invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There will be no reliable peace without justice,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday evening by videoconference at the opening of the summit.
kyiv warmly welcomed the creation of this register, which will be based in The Hague (Netherlands) like the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The latter, initially created for three years, must collect complaints from victims and identify all human or material damage.
“It paves the way for a vast international compensation mechanism for the victims of Russian aggression,” argued the Council of Europe in a press release.
“It is important to send the message to people who have damage that we do not forget them, and that we will ensure a follow-up”, underlined Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Towards an “international coalition” to supply F-16s to kyiv
The summit, which brings together 46 European countries, “clearly shows that Putin has failed”, according to Olaf Scholz.
It comes at the end of an express tour by Volodymyr Zelensky in Europe, which took him from Rome to London via Berlin and Paris.
The Ukrainian head of state on Tuesday renewed his call for Westerners to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine, at a time when a major counter-offensive from kyiv is expected.
This file has also taken a step forward: London and The Hague announced on Tuesday that they wanted to build “an international coalition” to supply F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine.
American-made, these are common in air forces in Europe, although the UK does not have them.
“A good start for the coalition! “, greeted Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday evening.
Many European countries are also replacing their F-16s with more modern F-35s, paving the way for donations of scrapped aircraft.