Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that he had discussed with US Attorney General Merrick Garland the issue of Washington's support for the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA), which would investigate alleged war crimes in Ukraine
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2023) Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that he had discussed with US Attorney General Merrick Garland the issue of Washington's support for the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA), which would investigate alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Eurojust spokesman Ton van Lierop confirmed to RIA Novosti that the ICPA would begin operations in the Hague on July 3.
"It was a pleasure to welcome US Attorney General Merrick Garland to The Hague. We discussed the US' support for the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression, which will open on 3 July at Eurojust," Hoekstra said on Twitter.
He added that the parties also discussed efforts to ensure compensation for Ukraine through the Register ща Damage international compensation mechanism.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the center's establishment earlier this year. Van Lierop said later that Eurojust welcomed the commission's intention, adding that ICPA would become part of the existing structure supporting the Joint Investigation Team, established in March 2022, on alleged major international crimes committed in Ukraine.
Russia has rejected accusations of war crimes leveled against it by the Ukrainian government and its Western backers. It has also rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, in a rare move that the Kremlin said was based on a trumped-up charge.
