Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday stressed the need to punish all Russian “murderers and torturers” and called for more air defense systems to counter Moscow’s renewed offensive.
Zelenskyi told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that holding the perpetrators accountable was necessary to ensure lasting peace on the continent.
“We must continue our dialogue to hold Russia as the aggressor state and each of the Russian murderers and torturers accountable for all the crimes in this war, for every manifestation of terror,” he said via video link.
“Once these legal mechanisms are in place and operational, it will be one of the strongest guarantees of long-term peace.”
The Ukrainian head of state submitted a similar appeal to the United Nations at the end of September.
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, launched its own probe into the war in Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion in February, but said it was keen for Ukraine to bring suspects to justice where possible.
The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court said Thursday Ukraine can extradite Russian war criminals to the court in The Hague, although Moscow is not a member.
Zelenskyy also accused PACE of turning a blind eye to Ukraine’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
“In fact, since 2014, attempts have been made to write off everything that Russia has done against Ukraine and European values. To write off under the guise of stories that it is necessary to maintain dialogue with Russia at all possible levels,” he said.
Zelenskyy called on Europe to diplomatically isolate Russia as he again called for “modern anti-aircraft and missile defense systems” to “protect our skies from Russian terror.”
“If this is done, it will be a fundamental step towards ending the entire war in the near future,” he said.
“Europe can take the lead in efforts to compensate for the damage caused by this war,” he said.
“We need to create an adequate compensation mechanism – and we propose the way to do it. The corresponding project has already been prepared by Ukraine. I urge you to support it – both in Europe and at the level of the UN General Assembly.” .
