The European Commission has formally joined an agreement setting out how a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine would operate, and has ratified a separate convention to establish an International Claims Commission for Ukraine.
The Commission said on Friday it joined the Enlarged Partial Agreement linked to the planned Special Tribunal, a document covering its institutional, financial and administrative arrangements.
Participating states and organisations can now ratify a convention that would officially create the tribunal, it added.
The Special Tribunal would have the power to investigate and prosecute senior Russian political and military leaders for the “crime of aggression” against Ukraine — a term used for the act of launching an illegal war under international law.
The Commission also said it ratified, on behalf of the EU, the convention establishing the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, making the EU a founding member.
The body would review and determine claims for compensation for damage, loss and injury caused by Russia in Ukraine, and set the amount of compensation due in each case.
When the new bodies could start work
The Claims Commission will be able to begin work once it has received 25 ratifications backed by sufficient financial contributions, the Commission said.
Signatories to the convention are due to meet at technical level in June to prepare practical arrangements for launching its operations.
The Commission said it is providing €10 million for the tribunal and up to €1 million for the Claims Commission to support their establishment.
EU member states adopted a decision on 5 May authorising the Commission to take part in adopting the tribunal’s Enlarged Partial Agreement and signalling the EU’s intention to join as a founding member later.
The EU signed the convention establishing the Claims Commission in December 2025 alongside 35 other states.
The Claims Commission is designed to build on the Register of Damage, set up in May 2023 to record claims including serious injury, deprivation of liberty, sexual violence, loss of housing and deportation of children, with 18 categories of damage currently open for submissions.
“There will be no just and lasting peace in Ukraine without accountability for Russia and the perpetrators of the horrific crimes committed against the people of Ukraine,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and a Vice-President of the European Commission, said.
“There can be no impunity for these crimes, and the principles of justice, accountability and victim’s rights must prevail,” Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said.
