European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were to meet yesterday in The Hague, Netherlands, to launch an International Claims Commission to compensate Kyiv for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russian attacks and alleged war crimes.
The one-day conference, cohosted by the Netherlands and the 46-nation Council of Europe, the continent’s top rights group, was to be attended by dozens of senior figures, including EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
The meeting coincides with ongoing US-backed peace diplomacy aimed at stopping the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Photo: AP
Russian officials were not immediately reachable to comment on the plan, but have repeatedly rejected allegations that Russian forces committed war crimes during the conflict.
The possible inclusion of an amnesty for wartime atrocities in a peace deal, which was at one point proposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump, could complicate Europe’s plans to also compensate victims of abuses in Ukraine ranging from sexual violence and child deportations to destruction of religious sites.
The two-year-old Register of Damage, which is to become part of the commission, has received more than 80,000 claims submitted by individuals, organizations and public bodies in Ukraine under a wide range of categories.
More than 50 states and the EU have drafted a Council of Europe convention to create the commission, which is to take force after it has been ratified by 25 signatories, as long as sufficient funds have been secured to finance the work.
Dozens of countries have indicated support for the commission, likely to be based in The Hague. As many as 35 nations have indicated they would sign the convention at yesterday’s meeting, a source familiar with the discussions said.
The commission — the second part of an international compensation mechanism for Ukraine — is to review, assess and decide on claims submitted to the Register of Damage for Ukraine, which was created by the Council of Europe in 2023, and determine compensation awards on a case-by-case basis.
Claims can be filed for damage, loss or injury caused by Russian acts committed in or against Ukraine on or after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. The claims, which cover violations of international law, can be brought by affected individuals, companies or the Ukrainian state, a draft of the proposal said.
The World Bank has estimated the cost of reconstruction in the coming decade at US$524 billion, or nearly three times Ukraine’s economic output last year.
However, that figure is through December last year only and does not include damage caused this year, when Russian attacks escalated as part of a campaign targeting utilities, transport and civilian infrastructure.
Details on how any damages awarded by the commission would be paid still need to be worked out, but the source said Russian assets frozen by the EU were among the options being discussed.
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