France to Join Steering Committee Investigating Russia’s Crimes in Ukraine

France will join the steering committee of the Special Tribunal on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday.

According to Ukrinform, Barrot made the announcement during a meeting of the Council of Europe, saying France’s participation would strengthen international efforts to establish accountability and support the creation of a legal mechanism to prosecute the crime of aggression.

The steering committee includes representatives of countries backing the initiative, as well as legal experts working on the tribunal’s structure, mandate, and procedural framework.

Barrot said accountability is essential to achieving peace and encouraged other nations to take part in the initiative.

“There is no peace without justice. And there is no justice without truth,” he said.

The tribunal is being developed to address Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, focusing specifically on the crime of aggression, which falls outside the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for states not party to the Rome Statute.

Earlier this month, the UK, Germany, Moldova, and Austria joined the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the special tribunal.

The list now includes Austria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine, meeting the minimum threshold required to establish the body.

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