“Some were just walking on the street, some were killed in their own homes, some were tortured and raped,” Kallas said, adding the slaughter was just one example of Russia’s barbarity throughout the war and could not go “unpunished.”
She added that the EU was “pushing forward” with creating a special tribunal to prosecute Kremlin officials over the full-scale invasion, along with a “claims commission” that will allow individuals to petition for Russian war damages.
Ukraine signed an agreement with the Council of Europe to establish the tribunal in June last year, but it still needs legal and financial backing from states in Europe and beyond to get off the ground. All EU countries but Hungary put out a joint statement of support on Tuesday, welcoming the tribunal’s eventual “operationalisation.”
Budapest, which is among Moscow’s closest allies in the EU, continues to use its veto to block a €90 billion tranche of funds for Ukraine over a bitter dispute with Kyiv about a pipeline transporting oil from Russia. Hungary is also refusing to approve the bloc’s 20th package of sanctions on the Kremlin.
Kallas said there had been no breakthrough on the funds or sanctions, but that she hoped to see a resolution by the next European leaders’ summit. An informal meeting of leaders will be held in Cyprus in late April, with a summit in Brussels in June.
Zelenskyy told reporters Tuesday that Hungary’s stonewalling was affecting his country’s ability to prepare itself for the next winter.