Ukraine

Amid the influx of weapons pouring into Ukraine from abroad, all arms transfers must abide strictly by international transit, safeguard and control regimes, and “must not derail the aspiration for peace”, the senior UN disarmament official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) published an interim verdict ruling partially admissible Ukraine’s allegations of Russia’s human rights violations in eastern Ukraine, setting a precedent as the first international court to prove Russia’s occupation in Donbas since 2014.

The European Union is doubling the number of Ukrainian troops it aims to train to 30,000 as it seeks to bolster Kyiv’s fightback against Russia, EU officials said Wednesday. The 27-nation bloc set up a program   Ukrainian forces in November with the initial target of training 15,000.

The UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday that he did not believe that there was an opportunity yet, to organise “a serious peace negotiation” between the warring parties in Ukraine, nearly a year on from Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The UN on Wednesday said that it aims to increase the number of inter-agency convoys providing aid to parts of Ukraine “close to the frontlines”, in support of work being carried out by local organisations and volunteers.

Ukraine and the European Union will hold a summit in Kyiv on 3 February to discuss financial and military support, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement on Monday (2 January).

For months, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, alongside Christian Wenaweser, Liechtenstein’s envoy, have been leading an effort at the UN to produce a draft resolution to support the notion of establishing an international tribunal to prosecute the top tier of Russia’s leadership for crimes of aggression against Ukraine.

[…] Twenty-two of 27 European Union members have confirmed their participation in the mission. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, who is the supreme commander of the Croatian armed forces, opposed the proposal, which would have entailed the training of Ukrainian troops in Croatia. Milanovic said Croatia should not be involved in the war … .

[…] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on December 15 that further strikes on Ukraine's infrastructure could lead to a serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation and spark further displacement.

After examining the innovative character of the proposed tribunal, the paper analyses three main interconnected elements linked to the establishment and functioning of the tribunal: the legal basis for its creation; problems of immunity; and questions of enforcement and implementation of its decisions.