Ukraine will not accept hybrid special tribunal for Russia — MP Maslov names possible options

Denys Maslov, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

He mentioned that discussions regarding the tribunal's structure have been ongoing for a year.

The first option entails establishing the tribunal under a resolution of the UN General Assembly. The second option involves forming it through a multilateral international agreement involving various countries or blocs of countries along with specific international organizations.

The third option suggests a hybrid tribunal, which would establish a specialized court within the Ukrainian judicial system. Foreign judges would preside over the court to ensure impartiality in the proceedings. However, Ukraine is not considering this option.

"The Ukrainian side emphasizes that we are not satisfied with the option of establishing a hybrid tribunal for two reasons. The first reason is that the issue of immunity of the highest officials of the aggressor country has not yet been resolved. The second reason is that we cannot bring criminals to justice in the name of Ukraine for the largest military aggression since World War II, because restoring justice and adherence to international law is important not only for our country but for the entire democratic world. It is important that criminals are brought to justice in the name of the entire international community," Maslov explained.

The MP emphasized that the democratic world needs to resolve the issue of the immunity of Russia’s three top officials.

"I think most politicians in the world already understand that such immunities should be lifted. We are currently working in this direction," Maslov summarized.

• On April 2, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking about a special tribunal for Russia, said that this was the only issue on which there was no progress.