Ukraine: Insists on international court against Putin and transfer of frozen Russian assets to Kiev

THE Ukraine he is not backing down regarding the creation of an international court against him Vladimir Putin and transferring frozen Russian resources to Kiev, criticizing the “impasse” in negotiations with Western allies.

“Unfortunately, we are at some kind of impasse on these two issues because there is disagreement on the first and a clear lack of will on the second.”Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday during an international conference in Kiev, statements that were subject to a publication embargo until yesterday Saturday.

The “G7 countries are firmly in favor of a court (…) hybrid” that will be based on Ukrainian law and which will not allow, according to Kiev, to lift the immunity of Russian leaders, among them Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kuleba commented.

The other sticking point between the Ukrainians and their allies concerns the idea of ​​using Russian assets, frozen in the West since the beginning of the invasion, to rebuild Ukraine, the cost of which is estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars.

“If a year and a half later I’m still hearing from Europe and North America: we’re working on it, (…) I know what’s going on. There is a lack of will to reach a decision”emphasized the Ukrainian minister.

Ukraine’s Western allies have frozen more than €300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets and several tens of billions of euros in assets belonging to sanctioned individuals or entities.

Ukraine, heavily dependent on Western military and economic aid, is asking for these resources, but Westerners are citing legal difficulties.

Time is pressing

Kuleba’s criticism came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted on Friday that Russia had managed to delay the Ukrainian counter-offensive and that time was against his country.

“If we are not in heaven and Russia is, it will stop us from heaven”Zelensky had stated at the same conference that Kuleba spoke at, Yalta European Strategy (YES).

According to him, Russia is counting on the Republican victory in the 2024 US presidential election to reduce US support for Ukraine.

At the same time, the Ukrainian president once again asked his allies for more and longer-range weapons and sanctions against Moscow.

A few hours later, Ukraine’s new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, toned down the tone a bit, thanking Kiev’s allies “for all the support they have provided,” but repeating that “more heavy weapons are needed.” “We need them today. We need them now”, he underlined.

Ukraine has been complaining for months about the slow pace of negotiations over the delivery of F-16 fighter jets. Eventually several dozen such US-made aircraft were delivered to Kiev, but now Ukrainian pilots must be trained to use them, which takes months.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which began in June, ran into Russia’s strong defense lines, consisting mainly of minefields and anti-tank traps.

In recent weeks, Kiev appears to be making some advances in the south, thanks to which the Ukrainian army may be able to advance and cut Russia’s line of communication between the north and Crimea, one of Ukraine’s objectives.

For his part, the head of the military intelligence service, Kirill Budanov, said yesterday that the strikes against Russia are mainly aimed at the country’s military industry.

The attacks are aimed “primarily at the companies of the Russian military-industrial complex,” Budanov explained during a rare public appearance at the YES conference.

He pointed out that “recently” an attack was launched against a Russian factory producing microchips for the Iskander missiles, which Moscow often uses in its attacks against Ukraine.

Drone attacks and sabotage operations inside Russia have increased in recent months, with Kiev increasingly claiming responsibility for them.