The U.S. Should Assist Ukraine in Its Efforts to Prosecute

Adviser Jake Sullivan has said that the crimes commit- ted by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians were “planned” and that the atrocities in Ukraine lie “at the Any assistance provided to Ukraine in con- feet of the Kremlin” and “at the feet of the Russian nection with the prosecution of russian president.”2 President Biden himself has referred to war crimes must be balanced against Russian. [...] policy under multiple Administrations to oppose ICC assertions of jurisdiction over non-parties to the Rome Statute, the court’s founding treaty.4 Ukraine, Russia, and the ICC Neither Ukraine nor Russia is party to the Rome Statute of the Inter- national Criminal Court. [...] Security Council refer- ral of the situation in Sudan to the ICC and voting in favor of a resolution referring the situation in Libya to the ICC. [...] has turned individuals sought by the ICC over to the court and allowed the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program to be used for information leading to the arrest of individuals sought by the ICC. [...] forces in its investigation does not erase the potential for similar situations in the future.13 The Biden Administration should not abandon principle in its effort to aid Ukraine in the prosecution of heinous war crimes committed by Russia.