Putin trial for war crimes ‘a possibility’

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) is “a possibility”, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Thursday on the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are working with the ICC and the entire international community so that there is no impunity for the authors and those responsible for the war,” Colonna told French daily Le Parisien.

Colonna pointed out that the ICC could follow the chain of responsibility back “up to the highest level” and had already indicted heads of state. 

“I can’t predict that will be the case for Vladimir Putin, but it’s a possibility if the facts and responsibilities are established,” she said. 

France is preparing to send a second mobile DNA analysis laboratory to Ukraine to collect evidence for future trials for war crimes, a French diplomatic source told journalists. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed the establishment of a UN-backed special court to put Russia’s top officials on trial over the war.

“The International Criminal Court is investigating and will follow the law,” Colonna continued. 

After one year of conflict in Ukraine, the French minister believes Moscow is “suffering a strategic, political and I would add, moral defeat.

“Russia has isolated itself.”

Colonna added it was necessary to keep the line of communication with Putin open “whenever it is useful and necessary” as in the case of allowing international control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.