Irina Pogorelaya09:00, 17.03.25

The decision is a sign that the Trump administration is no longer interested in holding Russian dictator Putin accountable for his crimes against Ukrainians.

The US Justice Department has secretly informed European officials that the country is withdrawing from a multinational task force set up to investigate those responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .

The New York Times (NYT) reported this, citing sources familiar with the situation. “The decision to withdraw from the international prosecution team for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which the United States joined in 2023, is the latest sign that the Trump administration is backing away from President Biden’s commitment to hold Putin personally accountable for crimes committed against Ukrainians,” the newspaper stated.

The group was created to hold Russian authorities, as well as their allies in Belarus, North Korea and Iran, accountable for crimes defined as aggression under international law that violates the sovereignty of another country and is not initiated in self-defense.

According to informed sources, the decision will be announced on Monday in an email to Eurojust staff and members.

The publication noted that the United States was the only country outside Europe to cooperate with the group, sending a senior Justice Department prosecutor to The Hague to work with investigators from Ukraine, the Baltic states and Romania.

The Trump administration gave no reason for leaving the investigative team.

In addition, Trump is scaling back the work of the War Crimes Accountability Group, created in 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and staffed with seasoned prosecutors. It coordinated the Justice Department’s efforts to hold accountable Russians responsible for atrocities committed in Ukraine.

Bringing Putin to Account 

Exactly two years ago, the International Criminal  Court in The Hague issued international  arrest warrants for Kremlin ruler Putin and children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.

Putin and Lvova-Belova are suspected of illegally deporting Ukrainian children. The Hague also cited “reasonable grounds” to believe that Putin bears personal responsibility for the deportation of Ukrainian children. 

(C)UNIAN 2025