PARIS, France – The French Foreign Ministry has promised 500,000 euros ($548,715) of financing to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to support the investigation into cimes committed in Ukraine, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
France will also be providing magistrates, investigators and experts, ‘to make sure the prosecutor can lead his investigation in the best possible conditions’, according to the statement.
The statement added that French Minister of Justice Eric Dupond – Moretti will be encouraging other states to increase their support to the ICC a meeting of justice ministers in The Hague on Thursday.
The ICC opened an investigation on March2 into alleged crimes committed in the context of the situation in Ukraine since 21 November 2013, when hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of Kyiv to protest former President Viktor Yanukovych’s U-turn over a trade pact with the European Union that had been years in the making.
The U.S. government on Wednesday formally declared that members of the Russian armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.
‘Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine’, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
‘Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources’, he added.
SAS 24 NEWS 