Two influential Democratic senators are urging the Biden administration to change course and back the establishment of a U.N.-sanctioned special tribunal to hold Russian leaders accountable for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Democrats Ben Cardin and Tim Kaine, both prominent members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a resolution calling on the administration “to use its voice and vote in international institutions to support the creation of a special international criminal tribunal to hold accountable the leaders of the Russian Federation who led and sanctioned aggression in Ukraine.”

The resolution supports a long-standing Ukrainian demand: a special tribunal for Russia’s “crime of aggression.” The U.N. General Assembly would have to greenlight the proposed tribunal, terms of which Ukraine and the United Nations would negotiate.

Different treatment

The crime of aggression – defined as “planning, preparation, initiation or execution” of an act of aggression, such as an armed invasion – is distinct from war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

The International Criminal Court can prosecute those other crimes, but not the crime of aggression. Its jurisdiction over this crime extends only to countries that have ratified the Rome Statute that established the court. Russia, like the United States, is not a party to the treaty.

That is why Ukraine and its allies have been pushing for an alternative mechanism to hold Russian leaders accountable.

In March, the Biden Administration proposed an “internationalized tribunal” within Ukraine’s judicial system but with outside support.

International elements

“We envision such a court having significant international elements — in the form of substantive law, personnel, information sources and structure,” Beth van Schaack, the State Department’s top diplomat for global criminal justice, said in announcing the administration’s endorsement.

The court could initially function outside Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe, she said.

The U.S. plan has the support of the Group of 7 bloc of nations but faces opposition from Ukrainian officials who say implementing it would require a constitutional amendment that is impractical during wartime.

Ukrainian officials say a U.N.-sanctioned, Nuremberg-style tribunal would close a “gap in accountability” in international law and, unlike a court based in Ukraine, enjoy international legitimacy. Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for such an initiative, which is supported by several small European countries.

“If we want true justice, we should not look for excuses and should not refer to the shortcomings of the current international law but make bold decisions that will correct the shortcomings of those norms,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at The Hague last month.

In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of forcibly deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia. But the warrant was for Putin’s involvement in alleged war crimes, not the crime of aggression.

Russia has blasted the arrest warrant and questioned the legitimacy of a special tribunal.

Legal experts say the U.S. plan hinges on Ukrainian support. They also say Putin and his inner circle will escape prosecution as long as they remain in power.

“I’m worried that by supporting this sort of hybrid model, the message that the U.S. sends is that it cares about accountability for aggression in a way that protects the architects of the crime,” said Rebecca Hamilton, an associate professor of law at American University, Washington College of Law,

A State Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on proposed legislation or resolutions and referred VOA to van Schaack’s testimony.

“As Ambassador… Van Schaak has expressed: There can be no peace without justice in Ukraine. Justice for the millions who have had their lives disrupted and destroyed, as a result of the senseless, unprovoked, and illegal war of territorial conquest launched by Vladimir Putin,” the spokesperson said.

The last time the crime of aggression was prosecuted was in the 1940s when German and Japanese leaders were tried in Nuremberg and Tokyo for what the International Military Tribunal called the “supreme international crime.”

At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Senator Cardin criticized the Biden Administration’s plan. A Ukraine-based tribunal, Carden said, would face questions about “perceived impartiality” and potential claims of immunity from Russian officials.

Under international law, no national court can prosecute another country’s head of state or equivalent officials.

“I don’t know how you overcome that with the method you’re pursuing,” Cardin told van Schaack, referring to the court’s perceived impartiality.

Obstacles

Van Schaack responded that the Administration opted for a hybrid model because a U.N.-backed tribunal would face legal and practical hurdles of its own.

Legally, the U.N. General Assembly may lack the authority to set up a court with jurisdiction over Russia’s leaders.

Practically, “there are some serious concerns about whether we have the votes within the General Assembly to create a body of this nature,” she said.

But Cardin pushed back, urging the administration to enlist international support.

“It cannot be a sole U.S. effort,” Cardin said. “It has got to be a collective action. You’ve got to nurture this before you take it to a vote.”

A Cardin spokesperson said other senators might join as co-sponsors of the resolution but so far only Cardin and Kaine have signed on. She said in an email to VOA that there is no fixed date for a vote on the resolution.

Hamilton said the Cardin-Kaine resolution is significant because it is “a strong signal that [Congress] wants to go in a different direction from the one that the administration is proposing.”

“And I think it may also be significant for the proponents of an international tribunal, outside of the U.S. and in particular Ukraine, to hear that there are parts of the U.S. system that at least would support a truly international tribunal,” Hamilton, a former lawyer in the prosecutorial division of the International Criminal Court, said in an interview.
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The White House is ready to have talks with Russia without preconditions about a future nuclear arms control framework even as it is enacting countermeasures in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will make clear the Biden administration’s desire for talks on building a new framework during an address to the Arms Control Association on Friday, according to two senior administration officials who previewed the address on the condition of anonymity.

Putin announced in February he was suspending Russia’s cooperation with the New START Treaty’s provisions for nuclear warhead and missile inspections amid deep tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Russia, however, said it would respect the treaty’s caps on nuclear weapons.

The officials said that Sullivan would underscore that the U.S. remains committed to adhering to the treaty if Russia does but will also “signal that we are open to dialogue” about building a new framework for managing nuclear risks once the treaty expires in February 2026.

The officials said that the Biden administration is willing to stick to the warhead caps until the treaty expires. Figuring out details about a post-2026 framework will be complicated by U.S.-Russia tension and the growing nuclear strength of China.

China now has about 410 nuclear warheads, according to an annual survey from the Federation of American Scientists. The Pentagon in November estimated China’s warhead count could grow to 1,000 by the end of the decade and to 1,500 by around 2035.

The size of China’s arsenal and whether Beijing is willing to engage in substantive dialogue will impact the United States’ future force posture and Washington’s ability to come to any agreement with the Russians, the officials said.

U.S.-Chinese relations have been strained by the U.S. shooting down a Chinese spy balloon earlier this year after it crossed the continental U.S.; tensions about the status of the self-ruled island Taiwan, which China claims as its own; U.S. export controls aimed at limiting China’s advanced semiconductor equipment; and other friction.

The White House push on Moscow on nuclear arms control comes the day after the administration announced new countermeasures over Russia suspending participation in the treaty.

The State Department announced Thursday it would no longer notify Russia of any updates on the status or location of “treaty-accountable items” like missiles and launchers, would revoke U.S. visas issued to Russian treaty inspectors and aircrew members and would cease providing telemetric information on test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The United States and Russia earlier this year stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data required by the treaty.

The treaty, which then-Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed in 2010, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers and provides for on-site inspections to verify compliance.

The inspections have been dormant since 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions on resuming them were supposed to have taken place in November 2022, but Russia abruptly called them off, citing U.S. support for Ukraine. 
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Officials in Ukraine say the military downed more than 30 Russian missiles and drones over Kyiv on Friday.

An air force statement said air defenses shot down 15 cruise missiles and 21 drones.

Officials said at least two people were injured from falling debris.

The British Defense Ministry said Friday in its intelligence update on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that Russia is now facing “an acute dilemma” of whether to strengthen its defenses in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on reports that people sought refuge at a shelter in Kyiv, but it was closed. The president said, “It is the duty of local authorities, a very specific duty, to ensure that shelters are available and accessible around the clock.” The Ukraine leader said, “if the duty is not fulfilled on the ground, it is the direct responsibility of law enforcement bodies” to bring the responsible parties “to justice.”

Also Thursday, a pre-dawn Russian missile attack that targeted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killed at least three people, including a 9-year-old girl and her mother, and injured 16 others, according to Ukrainian officials.

The first day of June is observed as International Children’s Day by many countries. Zelenskyy noted in his daily address Thursday, “But even on this day . . . the terrorist state took the life of a Ukrainian child.” 
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Two influential Democratic senators are urging the Biden administration to change course and back the establishment of a U.N.-sanctioned special tribunal to hold Russian leaders accountable for their invasion of Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Democrats Ben Cardin and Tim Kaine, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a resolution calling on the administration “to use its voice and vote in international institutions to support the creation of a special international criminal tribunal to hold accountable the leaders of the Russian Federation who led and sanctioned aggression in Ukraine.”

The resolution advances an idea long favored by Ukraine: a special tribunal for Russia’s “crime of aggression,” which would be recommended by the U.N. General Assembly and negotiated between Ukraine and the United Nations.

Different treatment

The crime of aggression is treated differently in international law from war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. Those other crimes are being investigated by the International Criminal Court in The Hague and Ukrainian prosecutors, with the support of the United States.

But the Biden administration favors another approach to prosecuting the crime of aggression, which is defined as the “planning, preparation, initiation or execution” of an act of aggression, such as an armed invasion.

While the ICC has authority to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, its authority to prosecute the crime of aggression extends only to countries bound by the Rome Statute that established the court. Russia, like the U.S., is not a signatory.

In March, Beth van Schaack, the top U.S. diplomat for global criminal justice, announced Washington’s endorsement of an “internationalized” tribunal for Russia, embedded in Ukraine’s judicial system but drawing on outside support.

International elements

“We envision such a court having significant international elements — in the form of substantive law, personnel, information sources and structure,” van Schaack said.

The court could initially operate outside Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe, she said.

The U.S. proposal is backed by the G-7 countries, but faces resistance from Ukrainian officials who say implementing it would require a constitutional amendment that is unfeasible during wartime.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for a special ad hoc tribunal sanctioned by the U.N. General Assembly. Such a tribunal would close what Ukrainian officials have called a “gap in accountability” in international law.

“If we want true justice, we should not look for excuses and should not refer to the shortcomings of the current international law but make bold decisions that will correct the shortcomings of those norms,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at The Hague last month.

The last time the crime of aggression was prosecuted was in the 1940s when German and Japanese leaders were tried in Nuremberg and Tokyo for what the International Military Tribunal called the “supreme international crime.”

In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the abduction of children from Ukraine. The arrest warrant was for war crimes in Ukraine, not the crime of aggression.

Critics of the U.S. proposal say a Ukraine-based tribunal would face questions about its impartiality and resistance from Russian officials who could claim immunity. Under international law, no national court can prosecute another country’s head of state or equivalent officials.

“I don’t know how you overcome that with the method you’re pursuing,” Cardin told van Schaack during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, referring to the court’s perceived impartiality.

Obstacles

Van Schaack responded that a U.N.-backed tribunal faces legal and practical hurdles.

Legally, the General Assembly may lack the authority to set up a court with jurisdiction over Russia’s leaders.

Practically, “there are some serious concerns about whether we have the votes within the General Assembly to create a body of this nature,” she said.

But Cardin pushed back, urging the administration to mobilize international support.

“It cannot be a sole U.S. effort,” Cardin said. “It has got to be a collective action. You’ve got to nurture this before you take it to a vote.”

A Cardin spokesperson said other senators might join as co-sponsors of the resolution, but so far only Cardin and Kaine have signed on. She said in an email to VOA that there is no fixed date for a vote on the resolution.

A State Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on proposed legislation or resolutions and referred VOA to van Schaack’s testimony.

Rebecca Hamilton, an associate professor of law at American University Washington College of Law, said the Cardin-Kaine resolution is significant because it is “a strong signal that [Congress] wants to go in a different direction from the one that the administration is proposing.”

“And I think it may also be significant for the proponents of an international tribunal, outside of the U.S. and in particular Ukraine, to hear that there are parts of the U.S. system that at least would support a truly international tribunal,” Hamilton, a former lawyer in the prosecutorial division of the International Criminal Court, said in an interview.
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Summer is in the air — cigarette smoke is not — in Sweden’s outdoor bars and restaurants.

As the World Health Organization marks “World No Tobacco Day” on Wednesday, Sweden, which has the lowest rate of smoking in the Europe Union, is close to declaring itself “smoke-free” — defined as having fewer than 5% daily smokers in the population.

Many experts give credit to decades of anti-smoking campaigns and legislation, while others point to the prevalence of “snus,” a smokeless tobacco product banned elsewhere in the EU but marketed in Sweden as an alternative to cigarettes.

Whatever the reason, the 5% milestone is now within reach. Only 6.4% of Swedes over 15 were daily smokers in 2019, the lowest in the EU and far below the average of 18.5% across the 27-nation bloc, according to the Eurostat statistics agency.

Figures from the Public Health Agency of Sweden show the smoking rate has continued to fall since then, reaching 5.6% last year.

“We like a healthy way to live, I think that’s the reason,” said Carina Astorsson, a Stockholm resident. Smoking never interested her, she said, because “I don’t like the smell; I want to take care of my body.”

The risks of smoking appear well understood among health-conscious Swedes, including younger generations. Twenty years ago, almost 20% of the population were smokers — which was a low rate globally at the time. Since then, measures to discourage smoking, including bans on smoking in restaurants, have brought down smoking rates across Europe.

France saw record drops in smoking rates from 2014-19, but that success hit a plateau during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — blamed in part for causing stresses that drove people to light up. About one-third of people ages 18-75 in France professed to having smoked in 2021 — a slight increase on 2019. About a quarter smoke daily.

Sweden has gone further than most to stamp out cigarettes, which it says has resulted in a range of health benefits, including a relatively low rate of lung cancer.

“We were early in restricting smoking in public spaces, first in school playgrounds and after-school centers, and later in restaurants, outdoor cafes and public places such as bus stations,” said Ulrika Årehed, secretary-general of the Swedish Cancer Society. “In parallel, taxes on cigarettes and strict restrictions on the marketing of these products have played an important role.”

She added that “Sweden is not there yet,” noting that the proportion of smokers is higher in disadvantaged socioeconomic groups.

The sight of people lighting up is becoming increasingly rare in the country of 10.5 million. Smoking is prohibited at bus stops and train platforms and outside the entrances of hospitals and other public buildings. Like in most of Europe, smoking isn’t allowed inside bars and restaurants, but since 2019 Sweden’s smoking ban also applies to their outdoor seating areas.

On Tuesday night, the terraces of Stockholm were full of people enjoying food and drinks in the late-setting sun. There was no sign of cigarettes, but cans of snus could be spotted on some tables. Between beers, some patrons stuffed small pouches of the moist tobacco under their upper lips.

Swedish snus makers have long held up their product as a less harmful alternative to smoking and claim credit for the country’s declining smoking rates. But Swedish health authorities are reluctant to advise smokers to switch to snus, another highly addictive nicotine product.

“I don’t see any reason to put two harmful products up against each other,” Årehed said. “It is true that smoking is more harmful than most things you can do, including snus. But that said, there are many health risks even with snus.”

Some studies have linked snus to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and premature births if used during pregnancy.

Swedes are so fond of their snus, a distant cousin of dipping tobacco in the United States, that they demanded an exemption to the EU’s ban on smokeless tobacco when they joined the bloc in 1995.

“It’s part of the Swedish culture, it’s like the Swedish equivalent of Italian Parma ham or any other cultural habit,” said Patrik Hildingsson, a spokesperson for Swedish Match, Sweden’s top snus maker, which was acquired by tobacco giant Philip Morris last year.

WHO, the U.N. health agency, says Turkmenistan, with a rate of tobacco use below 5%, is ahead of Sweden when it comes to phasing out smoking, but notes that’s largely due to smoking being almost nonexistent among women. For men the rate is 7%.

WHO attributes Sweden’s declining smoking rate to a combination of tobacco control measures, including information campaigns, advertising bans and “cessation support” for those wishing to quit tobacco. However, the agency noted that Sweden’s tobacco use is at more than 20% of the adult population, similar to the global average, when you include snus and similar products.

“Switching from one harmful product to another is not a solution,” WHO said in an email. “Promoting a so-called ‘harm reduction approach’ to smoking is another way the tobacco industry is trying to mislead people about the inherently dangerous nature of these products.”
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SpaceX’s Starlink, the satellite communications service started by billionaire Elon Musk, now has a Defense Department contract to buy those satellite services for Ukraine, the Pentagon said Thursday.  

“We continue to work with a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the resilient satellite and communication capabilities they need. Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine’s overall communications network and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Starlink has been used by Ukrainian troops for a variety of efforts, including battlefield communications.  

SpaceX, through private donations and under a separate contract with a U.S. foreign aid agency, has been providing Ukrainians and the country’s military with Starlink internet service, a fast-growing network of more than 4,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, since the beginning of the war in 2022.

The Pentagon contract is a boon for SpaceX after Musk, the company’s CEO, said in October it could not afford to indefinitely fund Starlink in Ukraine, an effort he said cost $20 million a month to maintain.

Russia has tried to cut off and jam internet services in Ukraine, including attempts to block Starlink in the region, though SpaceX has countered those attacks by hardening the service’s software.

The Pentagon did not disclose the terms of the contract, which Bloomberg reported earlier on Thursday, “for operational security reasons and due to the critical nature of these systems.”
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The International Energy Agency says Chinese car manufacturers are emerging as a major force in the global electric car market, with more than 50% of all electric cars on roads worldwide now produced in China. Spain is the second-largest vehicle manufacturer in Europe after Germany and its market has become a target for Chinese automakers. From Barcelona, Alfonso Beato has this report, narrated by Marcus Harton.
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 Latest Developments:    

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanks United States for new $300 million aid package that includes air defense systems and ammunition. 
U.S. announces temporary suspension of tariffs on Ukrainian steel has been extended for one year. 
U.N. expresses concerns about repeated attacks on health facilities in Ukraine. 

Ukrainian officials said Thursday a Russian missile attack targeted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killing at least three people and injuring 10 others. 

The Ukrainian military said it intercepted all 10 short-range missiles fire by Russia. 

Kyiv officials said debris from the missiles damaged apartment buildings, a medical clinic and a water pipeline. 

Russia carried out frequent aerial attacks on Kyiv in May as Ukraine prepared for an expected counteroffensive to try to take back territory Russian forces have seized since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine early last year. 

The governor of western Russia’s Belgorod region said Thursday overnight shelling wounded multiple people in the town of Shebekino. 

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram the attack damaged several buildings as well.  He blamed Ukrainian forces. 

NATO support 

In Oslo, NATO foreign ministers gathered Thursday to discuss increasing their support for Ukraine as well as Ukraine’s aspirations to join the military alliance. 

“All allies agree that the most urgent and important task now is that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign and independent nation,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. “President Putin must not win this war.” 

Asked about attacks on Russian soil attributed to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said Ukraine was attacked by Russia and has the right to defend itself. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin can stop the war at any time, and that those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine must be held accountable. 

Thursday’s meeting in Oslo comes ahead of a summit of NATO leaders next month in Lithuania where Stoltenberg said he expects allies will agree on a long-term commitment to support Ukraine. He said Ukraine needs to have the capabilities and strength to defend itself and deter any future attempts by Russia to repeat its invasion. 

Stoltenberg had expressed hope that NATO allies would approve Sweden’s bid to join the alliance before the July summit.  All existing members must give their approval, and to date only Hungary and Turkey have not. 

The NATO chief said Thursday he will soon travel to Ankara to continue discussing the situation with leaders there. Turkey has accused Sweden of not doing enough to crack down on groups that Turkey considers terrorists. Stoltenberg noted that a new anti-terrorism law went into effect Thursday in Sweden and reiterated that he is confident Sweden will become a full NATO member.     

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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