International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has sent an official request to the Russian Federation to meet with representatives of the competent authorities and discuss the situation in Ukraine, Radio Liberty quoted the prosecutor as saying.
"The work of the prosecutor's office on the situation in Ukraine will always be carried out in accordance with the fundamental principles of the Rome Statute. We conduct our work independently, impartially and in good faith. I emphasize that I want to engage with all parties to the conflict," Khan said.
He stressed the importance of Russia's active participation in this investigation and that he was "ready to meet with them.
Ukraine is not a member of the ICC, but has filed two applications recognizing the court's jurisdiction over possible crimes committed on its territory since Nov. 21, 2013. Given the expanding conflict, Khan said on Feb. 28 that he intends to include new possible crimes under the ICC's jurisdiction in the investigation as well.
As reported, on March 3, Khan said that after 39 member states applied to the court, the ICC would begin a full-scale investigation into crimes related to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.
Later, the number of countries that applied to the court increased to 41. On March 7, the public hearings on "Genocide Charges under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russia)" began.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow rejects allegations of war crimes in Ukraine and that Russia is not a party to the ICC.
