A European investigation group, established to examine the “invasion in Ukraine” and alleged “war crimes”, has been informed of the United States’ decision to withdraw from the group. The US, which had previously cooperated with the group, will reportedly send an email to the Eurojust agency in The Hague, the headquarters of the investigation group, on Monday.
According to the New York Times, the US Justice Department had informed European officials in private that the US would be pulling out of the multinational group, which was set up to investigate those responsible for the invasion in Ukraine.
The US had been the only non-European country to cooperate with the European investigators and had sent a high-ranking state attorney to The Hague. A spokesperson for the US department did not respond to a request for a comment on Sunday evening.
The US administration, under former President Donald Trump, cited the need to reallocate resources as the reason for the decision. Sources for the New York Times, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
Russia, through its spokesperson, Dmitri Peskow, has categorically rejected the accusations of war crimes in Ukraine. Moscow has also criticized the plans of Western countries to establish an international court in connection with Ukraine, stating that such a court would be illegitimate and have no jurisdiction over Russia, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.