Britain backs Nuremberg-style trials of Russia despite Trump opposition
Britain is backing plans for a Nuremberg-style trial of Vladimir Putin in the face of opposition from Donald Trump.
The UK will support proposals at the Council of Europe next month calling for Russians to be prosecuted for 'crimes of aggression' during the invasion of Ukraine.
The idea would involve setting up a military tribunal, modelled on the Nazi trials after the Second World War, to prosecute Russian leaders and generals for war crimes.
Some lawyers, including Sir Keir Starmer's long-time friend Philippe Sands, have suggested the ad hoc court should be established specifically to deal with crimes of aggression, which are defined by the United Nations as 'invasion or attack by the armed forces of a state on the territory of another state, or any military occupation'.
Some Western countries, including the UK, have said that Russians should be tried on those grounds for the political decision to invade, not only for war crimes committed on Ukrainian soil once the war began.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague cannot examine the 'crime of aggression', and is not recognised by either Russia or the US.
The plan for a new court to examine crimes of aggression was first suggested in 2022. It was backed by the Ukrainian government and Joe Biden's administration, which sent funding and American prosecutors to help set it up.
However, Donald Trump withdrew all US involvement in the plan after his inauguration in January, as part of his strategy to be more conciliatory towards Moscow.
The president has refused to refer to the war in Ukraine as an 'invasion' by Russia, and hopes to act as a peace broker between Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.
America confirmed last month it had withdrawn from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA), the body overseeing the tribunal plans, and suspended all American funding.
The decision means the tribunal will no longer have the backing of the G7 group of countries. Mr Trump refused to sign off a planned G7 statement calling Russia the 'aggressor' in the war in February, and has called Mr Zelensky a 'dictator'.
Ukrainian diplomats have privately tried to keep the plans alive after the US withdrawal, and are now looking for more diplomatic backing.
The Telegraph understands that the UK will support the latest version of the idea, which will be put forward by Ukraine in documentation to the Council of Europe, the international human rights body, next month.
The Council previously established a 'core group' of senior legal experts from around 40 states who worked with the Ukrainian authorities and various European organisations on the tribunal idea.
Next month's plan is likely to be supported by most European nations, who are more hawkish than Mr Trump on Russia and have pledged that 'no one from Russia's leadership is untouchable'.
But the idea risks driving a wedge between Sir Keir and Mr Trump, after his attempt to act as a transatlantic 'bridge' between the president and the EU.
Mr Trump has privately been accused by Ukraine's supporters in Europe of abandoning Mr Zelensky and weakening his negotiating position ahead of peace talks.
A Whitehall source told The Telegraph: 'Ukraine has consistently called for accountability for Russia's decision to launch this illegal war and the UK has consistently supported that call.'
'There is clear international support for action to ensure Russia is held to account for its aggression in Ukraine. The US position is a matter for the US.'
Britain's support for a Nuremberg-style tribunal comes after lobbying from Mr Sands, who met with the UK attorney general Lord Hermer to discuss it after the US election in November, according to retracted records seen by The Telegraph.
Sources close to Lord Hermer said the virtual meeting had been scheduled for the attorney general, the government's top lawyer, to hear the case for supporting the court.
The plans have also been supported publicly by Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, and former Conservative ministers when in government.
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