Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Firefighters extinguish a fire on a damaged building following a strike in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region on March 11, 2025. TETIANA DZHAFAROVA/Getty Images
The U.S. is withdrawing from an international group investigating those responsible for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including President Vladimir Putin, it has been reported.
The Justice Department has informed European officials about plans to withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, according to The New York Times, which cited people familiar with the situation.
The decision is expected to be announced on Monday in an email to the staff and membership of the group's parent organization, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust).
Newsweek has contacted the Justice Department and Eurojust for comment.
Why It Matters
The Biden administration joined the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in 2023 making the U.S. the only country outside of Europe to cooperate with the group.
Withdrawing from it is likely to be seen as the latest indication of the Trump administration's move away from Biden's push to make Putin personally accountable for crimes committed in Ukraine.
What To Know
The International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA) was was established in The Hague with the support of the European Commission.
It was created to hold accountable Russia and its allies in Belarus, North Korea and Iran, for crimes defined as aggression under international law.
In November 2023, then Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the U.S. would provide $1 million to the ICPA and that the U.S. was "in steadfast and unwavering support" for the people of Ukraine fighting Putin's invasion.
But The New York Times reported that there is likely to be an announcement on Monday about the ending of the cooperation, with staff at Eurojust to be informed via email.
The newspaper said that the Trump administration is also reducing work done by the department's War Crimes Accountability Team which was created in 2022 by Garland.
This aimed to coordinate Justice Department efforts to hold Russian leadership accountable for atrocities committed following Putin's full-scale invasion.
Ukraine is investigating more than 150,000 possible war crimes committed by Russia, including the summary execution of prisoners and targeted aerial strikes against civilians.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International produced a report that outlined how Russian authorities had subjected Ukrainian POWs and civilian captives to torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance and other inhumane treatment.
In a statement to Newsweek, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said that the report showed the extent to which Moscow enacts a policy to dehumanize and silence prisoners leaving their families in agony as they wait for news.
She said that torture takes place in complete isolation from the outside world, with the victims entirely at the mercy of their captors for survival.
What People Are Saying
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard: "Torture takes place in complete isolation from the outside world, with the victims entirely at the mercy of their captors for survival. This is not a series of isolated incidents – it is a systematic policy that violates every tenet of international law."
Then-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on November 14, 2023: "The United States stands in steadfast and unwavering support for the people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy against the brutal and unjust war being waged by the Russian regime."
What Happens Next
The U.S. has resumed military and intelligence support for Kyiv after a pause but its cutting of key foreign aid will have a long-term impact on Ukraine's ability to fight Russian forces.
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This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM.