President Volodymyr Zelensky met with International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan in Kyiv on Feb. 28, the President's office reported.
During their meeting, Zelensky stressed that the Russian crimes committed in Ukraine must not be overlooked, and those responsible for them must face legal consequences.
"We have heard signals from you about your support and the importance of justice. It was important for us to hear this because it meant that we are not alone in our desire to achieve justice for Ukraine," said Zelensky.
According to the press release, Zelensky said Ukraine is prepared to assist the ICC in establishing a prosecutor's office in the country to investigate Russian war crimes.
He also expressed the importance of reuniting Ukrainian children who were forcibly taken by Russian soldiers and that he would be "very grateful" to the ICC for ideas on how to facilitate this more quickly.
"With your help, we will be able to restore justice for Europe and the world." Zelensky added.
Khan said the ICC is ready for full cooperation with Ukraine's Prosecutor General to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Currently, it is impossible to establish accurate casualty numbers due to the temporarily-occupied territories and areas under intense fighting.
"We are ready to speed up the work so that Ukrainians and people around the world see justice as soon as possible, and the guilty receive punishment," Khan concluded.
A long road lays ahead of war crimes prosecutors. On Feb. 27, the Prosecutor General's Office reported they had recorded 71,649 alleged Russian war crimes and crimes of aggression in Ukraine in the first year of Russia’s all-out war.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies also said that Russia’s war against Ukraine has killed at least 461 children and injured at least 927 since Feb. 24.
