The European Union will try to set up a specialized court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, November 30.

“We are ready to start working with the international community to get the broadest international support possible for this specialized court,” von der Leyen said.

Ukraine has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it holds responsible for starting the war.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) launched its own investigation into alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes days after Moscow’s February 24 invasion, but it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute aggression in Ukraine.

“While continuing to support the International Criminal Court, we are proposing to set up a specialized court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression,” von der Leyen said.

Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation”, has denied targeting civilians.

The G7 agreed on Tuesday, November 29, to set up a network to coordinate investigations into war crimes as part of a push to prosecute suspected atrocities in Ukraine.

NATO is not running low on tanks it could send to Ukraine, Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday, November 29, before a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest.

“NATO is not running low on tanks so therefore if we expand the inventory of what is being sent to Ukraine then NATO has a chance to keep supply going,” he told reporters.

Russia is targeting energy infrastructure to “freeze” Ukrainians in submission, UK foreign minister James Cleverly said on Tuesday, November 29, just before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest.

“We have seen Vladimir Putin attempting to weaponize energy supplies right from the very start of this conflict,” he told reporters.

“This targeting of civilian infrastructure of energy infrastructure is obviously designed to try and freeze the Ukrainians in submission.”