The Trump administration’s drive to end the war in Ukraine – initially under a plan that favored Moscow’s terms – has hit a big speed bump: American allies in Europe are demanding that Russia be held accountable for war crimes, such as the abduction of Ukrainian children and the execution of prisoners of war.
For Ukrainians, real peace demands at least truth-telling if not justice for such violations of international law. For Europe, too, any deal that wipes the slate clean for Russia “would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion,” said Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy.
“We cannot give up on the rights of the victims of Russian aggression and Russian crimes,” he told Politico.
Why is Europe so adamant on this point? For one, it saw the worst of warfare during the 20th century. But in 1975, it helped set up the world’s largest regional security organization – which included the Soviet Union – under a politically binding agreement known as the Helsinki Final Act. The pact has since been a beacon for universal values, such as the innocence of noncombatants in a conflict.
It also led to a new body, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), that monitors breaches of international law (as well as election law) in European countries, as well as in Canada and the United States. Russia remains a member – although an obstructionist one – because it has long viewed the security arrangement as a pathway to someday dominating Europe without an American presence.
On Dec. 4-5, the 57 participating states of the OSCE will gather in Vienna for an annual ministerial meeting. A hot topic is how to reset the rules of war and humanitarian law by using the organization as a vehicle. In September, for example, an investigation by the OSCE found Russia had violated international law in its treatment of POWs. The invasion was “a brutal rejection of the norms that have preserved peace in Europe for decades,” said Elina Valtonen, Finland’s foreign minister and current chair of the OSCE.
In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin spelled out his gripe about the organization: “What was the OSCE created for? To resolve complex situations in Europe. And what did it all boil down to? The entire activity of the OSCE reduced to becoming a platform for discussing, for example, human rights in the post-Soviet space.”
For Ukraine, the principles that uphold rights are not an abstraction. They are being defended, from the battlefield to basement bunkers. A peace plan that restores those rights, and holds Russia accountable for trampling on them, is the ultimate measure of peace.
