“When you’ve led so many civilians to their deaths, you can’t look for a way out,” Zelensky said. “This is a tragedy, not just a joke. Too many people have died for it. So I hope he takes that responsibility.’
Zelensky received another question from a VPRO journalist present about whether he thinks Putin will ever appear before a court in The Hague. The Ukrainian president did not want to delve into the matter. “I don’t deal with that. Maybe you should ask Mark Rutte. Just like you have to ask Rutte if we get F16s from the Netherlands. But returning to that justice: Rutte and I discussed it. It’s not easy. But Holland always manages to get things done by going to the end. Look at the management of MH17. So I hope Holland will continue now.’
Court
The Ukrainian president has received many questions about whether, in his opinion, international law still works. It all starts with political unity. Within the United Nations, perhaps not everyone agrees, but at the same time many countries do. The UN is bureaucratic and a bit outdated, but unfortunately I think there is no other platform. We need the United Nations to approve resolutions’.
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We can try to set up a tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its war crimes. And a reparation mechanism for everything Russia has done to our country and our people. A huge challenge, but we are still working on it. And when you talk about such a court, fortunately there are some countries that are taking the lead in this. I see these countries as the leaders. Holland especially. We are working on it with Rutte and also with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Our Baltic friends and Poland help with reparation payments. Our people want justice. So that’s what we’re looking for. ‘