EU commissioner: Russia must be held accountable for war crimes

European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath believes that US President Donald Trump's efforts to secure peace in Ukraine should not allow Russia to evade accountability for war crimes.

McGrath said in an interview with Politico that talks must ensure that the push for a ceasefire does not result in Russia avoiding legal prosecution.

"I don't think history will judge kindly any effort to wipe the slate clean for Russian crimes in Ukraine. They must be held accountable for those crimes and that will be the approach of the European Union in all of these discussions," McGrath said.

McGrath is confident that allowing impunity for these crimes would sow "the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion".

"And I believe that that would be a historic mistake of huge proportions. We cannot give up on the rights of the victims of Russian aggression and Russian crimes. Millions of lives have been taken or destroyed, and people forcibly removed, and we have ample evidence," he added.

On the evening of 30 November (Kyiv time), negotiations took place between US President Donald Trump's team and the Ukrainian delegation in Florida regarding the "peace plan".

According to media reports, the topics discussed included territorial issues, security guarantees for Ukraine and the timing of elections in Ukraine.

Following a report on the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the dialogue had been "constructive".