A top European Union official is definitely throwing cold water on President Trump’s efforts to broker peace in Ukraine, as per Politico. Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, just warned that any final deal absolutely cannot let Russian forces off the hook for the war crimes they’ve committed. This effectively sets a massive new red line for any potential agreement, and frankly, it’s a necessary one if accountability is going to mean anything.
McGrath emphasized that negotiators must ensure that the push for a ceasefire doesn’t accidentally result in Russia escaping prosecution. This isn’t just a random EU position; it reflects major concerns held across European capitals. Why the worry? Because the original American blueprint for a deal reportedly included the promise of a “full amnesty for actions committed during the war.”
That proposal is truly shocking when you consider the scope of the alleged crimes. Ukrainian authorities say they have opened investigations into more than 178,000 alleged Russian crimes since the war started in February 2022. Just last month, a United Nations commission found that Russian authorities had committed crimes against humanity by targeting Ukrainian residents with drone attacks, and committed war crimes through the forcible transfer and deportation of civilians.
The EU official didn’t mince words about the gravity of wiping the slate clean for these actions
McGrath believes granting impunity would be a colossal error. “I don’t think history will judge kindly any effort to wipe the slate clean for Russian crimes in Ukraine,” McGrath said. He stressed that accountability is the only path forward, adding, “Were we to do so, to allow for impunity for those crimes, we would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion.” He called that outcome a “historic mistake of huge proportions.”
The EU and other international partners have been actively working to set up a new special tribunal specifically for the crime of aggression. Additionally, judges at the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin back in March 2023. They named him as allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine, a number estimated around 20,000.
Despite this international condemnation and the ongoing investigations, President Trump and his team have shown very little interest in prosecuting Putin. In fact, President Trump has consistently described his Russian counterpart in positive terms, often mentioning how he’s able to have a “good conversation” with the Russian leader and how “He should have won the war in one week.”
As previously pointed out by French President Emmanuel Macron, the draft 28-point peace plan circulated by the Trump team last week leans heavily toward economic rehabilitation rather than justice. The document proposes that “Russia will be reintegrated into the global economy” and invited to rejoin the G8, which expelled them in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.
The message from Commissioner McGrath is clear: the price of peace cannot be the forgiveness of widespread war crimes. That’s a line the EU just isn’t prepared to cross.
Published: Dec 1, 2025 09:00 pm