Just peace, accountability important elements of ending war - author of "Ukrainian" resolution in PACE

10.04.2025 08:05

Ukrinform

Romanian PACE delegate Iulian Bulai, whose report became the base for the resolution on the need to ensure accountability and prevent Russia’s impunity, believes that ending the war and a just peace are impossible without justice and holding the aggressor accountable according ton international law.

He spoke about this with an Ukrinform correspondent, also explaining why he invited U.S. President Donald Trump to a dialogue in the Council of Europe after the resolution was passed.

In a world where major powers are playing narratives that do not include just peace and justice as the most important elements of ending the war, it is ever more important than ever that the Council of Europe focus on this, said Bulai.

That is why he proposed holding an urgent debate during the PACE spring session and prepared a resolution outlining what exactly these concepts mean.

He expressed the opinion the major actors care about peace agreements only in terms of the exchange of goods and benefits, seeing the war in Ukraine without thinking about justice and a just peace. At the same time, it was in the Council of Europe, where petitions were initiated that formed the basis of the future Special Tribunal for the Crimes of Aggression. The Russian Federation must pay the price for the unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Bulai believes, adding that if a system of justice around the end of the war is not set up, the tragedy will eventually repeat itself on European soil.

Bulai recalled that it was the Council of Europe that also launched the Register of Damages and will complete developing a compensation mechanism. Therefore, it was important to once again emphasize the need for justice after the end of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.

The author of the resolution also invited U.S. President Donald Trump to the Council of Europe in order to share with him the dignity of the discourse on a just end to the war. It is important that such a discussion be held with CoE’s American partners to explain that in order to achieve peace, the discussions about justice cannot be avoided, he said.

It should be recalled that the USA, along with Canada and four other countries, are observer states at the Council of Europe. However, according to Bulai, in five years of work he has not met a single representative of the U.S. legislative corps at the Council of Europe.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on Wednesday in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.