Romania's foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Thursday, March 17, that "strong indications" exist about war crimes committed as a result of the Russian Federation's aggression in Ukraine.

The same day, secretary of state Antony Blinken became the second high-level US official to accuse Russia of war crimes - a rather specific term with a legal dimension so far avoided by top officials.

"If we look at all the information coming from Ukraine, the military aggression of the Russian Federation is a strong indication that war crimes have taken place in this conflict. (...) As a lawyer, as an international law professor, I have great confidence in international justice, which is why Romania, along with 38 other states, notified the International Criminal Court on March 2, asking the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to begin the investigation into the possible commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, including in the conduct of these hostilities in Ukraine," Aurescu told Digi24, local Agerpres reported.

He added that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court had started the investigation in Ukraine because evidence must be gathered, and such an investigation can take quite a long time.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Ministerul Afacerilor Externe)