Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha: "I was pleased to begin my visit to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in Chișinău by meeting with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset.

We spoke on the eve of a historic day. Tomorrow, more than three dozen countries will approve the Enlarged Partial Agreement required for the launch of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine. 

I am deeply grateful to the Secretary General for his dedication, vision, and leadership. Without them, such tremendous progress would not be possible. 

The Council of Europe is now at the epicentre of a historic accountability effort — for the first time since the Nuremberg trials, a crime of aggression will be prosecuted and punished.

We discussed our further joint outreach to engage even more countries, as well as the next steps toward the Tribunal’s effective functioning already this year.

We also spoke about peace efforts and the Council of Europe’s role, the battlefield dynamics, Ukraine’s EU accession, and preparations for this year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in Poland.

I appreciate the Secretary General’s words of condolences and solidarity with Ukraine following the recent barbaric Russian strikes. 

I also thanked for the Council of Europe’s ambitious Action Plan for Ukraine".