PM Ciuca accuses Russia of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine on Friday. “An unacceptable aggression with enormous suffering, with waves of refugees exceeding 2.5 million people, with the destruction of homes, hospitals, maternity hospitals, kindergartens and schools similar to those in Grozny or Aleppo. We find all these horrors of war today in Mariupol, Kherson, Kharkov or Kyiv, real crimes against humanity, war crimes that characterize this action of Russia “, said Ciuca while attending an event organized by the Aspen Institute.   The Romanian Prime Minister also spoke about the sanctions taken at international level against Russia.“The level of sanctions imposed unanimously has reached unimaginable levels that are meant to emphasize Russia’s exit from international rules and the fact that it has to pay for the war of aggression. Could anyone have imagined Germany giving defensive military aid to Ukraine? Or blocking Nord Stream 2 indefinitely? Or announcing the end of dependence on Russian oil and gas and the future detachment from the Russian supplier? The same thing has happened in Europe, across the ocean with countries that share the same values. Romania has been with all these efforts,” said Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.   The Head of the Executive in Bucharest also stated that Europe and the world are facing many crises, in addition to the refugee and supply chain crises, also reminding that Romania has supported the wave of refugees from Ukraine, as half of million of such refugees have crossed Romania.   “Romania has invested 3.4 million euros in humanitarian aid and we have built a European logistics HUB for humanitarian aid in Suceava. (..) It is about refugees, but also about the Ukrainians left in their country who need food, fuel and medicine. This hub and the other locations and warehouses only support and transport to the territory of Ukraine these essential equipment and materials that the remaining Ukrainians in the country need,” Ciuca said.   Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu also said on Thursday that there were indications that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine and said that Romania, along with 38 other states, had referred to the International Criminal Court, requesting the start of an investigation in this regard. As for the phrase “war criminal” as Russian President Vladimir Putin is called, Aurescu considers them to be “political statements”.   Asked on Thursday evening, at Digi24, if Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, Bogdan Aurescu stated that these are political statements, but that there are indications that there were war crimes in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.   The head of the Romannian diplomacy also reminded that 39 states, including Romania, have notified the International Criminal Court, requesting the launch of an investigation on war crimes.