European Union accuses Russia of committing war crimes

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries accused the Russian army on Monday of committing war crimes in Ukraine, but it seemed unlikely that new sanctions would be imposed on Moscow despite the demand in Europe that those responsible be held accountable for attacks on civilians.

With civilian deaths on the rise in the besieged port city of Mariupol in Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized the increase in Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and theaters.

The “courts will have to decide, but for me these are obvious war crimes,” Baerbock said.

The EU's head of foreign policy, Josep Borrell, said before presiding over a meeting with the bloc's 27 foreign ministers in Brussels that “what happens in Mariupol is a huge war crime. Destroy everything, bomb and kill everyone indiscriminately. This is a terrible thing.”

The besieged southern city, on the Sea of Azov, has suffered some of the worst horrors of the war. Municipal officials say that at least 2,300 people have been killed in the siege, and that some of them have been buried in mass graves. Municipal authorities indicate that approximately 10% of the city's 430,000 inhabitants have fled and reported that some residents were forced to go to Russia against their will.

Borrell emphasized that “war also has law.” The International Criminal Court in Holland gathers evidence about any war crime in Ukraine, but Russia, like the United States, does not recognize the court's jurisdiction.

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the country “is certainly open to other accountability mechanisms for the atrocities currently taking place in Ukraine.”

Coveney said Russia's invasion of Ukraine is probably the first “war to take place on social media, where people see live footage of what is happening and are outraged by it.”

“This provokes anger across the European Union among the public as to why we can't stop this,” he told the press. “They want people to be held accountable for the choices they make and the brutality we've seen.”

Still, the imposition of a new round of EU sanctions on Russia — frozen goods and travel bans — seems unlikely for now.