The American people have spoken: Donald Trump won the presidential election in a landslide, securing himself a second term in the White House that is due to begin on January 20th next year. The Republican nominee’s resounding victory comes with major implications for the war in Ukraine: Shortly after the election, the Wall Street Journal reported that a peace plan that would allow Russia to keep the Ukrainian territory it currently occupies was circulating within Trump’s transition team. Regardless of its political feasibility, this plan raises important legal questions: Does international law allow aggressor states to walk away with territorial gains after starting a war? And would a peace agreement along these lines affect the obligations of third parties? By answering these and other questions, this post seeks to shed light on some aspects of the jus post bellum that might emerge in Ukraine under the incoming Trump administration.
Ukraine
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The ICC’s Turn to Cynical Solipsism: The PTC II’s Finding of Mongolia’s Non-compliance in the Case against Putin
On 3 September 2024, the Russian President Putin, whose arrest is sought by the ICC for alleged war crimes committed during the war in Ukraine (see eg Sergey Vasiliev), made his first visit to an ICC State Party (Mongolia) since the issuance of the arrest warrant. Despite demands for Putin’s arrest, Mongolia did not do so.
Analyzing the Guterres–Putin Meeting from the International Law Perspective: Putting Aside the Emotions, the Secretary-General Allegedly Violated the UN-ICC Relationship Agreement
On the 24th of October, while the President of the ICC expressed their “high appreciation” for the strong cooperative relations with the UN, commemorating the “UN Day”, something even more telling about UN-ICC relationships happened 3000 km from The Hague in Kazan, Russia. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, smiling and bowing his head, shook hands with…
North Korea’s Troop Deployment in the Russian War of Aggression against Ukraine: The DPRK as a Principal or as an Accomplice?
Reporting over the past few weeks has confirmed the presence of thousands of North Korean troops in the theatre of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, and their imminent deployment on the battlefield. Estimates vary, but the North Korean regime has apparently provided more than ten thousand troops to…
Locating Right to Life Violations in Russian Aggression: Challenges Awaiting the HRC
Recently, three non-governmental organisations jointly filed a complaint before the Human Rights Committee (HRC), alleging that Russia violated the right to life of 18 Ukrainian victims in its missile strikes in Vinnytsia in 2022. The authors of the complaint have strategically opted for a unique pathway. According to General Comment 36 of the HRC,…