Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko calls Putin a "murderer" and calls for an international tribunal

Yushchenko stresses that "the concept of a great victory includes victory over Putin and the Putin regime"

BAKU, March 9. (From the special envoy of EUROPA PRESS, Borja Aranda) -

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has branded Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday as a "criminal" and "murderer" and has said that "his place is in jail", after advocating for the creation of an international court to judge crimes of the Moscow troops in the framework of the invasion of Ukraine.

Yushchenko, who was in power between 2005 and 2010 and promoted a policy of rapprochement towards the European Union (EU) and NATO, has stated that "it is very important in politics to give a concrete definition to things", before stressing that "Putin is a criminal, Putin is a murderer and his place is in jail, if the court shows humanity towards him."

"It is very important, it is a matter of principle, that Putin and all his actors sit on the bench to be properly judged by the world, including his commander (Russian Defense Minister Sergei) Shoigu," the former president defended. Ukrainian in the framework of the opening day of the X Global Forum in Baku, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

Likewise, he blamed "the 140 million 'little Putin'" for the war, referring to the Russian population. "These 140 million people in Russia legitimize Putin," he argued, while asking "not to focus only on bringing war criminals to justice, but to address the policies and principles that brought them to power."

"When we talk about victory, the concept of a great victory includes victory over Putin and Putin's regime," Yushchenko said, stressing his desire that "the hundreds of native Russian nations (...) have their own resistance and clearly express their will on how they see the future of Russia".

Regarding the conditions for the opening of a dialogue with Russia with a view to a peace agreement, the former Ukrainian president has said that "the first precondition is to liberate all the Ukrainian territories that are occupied", in line with the position defended by the Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Before that, we cannot talk about any peace," he maintained, before asserting that the other conditions are "the reconstruction of everything that Russia has destroyed", "a new security agreement in the world" and the aforementioned court international. Regarding the third point, she has argued that "Europe needs a security regime, not two or three if we do not want the mistakes of 2008 to be repeated over and over again", referring to the war between Russia and Georgia.

The former president has assured that Ukraine and its partners "will win" and has stressed the importance of "solidarity". "What Putin fears the most is solidarity", he has defended, while extolling that the Ukrainians "have finally managed to speak with a consolidated voice". Finally, he has warned that "if they think they can build and develop a country with a common border with Russia and that they will be left alone, they are making a big mistake."

Yushchenko came to power after the repetition of the 2004 elections, in which the then Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych prevailed, according to official results that led to numerous allegations of fraud and the emergence of the 'Orange Revolution', after which the Supreme Court annulled the results.

In the second instance, Yushchenko achieved victory with 52 percent of the vote, compared to 44 percent achieved by Yanukovych, who maintained a position of rapprochement with Russia. Yanukovych would prevail in 2010 and hold the post until 2014, when he was forced to leave amid the 'Euromaidan' protests.

During the 2003 election campaign, Yuschenk was the victim of an assassination attempt with dioxin that caused him to suffer from acute pancreatitis and facial disfigurement, according to toxicology experts, although the former president, who accused Ukrainian government agents of the event - - when he was one of the leaders of the opposition - managed to recover.

On the other hand, the president of Latvia, Egils Levits, has participated in the panel, who has acknowledged that the international reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine "could be more firm" and has argued that the conflict "is a continuation of the aggression which started in 2014, with the annexation of Crimea, but before that it started with the aggression against Georgia".

Thus, he has maintained that the "most obvious" external threat to states today is "Russian aggression against Ukraine", before extolling that "it is the first time that the international community has responded to this type of aggression". "It is necessary to respond," she said, before also defending the creation of "an 'ad hoc' international court to judge the Russian aggression against Ukraine."

Levits has explained that this court is necessary to achieve "justice for Ukraine" and "demonstrate that International Law works, since it is the basis for world peace." "If it is not respected, we will return to military anarchy like in the 19th century," she pointed out, before asserting that a third reason for creating this court is "to show all potential aggressors that there will be no impunity."

"Impunity for one crime invites another crime. We saw it in the case of Russia in 2008 and 2014," said the Latvian president, who also reiterated that "Ukraine needs much more military aid and economic and humanitarian aid" to do against the Russian military offensive, unleashed on February 24 by order of Putin.