The United States is withdrawing its participation from the multinational effort designed to investigate the Russian leaders responsible for the invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. officials told European allies that the country would withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine, a spokesman for the group's parent organization, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Monday.
"The work that the center is doing with its six core partners, authorities from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Poland, and Ukraine, will continue as is," the spokesman said. "Eurojust continues to support the national authorities through the ICPA with their investigations into the possible crimes of aggressions against Ukraine."
The Biden administration joined the body in 2023, making it the only non-European country to participate.
“The U.S. authorities have informed me that they will conclude their involvement in the ICPA” by the end of March, Michael Schmid, president of Eurojust, wrote in an internal email obtained by the New York Times.
He added that the group remains “fully committed" to holding “those responsible for core international crimes” in Ukraine accountable.
The International Criminal Court is not able to prosecute the crime of aggression, the core war crime of starting a war against another country, because Russia and Ukraine have not ratified the Rome Statute that founded the court. The ICPA, which operates out of the Hague, was created to fix that problem.
The ICPA is the "first step in this process to preserve evidence and prepare cases for future trials," according to its website.
It is the latest instance of the Trump administration distancing itself from the Biden administration’s efforts to isolate Moscow and attempt to hold it accountable for the war.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly made it known that he wants Russia's war in Ukraine to end, and he has put the onus on both sides of the war to work toward that goal. He is expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Tuesday, their second call since Trump's return to the Oval Office.
Since the last time they spoke, Ukraine agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. Putin's public response was ambiguous. He welcomed ending the war but said it would only end if the ceasefire met Russia's preconditions.
Days earlier, Trump's Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Moscow, where he met with Putin directly.
On Sunday night, Trump said, "A lot of work's been done over the weekend," adding that he and Putin will "be talking about land. We'll be talking about power plants. ... We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets."
Putin and multiple advisers have said they would not agree to any ceasefire proposal that includes NATO peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. With Ukraine having already agreed to the U.S. proposal, Putin will be the impediment to peace if he declines the deals.
Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said administration officials know "who we're dealing with" regarding concerns that Putin could have different goals in mind.
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“We know who we’re dealing with on all sides,” he said. “And we are going to engage in diplomacy. We are engaging in diplomacy. And that will involve both carrots and sticks to get both sides to the table, but to also resolve this in a way that is permanent and enduring.”
Trump and his administration have diverged significantly from the previous administration's rhetoric regarding Russia. Several current officials have declined to articulate that Russia is responsible for invading Ukraine.