Trump administration scales back efforts to investigate Russian war crimes – media

The administration of US President Donald Trump is making a concerted effort to roll back initiatives aimed at holding Russia and its leaders and allies accountable for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

The administration has moved to withdraw from an international group led by the European Union that was created to punish Moscow for violating international law in its invasion of Ukraine. The White House has also reduced the work of the Justice Department’s War Crimes Accountability Team and dismantled a program to seize assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs.

“It has vacated a coordinator position — mandated by law — to gather intelligence from across the government on Russian atrocities committed in Ukraine,” the WP informs according to two people familiar with the matter, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

That position was created by legislation co-written by Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado) and former congressman Michael Waltz (R-Florida). Waltz is now President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

“The atrocities coordinator position is ... tasked with holding Putin responsible for the crimes he’s committed against the Ukrainian people,” Crow told The Washington Post in a statement. “This position was created by Congress on a bipartisan basis, and the administration must empower whoever serves in this position to carry out their duties as required by law.”

Crow said that if Trump and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “want to achieve lasting peace, they must be willing to hold Putin accountable for the crimes he’s committed in Ukraine. So far, this administration has shown they’re willing to let Putin off the hook.”