U.S.: Ensure Ukrainian Territorial Integrity, Accountability For War Crimes

(ZAPORIZHZHIA, March 18, 2025)—The Government of the United States and Ukraine’s European and international allies should commit to ensuring the full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty as well as accountability for war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine since 2014, said Fortify Rights today. 

U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin scheduled a conversation by phone today to discuss a possible ceasefire deal in Ukraine. 

“President Trump should ensure Putin accepts the ceasefire deal that Ukraine accepted last week,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. “Beyond that, Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory must end, and displaced civilians must be allowed to reclaim their homes and rebuild their lives. Lasting peace will require justice and the rule of law, not brushing aside major international crimes affecting millions.”

Last week, Ukraine accepted a 30-day ceasefire deal proposed by the Trump Administration after the Trump Administration suddenly withdrew military aid and intelligence assistance to Ukraine. Russia, in effect, rejected the proposal, instead demanding guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, a cessation of all Western military aid for the period of the ceasefire, and permanent Ukrainian demilitarization.

“We will be talking about land,” President Trump told reporters on Air Force One regarding his scheduled call with Putin today. “We will be talking about power plants.”

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—Europe’s largest and one of the world’s largest— is located in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. For the last several weeks, Fortify Rights has been in the Zaporizhzhia Region investigating Russian war crimes and human rights abuses against Ukrainian civilians in temporarily occupied territories, which Putin has tried to formally annex as Russian territory.

Prior to today’s call between Trump and Putin, the Trump administration recently withdrew from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine—an intergovernmental group including E.U. member states and other international partners designed to prosecute those responsible for launching the illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.

In 2023 and 2024, the International Criminal Court indicted Putin and other senior officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Fortify Rights warned against any efforts to sacrifice the prosecutions of Russian war crimes in Ukraine in exchange for “peace” and at the cost of total impunity, which would leave entire populations of Ukrainian people living under severe repression of Russian occupation. The notion that pursuing justice and respect for human rights undermines peace is a myth unsupported by evidence, Fortify Rights said.

“Every person displaced from their homes near the frontline and in de-occupied and temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine must be able to exercise their right to return safely and with dignity and live under Ukrainian authority,” said Matthew Smith. “Justice is the foundation of peace, not its enemy.”

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