EU official warns ‘impunity’ for Russia would mark ‘historic mistake of huge proportions’

As President Donald Trump’s administration aims to help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, a European Union official asserted that Russia must face accountability for its “crimes,” according to a report.

European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath warned against allowing “impunity,” opining that it “would be a historic mistake of huge proportions.”

“I don’t think history will judge kindly any effort to wipe the slate clean for Russian crimes in Ukraine,” McGrath said, according to Politico. “They must be held accountable for those crimes and that will be the approach of the European Union in all of these discussions.

“Were we to do so, to allow for impunity for those crimes, we would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion,” he noted, according to the outlet. “And I believe that that would be a historic mistake of huge proportions.”

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Left: Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the hall just after his talks with the Hungarian prime minister during his meeting with young scientists at the Kremlin on Nov. 28, 2025 in Moscow, Russia; Right: EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath talks to media about: “Simpler EU digital rules and new digital wallets to save billions for businesses and boost innovation” in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on Nov. 19, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. (Left: Contributor/Getty Images; Right: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

“We cannot give up on the rights of the victims of Russian aggression and Russian crimes,” McGrath asserted, according to the outlet. “Millions of lives have been taken or destroyed, and people forcibly removed, and we have ample evidence.” 

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President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, D.C., on Nov. 30, 2025. (Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed gratitude toward the Trump administration.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference with Pedro Sanchez, Spanish prime minister (not pictured), during his official visit to the headquarters of the Spanish government in Palacio de la Moncloa. (Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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“I am grateful to the United States, to President Trump’s team, and to the President personally for the time that is being invested so intensively in defining the steps to end the war,” he noted in part of a post on X.