Can Russia be made to pay reparations over Ukraine?

The title question is one that was being considered this week by European officials from the Council of Europe during a meeting in Iceland. At this point, it’s a rather daunting task, but they are working to develop a method to estimate all of the damage caused in Ukraine as a result of the war. One of their major steps was the creation of a “register of damages” where any Ukrainian or other affected persons in the region can report losses that they have experienced. But it’s going to need to be a fairly large register because most of the country’s infrastructure has been reduced to rubble and some entire families have been wiped out, so it’s unclear who would report those losses or who would receive any resultant benefits. And then, of course, there’s the question of whether Russia would simply ignore the bill. (Associated Press)Read More