Spain accelerates the ratification of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine

Eduardo González The Council of Ministers submitted to the Spanish Parliament on Tuesday the Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine (ICC), a mechanism promoted in October 2015 by the Council of Europe to try to compel Russia to compensate Ukraine for damages, losses, or injuries caused during the war. With this decision, the Council of Ministers also authorized Spain's expression of consent to be bound by the Convention and requested its expedited processing. The objective of this Convention, which was signed by Spain on December 16, 2025, in The Hague after its authorization by the Council of Ministers on December 9, 2025, is “to create an international mechanism for the reparation of damages, losses, or injuries resulting from internationally wrongful acts committed by the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine,” the Government stated. On October 22, 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe approved the draft founding convention of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, which is presented as the second pillar of the comprehensive compensation mechanism defined in the 2023 Reykjavik Declaration. The compensation mechanism as a whole will be coordinated by the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, a group of 46 countries whose mission is to protect human rights on the continent and from which Russia was excluded in March 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine. The first step was the creation of the Ukrainian Claims Registry (RDU), which has been registering claims since the beginning of 2024. The next step in implementing the compensation mechanism will be the creation of the CRU, which will be responsible for managing claims for Ukraine and determining compensation. The third step will be the establishment of a compensation fund, the operation of which is still undefined due to disagreements over the potential use of frozen Russian assets. For example, Belgium has expressed its concerns, as the country hosts the international depository institution Euroclear, which holds most of the Russian assets, and fears legal repercussions for the use of these assets. The founding agreement of the International Claims Commission was opened for signature during a diplomatic conference in The Hague on December 16, 2025. On that same day, the text was signed by 35 countries, including Spain and the European Commission, on behalf of the EU. The text will enter into force once it has been ratified by 25 countries, provided that the associated financial commitments are sufficient to cover the commission's initial work. States, including those that are not members of the Council of Europe, and the European Union may accede to the convention, thereby becoming members of the commission.

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