Ukraine hopes for productive work of the Core Group meeting in The Hague (Netherlands) in the middle of September to find a compromise in creating an effective model of a tribunal to hold the top military-political leadership of Russia accountable for the crime of aggression, Deputy Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Smyrnov has said.

In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Smyrnov said the point in the discussion regarding the format of the tribunal was put only under the possibility of creating a hybrid tribunal as part of the judicial system of Ukraine, since this is unacceptable for Ukraine.

"If we are talking about the creation of a tribunal in an internationally recognized jurisdiction, authoritative, with an established system of law, then, for example, it can be the same Netherlands and The Hague as the world capital of international law," the deputy head of the President's Office said.

At the same time, as he explained, even if the government of the Netherlands agrees to the creation of such a tribunal, all this must be "covered" by a resolution of the UN General Assembly in support of this tribunal.

"This will more likely "untie the hands" of many countries in the ratification of interstate agreements between the Netherlands and them through diplomatic means," Smyrnov said.

Answering a question about Ukraine's hopes for the upcoming Core Group meeting, Smyrnov said: "The meeting is scheduled for the middle of September in The Hague. Surely, there are hopes for the productive work of the Core Group. In working communications with our colleagues who are physically participating in the group's meetings, I set the task that by the end of this year we, together with international partners, should reach a point of compromise."

"We must give a clear, understandable signal to the citizens of Ukraine, our soldiers, that the world is ready to prosecute this terrible crime," the deputy head of the President's Office said.

Smyrnov also said for some time the Ukrainian side tried not to make public the problem of skepticism of the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany regarding the version of the creation of the tribunal through the decision of the UN General Assembly due to fears of revisions of the military campaigns in which they took part.

"But we will still find a compromise, I am sure of this. And we will definitely vote on the decision of the UN General Assembly in support of a compromise and effective model. Internationalized or not," the deputy head of the President's Office said.

Smyrnov said he sees no signs of conflict in the public statements about skepticism of a number of countries.

"I see no signs of conflict, I see signs of a legal discussion, a lengthy, in some places very heated discussion, but this is definitely not a conflict. Our international partners, who are skeptics of the creation of a tribunal through the decision of the UN General Assembly, hear us and our arguments about the impossibility of creating a hybrid tribunal as parts of the judicial system of Ukraine. They also understand this. They have concerns, we have reservations, but we do not stop and are looking for a compromise," Smyrnov said.