US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who heads the Justice Department in the Biden administration, made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday, his second trip to the country since the Russian invasion a little over a year ago, CNN reports.

According to a representative of the Ministry of Justice, this step was not announced for security reasons. According to the official, Garland was invited to Lviv by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and joined President Volodymyr Zelenskyi at the “United for Justice” conference.

The attorney general “held several meetings and reaffirmed our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed during its unjust and unprovoked invasion of its sovereign neighbor,” the official said.

The visit comes nearly two weeks after President Joe Biden made his first visit to Ukraine since the start of the war, and is one of several trips by members of Biden’s cabinet. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also recently visited Ukraine to meet with Zelenskyi.

Since the beginning of the invasion, the US Department of Justice has taken several steps to hold the Russian government and its supporters accountable.

Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he believes the Russian government has committed crimes against humanity and said the Justice Department supports Haig’s efforts to investigate and prosecute those crimes. “The United States supports what is now being developed in The Hague with the support of Eurojust, considering the creation of this court (to prosecute crimes of aggression),” Garland said. (News.ro)