US Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the seven-member Joint Investigative Team (JIT) investigating Russian war crimes during a surprise visit to Ukraine

Garland said he had made the trip on the invitation of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin to join international partners at the United for Justice Conference.

Garland stated that the US was “pleased to be the first country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all seven JIT national members.”

He further stated:

In addition to our work in partnership with Ukraine and the international community, the United States has also opened criminal investigations into war crimes in Ukraine that may violate U.S. law. Although we are still building our cases, interviewing witnesses, and collecting evidence… Our prosecutors are working day and night to bring them to justice as quickly as possible.

At the conference, Garland also met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Kostin, EU Commissioner Didier Reynders, Polish Minister of Justice General Zbigniew Ziobro, and Polish National Prosecutor Barski for further discussions about how the US can partner internationally on these issues.

The US officially declared last month that Russia had committed crimes against humanity in its war against Ukraine.