The United States is making efforts to support attempts to document the damages suffered by Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion, hoping to use it after the war ends to seek compensation, according to a letter seen by AFP on Friday.

The United Nations General Assembly, in a non-binding vote in November, endorsed the idea of creating an "international record" documenting the damage across Ukraine from the war waged by Russia since February 2022.

Earlier this year, Maria Bejinovic Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, suggested that the Strasbourg-based council take over the registry.

The 46-nation council, established in 1949, seeks to support democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Its members plan to hold a summit meeting Tuesday in Reykjavik to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In a message addressed to the meeting, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield expressed Washington's readiness to provide funding for the emerging registry, and to be an "associate member" of it.

"As President Biden has stated, the United States is committed to holding Russia accountable for its war of aggression against Ukraine," Thomas Greenfield wrote in a letter to Boric, seen by AFP.

"Creating a registry documenting the damage caused by Russia's brutal war is a critical step in this effort," she added.
The World Bank estimated in March that Ukraine needed $411 billion for reconstruction.

And the United States promised in March to support another international effort to create a special court to try the crime of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Before traveling to Reykjavik to represent her country at a meeting of the Council of Europe, Thomas Greenfield discussed by phone with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba efforts to extend the work of an agreement to export Ukrainian grain brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, according to a spokesman for her.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar confirmed in a statement on Friday that the completion of the understanding to extend the grain export agreement, which expires next Thursday, is imminent.