After Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, it wasn’t long before the world confronted serious allegations of war crimes being committed by the Russian military. The Biden administration, not surprisingly, launched an investigative effort to compile evidence, with the hopes of holding Russian officials accountable.

The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is engaged in “a concerted effort to undo” those initiatives.

[T]he administration has moved to withdraw from an international group led by the European Union that was created to punish Moscow for violating international law in its invasion of Ukraine. The White House has also reduced the work of the Justice Department’s War Crimes Accountability Team. … And in a previously unreported move, it has vacated a coordinator position — mandated by law — to gather intelligence from across the government on Russian atrocities committed in Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

The Post’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that the vacated coordinator position was created by legislation co-authored by then-Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla.

Waltz is now Trump’s White House national security adviser — who presumably knows that the law he helped write hasn’t been repealed, even if the president he works for no longer sees this as a priority.

Eli Rosenbaum, the former head of the Justice Department war crimes team who retired in January 2024, told the Post, “It’s a very disturbing retreat from the U.S. commitment to holding accountable the perpetrators of war crimes and aggression, particularly in the bloodiest conflict that Europe has seen since World War II.”

That’s true. It’s also disturbing to see just how frequently the Trump administration has taken related steps to help Russia since Inauguration Day.

Indeed, it was just last week Trump’s State Department shut down the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub, an office that was responsible for combating disinformation from foreign actors — including the Russian government.

This came on the heels of a series of related developments that were likely celebrated in Moscow.

• The Trump administration halted cyber operations and information operations against Russia.
• The Trump administration halted work on a coordinated effort to counter Russian sabotage efforts.
• The Trump administration agreed to help Russia sell its grain and fertilizer on the world market.
• Trump upbraided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office while peddling Kremlin-style talking points.
• Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war Russia started.
• Trump suggested Vladimir Putin was a victim of the 2016 Russia scandal.
• Trump said he would reward Russia by welcoming it back into the G7.
• The Trump administration disbanded the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force.
• The Trump administration pared back enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
• The Trump administration disbanded the Justice Department’s program responsible for enforcing Russian sanctions and targeting oligarchs close to the Kremlin.
• The Trump administration slashed the U.S. Agency for International Development, to the delight of Moscow.
• The Trump administration targeted U.S. intelligence officials as part of its mass firing campaign.
• Trump’s delegation to the United Nations voted with Russia — and against U.S. allies — on a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine.
• Trump reassigned the White House’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia after Putin let U.S. officials know that he did not approve of Trump’s choice.

Imagine a hypothetical scenario in which Putin spoke privately with Trump and provided the American president with a to-do list. Would it look much different than the White House’s agenda from the last few months?

This post updates our related earlier coverage.