Latvian President Egils Levits said an international tribunal on Ukraine could be held in Riga - after the idea failed to gain universal approval in the European Union.

EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrel said earlier Wednesday that the European Commission's proposal for some kind of specialized international tribunal on Ukraine did not find unanimous support among European Union foreign ministers at a recent meeting in Brussels.

The Latvian president argues that a decision of the UN Security Council, where Russia has veto power, is not necessary for such a tribunal. "It can be done by other organizations as well, for example, the Council of Europe or simply on the basis of a treaty between countries - countries with the same opinion create such a tribunal. There could also be a hybrid model, it could be partly related to the Ukrainian legislation," Levits said. Earlier in an interview with Bloomberg, Levits said a special tribunal would allow Russia's assets abroad to be seized and turned over to Ukraine for recovery.

The European Commission in late November launched an initiative to create a special international tribunal on Ukraine under the auspices of the UN.