Biden says the ICC is “justified” after Putin’s arrest warrant
President Biden said Friday that action by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against Mr Russian President Vladimir Putin to commit “justified” war crimes.
He told reporters in Washington that Putin had “clearly committed war crimes”.
While the court is not recognized by the United States, Biden said it “makes a very strong point” to invoke the Russian leader’s actions in ordering the invasion.
The International Criminal Court has accused Putin of personal responsibility for the kidnapping of children in Ukraine, saying in a statement that he is “responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation (of children) and unlawful removal (of children) from the occupied regions of Ukraine”. to the Russian Federation.
FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to Magadan region governor Sergei Nosov via video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, in October. On Friday, March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court announced that it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes due to his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of children from Ukraine. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Moscow rejected this step immediately.
This was the first time that the world court issued an arrest warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court and does not extradite its citizens. The chances of Putin facing trial at the International Criminal Court are highly unlikely.
FILE – Exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, file)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia does not recognize the International Criminal Court It considers its decisions “legally invalid”, describing the court’s move as “disgraceful and unacceptable”.
Peskov declined to comment when asked if Putin would avoid trips to countries where he could be arrested based on the ICC warrant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky He considered the ICC’s action “a historic decision from which historical responsibility begins.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the social and economic development of Crimea and Sevastopol via video conference at the Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via Associated Press)
Ukraine’s human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, said that – based on data from the country’s National Information Office – 16,226 children have been deported. Ukraine managed to return 308 children.
The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Lvova Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
