International Criminal Court: US, Ukraine welcome arrest warrant against Putin

US President Biden described the arrest warrant for Russian President Putin as justified. Ukrainian President Zelensky called the International Criminal Court’s verdict a “historic verdict.”

The US government welcomes the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Joe Biden described the move as justified. Biden said the court “makes a very strong case,” according to reporters. Putin has clearly committed a war crime.

However, the International Criminal Court is not universally recognized, “not even by us,” Biden said. The United States and China, along with Russia, do not recognize the court. Lawyers often cite these governments as wanting to protect their political leaders and military personnel from judicial access. In total, more than 120 countries have ratified the Rome Statute.

The US government insists it supports international investigations into Russian war crimes. However, according to a report by the New York Times, there are contradictions between the departments: the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice support extensive cooperation with the ICC’s investigators, while the Ministry of Defense does not want to pass on any intelligence information. About Russian crimes for policy reasons.

Cooperation with the Criminal Court

A court in The Hague, Netherlands, has issued an arrest warrant for smuggling children from occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia. According to the ICC, the Russian President is personally responsible for the illegal deportation and resettlement of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. An arrest warrant was also issued against Maria Lova-Belova, the children’s rights commissioner in Putin’s presidential administration.

“This means they can now be arrested at the borders of countries that have signed the Rome Statute,” Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office in Kiev, told the Telegram news channel in the evening.

Ukraine has also failed to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. However, the country has since 2014 recognized the jurisdiction of the judges for war crimes committed on its territory. Ermak stressed that Kiev is duly cooperating with the court.

Karim Khan, a prosecutor at the Criminal Court, opened an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity a year ago. Khan has personally visited Ukraine three times, including to the Kiev region where the Bucha massacre took place.

Scholz welcomes international arrest warrant

Chancellor Olaf Scholz also welcomed the arrest warrant. “The International Criminal Court is the right institution to try war crimes,” he said during a visit to Tokyo. No one is above the law. The Central Government has always ensured that ICC is given due importance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the arrest warrant as a “historic verdict” by the International Criminal Court. “The head of the terrorist state and another Russian official are officially suspected of war crimes,” Zelensky said in his video message that evening.

At least 16,000 cases have been registered

Thousands of Ukrainian children were illegally deported, Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian authorities have registered at least 16,000 cases. “But the actual total number of deportees may be much higher.” About 300 children have been brought to Ukraine so far.

“Separating children from their families, depriving them of the possibility of contact with their loved ones, hiding them on Russian territory, distributing them to remote areas – all these are obviously the policy of the Russian state, they are the decisions of the state, this is the evil of the state”, according to Zelenskyy. The president of Ukraine said that the first person of the state is responsible – without mentioning Putin by name.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin hailed the decision as a signal to the world that the “Russian regime” is guilty. “World leaders will now think three times before shaking hands with him or sitting at the negotiating table with him,” he said.

The Kremlin’s arrest warrant is invalid

The Kremlin said the arrest warrant was legally invalid. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow “will not cooperate with the court”. “We consider the wording of the question outrageous and unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency TASS. “Russia does not recognize the jurisprudence of this court. Accordingly, such decisions are irrelevant for Russia from a legal point of view.”

Are Putin’s travel options restricted?

According to Russian agencies, Peskov declined to comment on whether the Kremlin leader’s imminent arrest in countries that recognize the court would affect Putin’s travel plans.

However, independent Russian media have commented that the arrest warrant could limit Putin’s travel options. Among the countries that have ratified the law are Russia’s allies.

UN wants to continue talks with Putin

The United Nations has so far avoided a direct response. A spokesman said Putin was not personally qualified for UN chief Antonio Guterres because of the decision. “Who should the Secretary-General always talk to?”

However, the UN It is questionable whether the Russian president can fly to Geneva for possible peace talks under the leadership of, for example, Switzerland is a member of the International Criminal Court.

With information from Ralf Borchardt, ARD Studio Washington