International reactions continued to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of committing a war crime of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, and US President Joe Biden said that “Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly committed war crimes, and the court’s decision The International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against him is justified.”
“It’s clear he committed war crimes,” Biden told reporters, referring to the arrest warrant. “I think that’s justified.”
The US State Department said in a statement that the United States had separately concluded that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine, and that it supports accountability for war crimes.
“There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have made it clear that those responsible must be held accountable,” the statement added. “The ICC prosecutor reached this decision independently based on the facts before him.”
The move of the International Criminal Court obliges the 123 member states of the court to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on its territory. Yesterday, the court also issued an arrest warrant against the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova Belova, on the same charges.
Yesterday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the decision of the International Criminal Court, saying that “the decision shows that no one is above the law.”
He added in a joint press conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida: “The International Criminal Court is the right institution to investigate war crimes. The truth is that no one is above the law and this is what has become clear now.”
In addition, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, issued an order to open an investigation into the International Criminal Court’s issuance of an arrest warrant against Putin.
According to a statement by the investigation committee, reported by Tass news agency, the head of the committee assigned the central body of the committee to conduct an investigation into the issuance of illegal arrest warrants against Russian citizens by the International Criminal Court.
The statement indicated that the investigation committee will identify the persons among the judges of the International Criminal Court who took the aforementioned decision.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the accusations leveled by the International Criminal Court to the Russian president as “outrageous and unacceptable”, stressing after the decision was issued that Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and accordingly any decisions of this kind are considered null and void. For the Russian Federation, legally.
Asked if Putin was now afraid to travel to countries that recognize the jurisdiction of the court and might therefore try to arrest him, Peskov told reporters: “I have nothing to add on this subject. That’s all we want to say.”
For his part, the speaker of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said on “Telegram”: “Americans, hands off Putin!”, describing the move as “evidence of Western hysteria.”
He added, “We consider any attack on the President of Russia as an aggression against our country.”
In addition, Putin visited Crimea yesterday, on the ninth anniversary of its annexation to Russia, according to Russian public television.
• Schultz welcomes the decision.. and confirms that no one is above the law.
• Putin visits Crimea on the anniversary of its annexation to Russia.