Biden supports ICC arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for war crimes
President Joe Biden has lent his support to the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he believes has “committed war crimes”.
‘Well, I think it’s justified. But the question is: we don’t recognize it internationally either. But I think he has a very strong point,” Biden told reporters gathered on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. “He has clearly committed war crimes,” he added later.
On Friday, the ICC called for Putin’s arrest on suspicion of illegal deportation of children and illegal transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor began last year. The United States is not a member of the ICC.
The United States separately concluded that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine and supports accountability for war crimes perpetrators, a State Department spokesman said.
President Joe Biden said he believes the International Criminal Court’s decision in The Hague to indict Putin was ‘justified’
The ICC measure obliges the court’s 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.
“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,” they added.
“This was a decision that the ICC prosecutor made independently on the basis of the facts before him.”
The ICC measure obliges the court’s 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant on Friday for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.
The court’s surprise notice came hours after other news with the potential to significantly affect Russia’s war against Ukraine, including a visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and more fighter jets for Kiev forces.
The Chinese leader will be in Russia next week to sign agreements that usher in a new era of ties.
The United States has accused China of considering arms shipments to support Russia’s campaign, claims that Beijing has strongly denied.
A US-backed report by Yale University researchers last month said Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in at least 43 camps and other facilities as part of a “large-scale systematic network.”
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for his Delaware home, he said Putin “clearly committed war crimes.”
Residents are seen outside damaged buildings with a cat as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory of Mariupol.
A Ukrainian police officer takes cover in front of a burning building that came under Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Ukraine, on Friday.
Ukrainian soldiers install a ‘Stugna’ anti-tank missile system near Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on Friday.
More than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the invasion on February 24, 2022, according to Kyiv, with many reportedly being placed in institutions and foster homes.
Russia has denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its invasion.
Moscow dismissed the orders as ‘void’. The Kremlin said on Friday that the ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin was outrageous but nonsensical in relation to Russia.
“Russia, like a number of different countries, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court, and therefore, from a legal point of view, the decisions of this court are void,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. .
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the orders to toilet paper, while Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said they “do not make sense” for Russia.
War-torn Ukraine welcomed the ICC announcement, with President Volodymyr Zelensky hailing the “historic decision.”
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said Putin could now be arrested if he set foot in any of the court’s more than 120 member states.
He said the arrest warrants were “based on forensic evidence, scrutiny and what was said by those two individuals.”
‘The evidence we presented focused on crimes against children. Children are the most vulnerable part of our society,” Khan said.
The ICC said the judges found there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Putin’s criminal responsibility and approved Khan’s request for the arrest warrants, which were issued on February 22.
The ICC called for Putin’s arrest as the court accused the despot of illegally kidnapping Ukrainian children from their homes and deporting them to Russia to give them to Russian families. Pictured: Ukrainian children board a train from the Donbas region of Ukraine to Russia on February 22, 2022.
President Xi will visit Russia starting Monday in an apparent show of support for Russian President Putin amid rising east-west tensions over the conflict in Ukraine.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova (pictured with Putin in February), Russia’s ‘Child Rights Commissioner’, on similar charges.
ICC President Piotr Hofmanski said the execution of the warrants “depends on international cooperation.”
During a meeting with Putin in mid-February, Lvova-Belova said she had adopted a 15-year-old boy from the devastated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
“Now I know what it means to be the mother of a child from Donbas: it is a difficult job, but we love each other, that’s for sure,” she told Putin.
He added that “we evacuate the homes of the children to safe areas, organize rehabilitation and prosthetics for them and provide them with targeted humanitarian assistance.”
The arrest warrant for Putin, a serving head of state or member of the UN Security Council, is an unprecedented step for the ICC.
Established in 2002, the ICC is a court of last resort for the world’s worst crimes, when countries are unable or unwilling to prosecute suspects.
Prosecutor Khan launched an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine just days after the Russian invasion.
Khan recently posted photos of a visit to Ukraine along with empty cots in an empty child care home, saying investigating the alleged child abduction was a “priority.”
“It’s touching,” he said. “You see empty cribs and empty beds juxtaposed with paintings of those children on the walls.”
Zelensky, who met Khan on his visit, welcomed the arrest warrants for his nemesis in Moscow.
“A historic decision from which a historic responsibility will begin,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine’s western allies also applauded the move.
US President Joe Biden said the order was “justified” and “makes a very strong point”, while noting that the US is not a member of the ICC.
“There is no question that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have made it clear that those responsible must be held accountable,” a State Department spokesman said. ‘The ICC Prosecutor is an independent actor.’
Britain called the decision “welcome” and the European Union said it was “just the beginning.” Human Rights Watch said it was a “big day for the many victims” of Russian forces.
However, the ICC’s Khan said there were “plenty of examples of people who thought they were outside the reach of the law.”
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said Putin could be arrested if he set foot in any of the court’s member states.
“Look at (Slobodan) Milosevic or Charles Taylor or (Radovan) Karadzic or (Ratko) Mladic,” he said, referring to a number of war criminals from the former Yugoslavia and former Liberian President Taylor who have faced justice.
Russia denies accusations of war crimes by its troops. Experts have said it is unlikely he will ever hand over the suspects.
As fighting continues in Ukraine, kyiv welcomed news on Friday that Slovakia will donate 13 MiG-29 fighter jets.
Ukraine has long requested fighter jets from Western allies, though it is mainly seeking modern US-made F-16s.