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European countries should arrest Vladimir Putin and hand him over to the International Criminal Court when the Russian president visits their countries, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Blinken’s comments, made in response to a series of questions, Follow last week’s court decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin accusing him of being personally responsible for kidnapping children from Ukraine – the first time the global court has issued an arrest warrant for a leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
“Would you encourage our European allies to extradite him?” Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina asked Blinken during a budget hearing.
“Anyone who is a party in court and has obligations should fulfill their obligations,” Blinken said.
Putin is unlikely to be visiting hostile European countries any time soon, especially in light of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant – a decision that has been praised both for taking a stand against Putin and criticized for potentially opening up diplomatic avenues to reaching a political solution that ends the fighting.
The ICC issues an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine
During the hearing, Blinken defended the Biden administration’s $6.8 trillion budget proposal to Congress, saying it was necessary for the United States to address the “imminent threat” posed by Russia and the “long-term challenge” posed by China and simultaneously tackle climate change and migration.
President Biden earlier this month defied Republican calls to downsize the government with a budget that would increase spending on the Pentagon and social programs while raising taxes on high-income earners and businesses.
“The post-Cold War world is over, and intense competition is ongoing to determine what comes next,” Blinken told a Senate panel on appropriations. “This budget will help us advance that vision and solve the problems that matter most to the American people.”
Graham, in a remark opening the hearing, said he specifically wanted to increase funding “to counter China around the world, particularly in its backyard.”
The Ukraine war is Antony Blinken’s defining moment
The $63.1 billion request from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development would increase funding for the Asia-Pacific region by 18 percent, Blinken said, and help the United States “outperform” China.
The pitch appeared intended to counter some Republican critics that the billions of dollars the United States is spending on military and economic aid to Ukraine could undermine the long-term strategic goal of countering China.
“They want us to think we can have an endless proxy war in Ukraine, and somehow this isn’t going to affect our ability to stop China from invading Taiwan,” Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said in a speech last month. “They want us to believe that our military power is infinite, that American power has no real limits.”
The Pentagon, which is bringing together Russia and China, is seeking billions for long-range weapons
Blinken argued that the State Department’s budget would enable Washington to address all of its key challenges, which he divided into two “sets.”
“The first group represents our strategic competitors — the immediate, acute threat of Russia’s autocracy and aggression, most destructive of its brutal war on Ukraine… and the long-term challenge of the People’s Republic of China,” Blinken said.
“The second group consists of shared global tests, including the climate crisis, migration, food and energy insecurity, and pandemics, all of which directly impact the lives and livelihoods of Americans and all peoples around the world,” he added.
One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed – big and small – since Russia launched its full-scale invasion a year ago. They have learned to survive and support each other in extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed apartment complexes and destroyed marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Attrition: Over the past year, the war has morphed from an invasion on multiple fronts that included Kiev in the north to a conflict of attrition largely centered on a vast territory to the east and south. Follow the 600-mile frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces and get a glimpse of where the fighting was concentrated.
Living apart for a year: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law barring military-age men from leaving the country, has forced millions of Ukrainian families to make agonizing choices about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives no longer are recognizable. This is what a train station full of farewells looked like last year.
Deepening of the global divide: President Biden has dubbed the reinvigorated Western alliance forged during the war a “global coalition,” but a closer look suggests the world is far from settled on the issues raised by the Ukraine war to be united. There is ample evidence that efforts to isolate Putin have failed and that sanctions have not stopped Russia thanks to its oil and gas exports.
Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict
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