The US Secretary of State wants to encourage a possible extradition of Putin.
According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the United States currently has no indication that China is providing Russia with significant military support in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Washington “to this day has not seen them cross the red line,” Blinken said Wednesday at a hearing before a US Senate committee.
The chief diplomat also indicated that the US would agree to the arrest and extradition of Russian President Vladimir Putin based on the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Interested in a quick end to the war”
Blinken has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that China was considering complying with Russia’s requests for arms deliveries. There is currently no evidence of Beijing handing over deadly weapons, the foreign minister said before the Senate. However, China’s diplomatic, military and “to some extent material” support for Russia “certainly” runs counter to US interest in a quick end to the war in Ukraine. Chinese head of state and party leader Xi Jinping only left Russia on Wednesday after a three-day state visit.
Responding to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham’s comment that the US should arrest Russian President Putin if he ever stepped onto US soil, Blinken pointed to other states. Referring to the International Criminal Court, he said: “I think that everyone who is part of the court and has obligations must fulfill their obligations.”
Like Russia, the US is not an ICC contracting state. The US administration under former President Donald Trump even imposed sanctions on the court’s then chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, for investigating US military actions in Afghanistan. The US government under Joe Biden lifted sanctions in 2021.