President Joe Biden has thrown his support behind the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he believes “committed war crimes”.
“Well, I think it’s justified. But the question is – we don’t recognize it internationally either. But I think it makes a very strong point,” Biden told reporters gathered on the south lawn of the White House on Friday. “He clearly committed war crimes,” he later added.
The ICC on Friday called for Putin’s arrest on suspicion of the unlawful deportation of children and the wrongful transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow began invading its neighbor last year. The US is not a member of the ICC.
The US separately concluded that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine and supports accountability for perpetrators of war crimes, 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 International Criminal Court’s move obliges the court’s 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he enters 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 made independently by the ICC Prosecutor based on the facts before him.”
The International Criminal Court’s move obliges the court’s 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he enters their territory.
The ICC also on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.
The court’s shock announcement came hours after other news items with the potential to significantly affect Russia’s war in Ukraine, including a visit to Moscow by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and more fighter jets for Kiev’s armed forces.
The Chinese leader will be in Russia next week to sign deals that herald a new era in relations.
The United States has accused China of plotting arms shipments to support Russia’s campaign, Beijing claims it has staunchly 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.”
As he left the White House for his home in Delaware, he told reporters that Putin “clearly committed war crimes.”
Residents are seen outside damaged buildings with a cat as the Russo-Ukrainian war rages on in Mariupol’s Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine
A Ukrainian police officer takes cover in front of a burning building hit in a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Ukraine, on Friday
Ukrainian soldiers install a Stugna anti-tank missile system near Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Friday
According to Kiev, more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the February 24, 2022 invasion, many of whom are said to have been placed in institutions and foster homes.
Russia has denied allegations that its forces committed atrocities during its invasion.
Moscow dismissed the orders as “void”. The Kremlin on Friday said the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Putin was outrageous but meaningless in relation to Russia.
“Russia, like a number of other countries, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and therefore the decisions of this court are void from a legal point of view,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev likened the warrants to toilet paper, while Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said they had “no meaning” to Russia.
War-torn Ukraine welcomed the ICC’s announcement, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the “historic decision”.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said Putin is now liable for arrest if he sets foot in any of the court’s more than 120 member states.
He said the warrants were “based on forensic evidence, investigation and the testimonies of these 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 judges found there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Putin’s criminal responsibility and granted Khan’s request for arrest warrants, which were issued on February 22.
The ICC called for Putin’s arrest as the court accused the despot of unlawfully kidnapping Ukrainian children from their homes and deporting them to Russia to hand them over to Russian families. Pictured: Ukrainian children board a train from Ukraine’s Donbass region to Russia on February 22, 2022
President Xi will visit Russia starting Monday, apparently to show his support for Russian President Putin amid heightened 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 allegations.
ICC President Piotr Hofmanski said enforcement of the warrants “depends on international cooperation”.
At a meeting with Putin in mid-February, Lvova-Belova said she adopted a 15-year-old child from the devastated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
“Now I know what it means to be a mother of a child from Donbass – it’s a difficult job, but we love each other, that’s for sure,” she told Putin.
She added that “we evacuated children’s homes to safe areas, arranged rehabilitation and prosthetics for them, and provided them with targeted humanitarian assistance.”
The arrest warrant for Putin, a sitting head of state from a UN Security Council member, is an unprecedented move 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 pictures from a visit to Ukraine alongside empty cots in an empty children’s home and said investigating an alleged child abduction was a “priority”.
“It’s touching,” he said. “You see empty cribs and empty beds next to paintings of these children on the walls.”
Zelenskyi, who met Khan during his visit, welcomed the arrest warrants against his nemesis in Moscow.
“A historic decision from which historic responsibility begins,” said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine’s western allies also welcomed the move.
US President Joe Biden said the warrant was “justified” and “makes a very strong point” while noting that the United States is not a member of the ICC.
“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,” a State Department spokesman said. “The prosecutor of the ICC is an independent actor.”
Britain called the decision “welcome” and the European Union said it was “just the start”. Human Rights Watch said it was a “great day for the many casualties” at the hands of Russian forces.
However, the ICC’s Khan said there were “so many examples of people who thought they were outside the reach of the law”.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said Putin would be arrested if he entered 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 former Yugoslavia and former Liberian President Taylor who have been brought to justice .
Russia denies allegations of war crimes by its troops. Experts say it’s unlikely any suspects will ever be handed over.
As fighting rages on in Ukraine, Kiev welcomed Friday’s news that Slovakia will donate 13 MiG-29 fighter jets.
Ukraine has long requested fighter jets from Western allies, although it is primarily looking for modern US F-16s.