Mikhail Metzel / AFP
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has gushed about the International Criminal Court just hours before a key meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
INTERNATIONAL – He’s not one slip away. The former Russian president risks being slapped on the knuckles after his new appearance as Russia welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to its soil with great fanfare for the first time since the war began in Ukraine.
As Vladimir Putin prepares to greet his Chinese counterpart on Monday, March 20 in a bid to give “new impetus” to Sino-Russian relations, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has caught the eye with a new release on Vladimir’s arrest warrant Putin late last week.
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After comparing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and his arrest warrant to toilet paper on Friday, Dmitry Medvedev was less tender on Monday when he threatened the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, with an airstrike.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. No need to explain WHERE to use this paper🧻.
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE)
After calling the ICC “crappy and useless,” the former Russian leader, now vice-president of the Russian Security Council, declared: “The tribunal is just a miserable international organization, not the people of a NATO country. So they won’t start a war for that. You are scared. And nobody will regret it. So, magistrate, take a good look at the sky…”.
“All the stupid decisions of the UN and other structures will come to light. The dark twilight of the entire system of international relations is looming on the horizon. Confidence is exhausted,” Dmitry Medvedev said in a telegram message broadcast Monday morning. He is not stingy with flowery words against the ICC, he even believes that “the episode (…) that destroyed the credibility (…) of the court concerns American crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. The court gave a shit and couldn’t do anything.
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“Two weights, two measures”
China also criticized the arrest warrant issued by the ICC on Friday, albeit with more tweezers, calling on Monday for it to avoid “double standards”.
A Chinese reaction that comes just hours before the start of Xi Jinping’s state visit to Russia, the first in nearly four years. “The International Criminal Court must take an objective and impartial position and respect the judicial immunity of heads of state under international law,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, said Monday in response to a question on the issue.
The institution must “avoid politicization and politics of double standards,” he told the press, referring to other military interventions that have not resulted in an arrest warrant for the head of state. Wang Wenbin was questioned about the possibility for Xi Jinping to confirm his state visit to Russia despite this international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.
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“China will maintain its objective and fair stance on the Ukraine crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks,” the spokesman for Chinese diplomacy said shortly before the Chinese president’s country in Russia.
ANATOLIJ ZHDANOV / AFP
Xi Jinping disembarking from the plane that took him to Russia this Monday, March 20, to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
As a reminder, China has not publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has criticized the United States for its arms sales to Ukraine and NATO for failing to address Russian security concerns. But Beijing maintains a supposed part of neutrality by continuing to call for dialogue and respect for the territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine.
Investigations initiated against the ICC in Moscow
At the same time, on Monday Russia announced the opening of criminal investigations against the prosecutor and three judges of the International Criminal Court. These judges, including ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, “issued illegal decisions (aimed at arresting the President of the Russian Federation and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights),” Russia’s investigative committee said in a statement.
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“A criminal investigation has been launched,” it said.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s prosecutor, is being targeted for “initiating a criminal case against a notoriously innocent person, linked to unlawful allegations of committing a serious or particularly serious crime” and “an assault on a representative.” of a foreign state”.
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