The US President, Joe Biden on Friday has supported International Criminal Court’s case against Russian President Vladimir Putin over his role in the alleged war crimes – abduction of Ukrainian children.
‘I think it’s justified,’ Biden said, ‘but the question is, it’s not recognized internationally by us, either. But I think it makes a very strong point.’
Biden later told reporters that Putin had ‘clearly committed war crimes.’
The ICC charges, which relate to an alleged practice reported on by EsB and others, are the first to be formally lodged against officials in Moscow since its war on Ukraine began last year.
The court said there ‘are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility’ for the alleged crimes, for having committed them directly alongside others, and for ‘his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts’.
Neither the US nor Russia are members of the ICC, which on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the ICC for its ‘historic’ decision, but the Kremlin said it considers ‘the very posing of the question outrageous and unacceptable.’
There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable.
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was among other international leaders who welcomed the decision, saying on Saturday that it showed ‘nobody is above the law’.
‘The ICC Prosecutor is an independent actor and makes his own prosecutorial decisions based on the evidence before him. We support accountability for perpetrators of war crimes,’ National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
The warrant is unlikely to lead to a trial. Putin cannot be tried in absentia, and can only be arrested if he travels to one of the 123 countries that are members of the ICC.
