Kremlin Dismisses ICC Arrest Warrant against Putin
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his alleged involvement in the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Russia has denied committing atrocities since it began what it calls a "military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022 and rejected the ICC's move as null and void. The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the decisions of the ICC had no meaning for their country, including from a legal point of view. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is ready to speak with Putin following the ICC's warrants for his arrest, UN Secretary General's Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing. He said, "The Secretary-General will speak to whomever he needs to speak in order to deal with the issues in front of him."
The Kremlin dismissed the ICC's jurisdiction and considered its decisions null and void. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they considered the formulation of the issue unacceptable, and any decisions of this kind are null and void for Russia in terms of the law.
Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzya criticized the ICC, calling it a biased, politicized, and incompetent international court. He stressed that it is a puppet in the hands of the collective West, always ready to exercise pseudo-justice on order. He said the ICC had done nothing to bring perpetrators to responsibility, especially on the 20th anniversary of the US illegal invasion of Iraq, where the ICC had jurisdiction.