The President of the United States Joe Biden said last night (Friday) that Vladimir Putin "clearly committed war crimes", following the publication of the decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against the Russian president.
The American president said that the court's decision is "justified".
The decision was made after an intergovernmental group accused Putin of responsibility for kidnapping children from Ukraine.
An arrest warrant was also issued against Maria Lavoba-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights for war crimes.
The order means that if one of them tries to enter one of the 123 ICC countries, the authorities of that country will be obliged to arrest them and transfer them to The Hague.
Russia, which does not recognize the court, responded to the orders and said that it is a "shocking and unacceptable" decision, and that the orders are "cancelled and invalid" because it does not recognize its authority.
But Biden, who spoke at a press conference yesterday, said: "I believe the order is justified, but the question is - neither Russia nor the United States is recognized in court - but I think the order provides a very strong statement."
Homeless Ukrainian children (Photo: Reuters)
Russia and the United States were previously signatories to the Rome Statute - the treaty that established the existence of an international criminal court - the United States did not ratify the agreement, and Russia withdrew from it after the court criticized the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
The accusations against Putin
The court claims that Putin bears criminal responsibility for the kidnapping and sending of Ukrainian children to Russia since the invasion in February 2022. Lavoba-Balova is the public face of the Kremlin's program under which children and teenagers are taken to Russia or to territories occupied by it in Ukraine.
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Senior Ukrainian officials welcomed the decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin
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The Court in The Hague (Photo: Reuters)
What is the International Criminal Court?
The International Criminal Court was created two decades ago as a body to investigate war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, within the framework of the 1998 Rome Convention.
Previously, it was the United States Security Council that formed courts to deal with atrocities in places like the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
The International Criminal Court is located in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Many democracies joined the court, including Britain and other allies of the United States.
But Washington kept its distance for fear that the court might one day want to sue senior American officials.
Russia is also not a member of the court.
Ukrainian soldiers in Behemoth (Photo: Reuters)
What does it mean for Putin?
Human rights organizations hailed the order as an important step toward ending Russia's evasion of responsibility for war crimes in Ukraine, but the likelihood of a trial as long as Putin remains in power is very low, because the court cannot prosecute defendants in their absence, and Russia will not extradite its own people.
The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Russia is not a member of the court.
However, the order still deepens his isolation in the West and may limit his movements outside of Russia.
requested by the court.
Joseph Cooney (Photo: Reuters)
Will Putin stand trial?
The court does not have the authority to arrest sitting state leaders or bring them to trial.
Therefore he has to rely on other leaders and governments to act as his "policemen" around the world.
It is almost certain that a hearing will never take place against a suspect who manages to evade capture.
However, last year, the court's prosecutor filed a motion to move forward with confirming charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Joseph Kony -- the founder of Uganda's "God's Resistance Army" -- even though Kony had been on the run from the law for years.
Kony, who turned kidnapped children into soldiers, is accused of murder, enslavement, rape and attacks against the civilian population.
The request is still under review.
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