Add Category
US President Joe Biden has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has clearly committed war crimes and the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for him was justified.
- The International Criminal Court earlier called for Russia's president Vladimir Putin's arrest
- US president Joe Biden stated that Mr Putin 'clearly committed war crimes'
- The United States and Russia are not members of the ICC
The ICC had earlier called for Mr Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow's invasion began of its neighbour last year.
The United States is not a member of the ICC.
"He's clearly committed war crimes," Mr Biden told reporters, referring to Mr Putin.
"Well, I think it's justified," Mr Biden added, referring to the warrant.
"But the question is — it's not recognised internationally by us either. But I think it makes a very strong point."
The United States separately has concluded that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine and supports accountability for perpetrators of war crimes, a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
"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," the spokesperson added.
"This was a decision the ICC prosecutor reached independently based on the facts before him."
The ICC move obligates the court's 123 member states to arrest Mr Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.
The ICC also issued a warrant on Friday for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, on the same charges.
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."
Russia has denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its invasion.
The Kremlin said the ICC arrest warrant against Mr Putin was outrageous, but meaningless with respect to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia found the very questions raised by the ICC "unacceptable".
Asked if Mr Putin now feared travelling to countries that recognised the ICC, Mr Peskov said: "I have nothing to add on this subject. That's all we want to say."
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel that the arrest warrants had "no meaning for our country" as it is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the world's permanent war crimes tribunal.
Reuters