Biden Agrees With Putin Arrest Warrant but Admits It’s Mostly Symbolic

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes, which President Joe Biden supported, stating that it was “justified.” However, he noted that the move was primarily symbolic because neither Russia nor the United States acknowledges the ICC’s jurisdiction.

Biden added that Putin “clearly committed war crimes,” while ICC President Piotr Hofmanski revealed the reason for the warrant in a video statement. The warrant was issued for the “alleged war crimes of deportation of children from Ukrainian occupied territories into the Russian Federation,” which violated international law prohibiting the transfer of civilians from occupied areas.

Despite enthusiastic praise for the warrant from Ukraine’s foreign minister, the Kremlin deemed the decision “outrageous and unacceptable” and declared it null and void because Russia is not bound by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar allegations.

While the ICC’s judges have issued the warrants, it will be up to the international community to enforce them because the ICC has no police force of its own, and Russia has made it clear that it has no intention of cooperating with them.

Source: The Epoch Times