U.S. President Joe Biden has welcomed the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant against his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The ICC accused President Putin of committing war crimes in Ukraine – something President Biden said the Russian leader had “clearly” done, BBC reported.
The claims focus on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow’s invasion in 2022. Moscow has denied the allegations and denounced the warrants as “outrageous”.
It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move, as the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects without the cooperation of a country’s government, BBC reported. Russia is not an ICC member country, meaning the court has no authority there.
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However, it could affect Putin in other ways, such as being unable to travel internationally. He could now be arrested if he sets foot in any of the court’s 123 member states.
Putin is the third president to be issued with an ICC arrest warrant. President Biden said that while the court also held no sway in the U.S., the issuing of the warrant “makes a very strong point.”
His administration had already “formally determined” that Russia had committed war crimes during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with Vice-President Kamala Harris saying in February that those involved would “be held to account.”
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