The Kremlin considers the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin “null and void”. On this subject informed TASS in reference to the Russian leader’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
“We consider the mere question of asking the question to be outrageous and unacceptable, Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, therefore, any such decision is null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of legal vision,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague is the only permanent international court of criminal justice in the world, established in 2002 under the Rome Statute of 1998, which was signed by 123 countries. It investigates “serious violations” of the Geneva Conventions. ICC participants do not include, among others, Russia, China and the United States.
Earlier it became known that the ICC in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against the President of Russia and the Russian Ombudsman for Children Maria Lvova-Belova. The document states that “Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin would be responsible for the war crime (in the form of) the illegal deportation of the population (children) and the illegal transfer of the population (children) from the (taken under control) regions of the ‘Ukraine to Russia. Russian.’ Maria Lvova-Belova is also suspected of this, follows from a post on the court’s website.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect is responsible for the war crime (in the form of) unlawful deportation of the population,” the ICC said.
“I heard this news now, in the car. It is great that the international community has appreciated the work of helping children, that we are not leaving them in war zones, that we are abducting them, that we let us create comfortable conditions for them, that we surround them with caring and loving people. There were sanctions against me from all countries, now there is an arrest warrant, I wonder what will happen next, “said commented Lvova-Belova on the decision of the ICC.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the possible consequences of the ICC’s decision, recalled that Moscow “is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and has no obligations thereunder”.
