ICC decision to 'arrest' Putin irrelevant for Moscow: Russia FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Mar 2023 20:29
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The ICC accused President Putin for being responsible for the alleged "unlawful deportation" of Ukrainian children.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Sputnik)

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the International Criminal Court's decision to "arrest" Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova was legally irrelevant to Russia.

"The decisions of the ICC have no significance for our country, including from a legal point of view," Zakharova wrote on Telegram while noting that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and has no obligations under it.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov further condemned the decision, saying the formulation of an "arrest warrant" issued against the Russian head of State is unacceptable, that Russia does not recognize ICC jurisdiction, and any of its decisions are null and void from the legal point of view.

"We consider the very formulation of the question outrageous and unacceptable. Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for the Russian Federation from the legal point of view," Peskov said.

This comes after the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber II announced earlier today that it issued arrest warrants against Putin and Lvova-Belova.

It accused President Putin for being responsible for the alleged "unlawful deportation" of Ukrainian children.

It also issued a warrant against Lvova-Belova on similar charges.

Since its inception, the ICC has always been biased as far as the investigation of crimes and the prosecution of individuals is concerned.

The West has orchestrated wars all across the Global South that have caused millions of children to go hungry, malnourished, displaced, and even killed, including in Yemen where the US-led blockade has caused over two million children to suffer from acute malnutrition.

Yet, these issues have never been taken into consideration at the Hague-based ICC.