Will Vladimir Putin ever be arrested? The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday March 17 that it had issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president for his responsibility for war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
In a statement, the ICC considered that Vladimir Putin “is presumed responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of population (children) and illegal transfer of population (children) from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”. Furthermore, “the crimes were allegedly committed in occupied Ukrainian territory at least from February 24, 2022,” the ICC continued, adding that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that Vladimir Putin is personally responsible for the aforementioned crimes.” .
Russia rules arrest warrant has no legal value
Senior Russian officials on Friday rejected the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Vladimir Putin, saying it had no legal value for Russia. “Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court, therefore, from the point of view of law, the decisions of this court are null and void,” the doorman told reporters. -spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov. He considered that the very idea of an arrest of Vladimir Putin was “scandalous and unacceptable”.
The spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, spoke of a decision by the ICC “meaningless”, “including from a legal point of view”. “Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and has no obligations under it,” she stressed on Telegram, adding that Moscow “does not cooperate” with the court based in the Netherlands. She warned that “arrest (warrants) issued by the International Criminal Court will be legally insignificant” for Russia.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has compared the ICC arrest warrant to toilet paper. “The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. No need to explain where this paper should be used,” he wrote on Twitter in English.
Arrest warrant ‘is warranted,’ Biden says
On the other hand, for Joe Biden, the arrest warrant issued by the ICC for war crimes is “justified”. The American president, speaking to journalists at the White House, recalled that the institution was not recognized by the United States, but considered that his decision nevertheless sent “a very strong signal”.
For his part, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell indicated that the arrest warrant against the Russian president was “an important decision”. This decision “is only the beginning of the process to bring Russia and its leader to account for the crimes and atrocities they are committing in Ukraine. There can be no impunity”, he said. he argued.
Slovakia to deliver 13 MiG-29s to Ukraine
Slovakia will deliver 13 Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, its prime minister announced on Friday. “We will hand over 13 of our MiG-29s to Ukraine,” Eduard Heger told reporters, adding that the move was “fully coordinated with Poland and Ukraine.” Poland said Thursday that it would send “in the coming days” a first batch of four MiG-29s.
“We are giving these MiGs to Ukraine so that they can protect civilians from the many bombs that fall on their homes and which are the reason why people are dying in Ukraine,” the prime minister said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Eduard Heger for a “powerful package of air weapons and air defense, including MiG aircraft”. kyiv has repeatedly asked its Western allies to send it modern fighter-bombers, hoping to get American F-16s. The Kremlin immediately denounced an “increasing involvement” of NATO countries in the conflict with kyiv and assured that these devices will be “destroyed”.