Russia slams US hypocrisy in ICC probe of Israel, arrest warrant for Putin
Russia has censured the United States for hypocrisy in opposing an International Criminal Court investigation into Israel’s crimes in its months-long war on the besieged Gaza Strip and supporting an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin issued by the same court.
In a post on Telegram on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that “Washington fully supported, if not stimulated, the issuance of ICC warrants against the Russian leadership.”
However, “the American political system does not recognize the legitimacy of this structure in relation to itself and its satellites,” she said, denouncing such a position as intellectually “absurd.”
Back in March 2023, The Hague-based ICC issued the arrest warrant, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. It said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility.
Last year, US President Joe Biden said the ICC decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin was justified.
The Kremlin has already called the move outrageous and legally void, as Russia is not a signatory to the treaty that created the ICC. Russia withdrew from the ICC treaty under a directive signed by Putin in 2016.
US lawmakers are in the process of drafting a bill aimed at responding to the ICC in case it decides to issue arrest warrants against high-ranking Israeli officials accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.
On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Washington did not support the ICC investigation, questioning the competency of the tribunal. “We don't believe that they have the jurisdiction,” she added.
While Israel is not a member of the ICC, Palestine was admitted as a member state in 2015.
The ICC, which can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression, is currently conducting investigations into reported war crimes committed by the Israeli military.
It has been looking into accusations of war crimes involving the Israeli military factions since 2014.
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