Washington’s reaction to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin seems schizophrenic, Moscow’s diplomatic mission in the country has said. The embassy added that the US, while uncooperative with the court in cases that involve Americans, was quick to welcome its latest decision regarding Russia.
In a post published on Telegram on Friday, the Russian Embassy said that the position of the US is “reminiscent of sluggish schizophrenia.” The post highlighted the fact that while American officials have praised the ICC’s decision to charge Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, they stress that the US is not bound by the court.
“For the sake of its own geopolitical interests Washington supports the unprecedented legal bacchanalia unleashed by the ICC, knowing full well that Russia, like the United States, does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC,” the embassy said, adding that the ICC’s attempt to investigate America’s alleged war crimes in Afghanistan in 2020 resulted in the US placing sanctions on then-Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, US President Joe Biden said he believes that the ICC’s decision regarding his Russian counterpart is “justified,” as Putin “clearly committed war crimes.” He hastened to add, however, that the court is “not recognized internationally by us, either.”
The US withdrew from the ICC in 2002, passing a law that authorizes “all means necessary and appropriate” – including military force – to release any American or national of an allied country should they be detained by the court.
Commenting on the ICC’s latest move and its claims that Putin and Lvova-Belova are responsible for the “unlawful transfer” of children from Ukraine to Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted on Friday that “Russia, like many other states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court.”
Peskov described the arrest warrants as “outrageous and unacceptable,” dismissing them as “null and void from the legal standpoint.
Besides the US and Russia, a number of other nations do not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, including China, India, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.