US supports Moscow’s accountability for war crimes in Ukraine after ICC arrest warrant against Putin

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March 17 () –

The United States has supported this Friday that Moscow be held accountable for alleged war crimes in Ukraine after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, for the forced deportation of Ukrainian minors from areas occupied during the war from Ukraine to Russian territory.

“There is no question that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have made it clear that those responsible must be held accountable. The ICC prosecutor is an independent actor and makes his own prosecution decisions based on the evidence before him. We support the accountability of the perpetrators of war crimes,” said Homeland Security spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

However, Watson’s statement, picked up by the American chain , does not express “explicit” support for the agency’s efforts to prosecute Putin for alleged war crimes in the context of the war in Ukraine.

The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Putin, as well as against the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the Russian Federation, Maria Alekseievna Lvova-Belova, for having “reasonable grounds” to believe that they bear “individual criminal responsibility”. for these crimes.

Friday’s arrest warrants represent the first international charges filed since the start of the conflict and come after months of work by a special investigative team under ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan. For its issuance it has been necessary for a preliminary panel of judges to accept the validity of the evidence presented.