Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the International Criminal Court on Wednesday of obeying orders from the West after the Hague-based organization issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin
SOCHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2023) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the International Criminal Court on Wednesday of obeying orders from the West after the Hague-based organization issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.
"The International Criminal Court is headed by a prosecutor who is a naturalized Anglo-Saxon and who, of course, as we have all seen, is following the orders of his masters, who forbid this body to investigate the crimes of NATO member states and set it on ferreting out spurious pretexts, nonexistent facts, in order to advance the agenda of the so-called collective West," Lavrov said.
The ICC accused Putin last week of a role in alleged war crimes related to Russia's military operation in Ukraine. Specifically, the ICC alleges that Russia unlawfully deported children from conflict zones. Russia is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not recognize the warrant or the ICC jurisdiction.
Separately, former US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Monday that the United States should not cooperate with the ICC after a US National Security Council spokesperson suggested that the White House could back court action. Bolton called the ICC "fundamentally illegitimate" because it lacks a constitutional framework to restrain it.
Washington has long kept its distance from the ICC for fear this would set a precedent for prosecuting Americans for atrocities committed abroad, in countries like Afghanistan. Congress modified legal curbs on engaging with the tribunal in December to allow for evidence sharing on Ukraine. Despite the readiness of other Federal agencies, the Pentagon blocked the Biden administration from reaching out to the court, according to the Politico.
