WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2023) The United States is providing its evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite concerns from the Defense Department, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden ordered the US government to share its information with the ICC in recent days, after months of declining to provide it, the report said, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The Defense Department has been reluctant to provide the information due to concerns it could lead to the prosecution of US troops, the report said.
The United States is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, which established the ICC. The Defense Department has said it is concerned that helping the ICC to prosecute Russians - Russia is also not a party to the Rome Statute - could set a standard for the entity to have jurisdiction over US troops, the report said.
However, the move to share information with the ICC was backed by the Justice and State departments, the report added.
In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for allegedly taking children out of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the ICC is essentially a "puppet" of the so-called collective West. The Kremlin has also denied the legitimacy of the ICC's decision in Russia, given that it is not a state party to the organization.
