Biden called the ICC warrant for Putin’s arrest “justified.”

President Biden on Friday said he considered the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Russian leader Vladimir Putin “justified” and that he “clearly committed war crimes” in Ukraine.

The President, however, noted that the United States and a number of other countries do not recognize the authority of the ICC.

“I think it’s justified, but the issue is that we also don’t recognize it internationally.” — Biden, 80 told reporters before leaving the White House for a weekend trip to Delaware.

“But I think it’s a very strong argument,” he added.

Asked if he thinks Putin should be tried for war crimes related to his bloody invasion of Ukraine, the president did not answer directly, but said it was clear that the Russian leader had committed war crimes.

“He clearly committed war crimes,” Biden told reporters.

On Friday, The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin on suspicion of illegal kidnapping and deportation of children, as well as illegal transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia. This is the first ICC warrant related to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes,” a court in the Netherlands said.

The warrant follows a year-long investigation by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan of war crimes and genocide committed by Russian forces in the former Soviet state.

The Hague also issued a warrant to children’s rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova for the same crimes that Putin is accused of.

However, the ICC does not have its own police force capable of making arrests.

Russia and Ukraine are also not members of the 123-member ICC.

On Friday, the Kremlin criticized the warrants and said it would not cooperate with the ICC.

“We consider the very formulation of the question outrageous and unacceptable. Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of the law, ”wrote Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Vice President Kamala Harris said at the Munich Security Conference last month that the US had established that Russia had committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

“Their actions are an attack on our common values, an attack on our common humanity,” Harris said, citing evidence of executions, rape and torture. “The United States has officially determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.”

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