International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Putin ‘outrageous, unacceptable’: Kremlin

ANKARA

Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and considers its decisions “null and void,” the Kremlin said on Friday after the court issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin.

“We consider … the issue outrageous and unacceptable. Russia, as well as several other states, do not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for Russia in terms of law,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

He refused to comment on a question about whether the ICC warrants would stop Putin from visiting countries that recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

Ex-President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, also rejected the ICC’s step against Putin.

“The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used,” Medvedev wrote on Twitter, ending the sentence with a toilet paper emoji.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the ICC’s decisions hold “no meaning” for Russia, “including from a legal point of view.”

Along with Putin, the ICC has also issued arrest warrants for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the presidential commissioner for children’s rights, for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

• Dmitry Medvedev
• International Criminal Court
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
• Russian President Vladimir Putin
• warrants of arrest