US President Joe Biden argued today that Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes and called the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue a warrant for his arrest justified.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin yesterday on charges of illegal displacement of children and illegal transportation of civilians from Ukraine to Russia during the Russian invasion.

“It is clear that he has committed war crimes,” Biden said of his Russian counterpart. “I think it’s justified,” he said, referring to the arrest warrant issued by the ICC, before adding: “Of course, the question is… It is not recognized internationally, neither by us. But I think so sends a strong message».
Neither the United States nor Russia accepts the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The ICC decision obliges the 123 member states to proceed with the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, if he is found on the territory of any of them, with the aim of bringing him to trial in The Hague.

The International Criminal Court also issued an arrest warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian presidential commissioner for children’s rights.

“The warrant is toilet paper,” Medvedev said

Moscow denies accusations that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine. The Kremlin has described the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Putin as “outrageous”, underlining that it is “insignificant” since Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that the arrest warrant against Putin has “no significance,” as “the decisions of the International Criminal Court have no significance for our country, including from a legal point of view.” “Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it,” he added.

The former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, compared the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Putin to paper.

“The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. I don’t need to explain where this paper should be used,” Medvedev wrote in English on Twitter, accompanying his post with a toilet paper icon.