Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
“On 22 February 2023, I submitted requests to ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II for arrest warrants in the context of the situation in Ukraine,” Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, said in a statement distributed via email, of which we received a copy. On Friday, the Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants. for the following two persons:
Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation. and Ms. Maria Lvova Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
Based on the evidence gathered and analyzed by my office pursuant to its independent investigations, the Pre-Trial Chamber has confirmed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that President Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova bear criminal responsibility for the illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainians. Children from occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, contrary to Article 8(2)(a)(7) and Article 8(2)(b)(8) of the Rome Statute.
Incidents identified by my office include the removal of at least hundreds of children from orphanages and child care homes. We have since claimed that many of these children were adopted into the Russian Federation. The law in the Russian Federation has been changed, through presidential decrees issued by President Putin, to expedite the granting of Russian citizenship, making it easier for Russian families to adopt.
My office claims that these actions, among other things, show an intent to remove these children permanently from their country. At the time of these deportations, Ukrainian children were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
We also emphasized in our application that most of the acts in this pattern of deportations took place in the context of the aggressive actions committed by the Russian military forces against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine that began in 2014.
For his part, US President Joe Biden said that the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was "justified" and expressed support for the investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Putin.
According to CNN, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova Belova.
"Well, I think that's justified," Biden told reporters before leaving the White House for Delaware. "But the question is, it hasn't been recognized internationally.. Even we haven't recognized it either, but I think it's a very strong point."
Biden did not directly respond to a question about whether Putin should be prosecuted for war crimes, but said the Russian president "clearly committed war crimes."
  In the same context, the White House affirmed that the United States of America supports "holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable," and Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the US National Security Council, said in a statement: "There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have made it clear that it must hold those responsible accountable.”
She added, "The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is an independent official and makes his own decisions based on the evidence presented to him," and continued, "We support holding the perpetrators of war crimes accountable."