MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was very curious that the United States appeared ready to resort to sanctions against the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense chief and three Hamas leaders over war allegations. crimes.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement released after more than seven months of war in Gaza that he had reasonable grounds to believe the five men “bear criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes alleged against humanity.
WE President Joe Biden called the legal move “outrageous,” while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it could jeopardize negotiations on a hostage deal and ceasefire.
Some U.S. lawmakers have called on the United States to impose sanctions on the court. In 2020, the United States imposed sanctions on an ICC prosecutor.
“In general, the situation is more than curious in terms of the attitude and willingness of the United States to use sanctions methods even against the ICC,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In March last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes.
Russia says the arrest warrant for Putin is a petty attempt by the West to smear Russia’s reputation and denies war crimes in Ukraine. Ukraine says Russia committed war crimes. Russia says the West ignored Ukraine’s crimes, an accusation kyiv denies.
Biden said last year that the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin was justified. The United States has shared details of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the ICC.
Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, and Moscow therefore does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
“We are not parties to the relevant statute, therefore we do not recognize the jurisdiction of the court,” Peskov said.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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