Biden justifies an ICC arrest warrant against Russian counterpart, Putin, saying he committed war crimes

The case brought by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin “makes a very strong point,” said President Joe Biden on Friday as he expressed support for the investigation into Putin’s alleged war crimes.

“While I believe it to be justified, Biden asked whether or not the United States also acknowledged it on a global scale.  Yet, I believe it makes a powerful point.”

Putin “certainly committed war crimes,” Biden subsequently told reporters.

For having committed the alleged crimes directly alongside others and for “his refusal to exercise control over civilian and military subordinates who committed the offences,” the court stated that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility.”
 
The ICC charges, which concern an alleged practice, are the first ones to be formally brought against Moscow officials since the start of that country’s war on Ukraine last year.
 
The ICC’s “historic” decision was hailed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the Kremlin stated that it finds “the very posing of the question outrageous and unacceptable.”