This is how Russian and Ukrainian politicians react to Putin’s arrest warrant

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The ICC said on Friday that Putin is allegedly responsible for the illegal deportation of children and resettlement from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. An arrest warrant was also issued against the children’s rights commissioner in Putin’s presidential administration, Maria Lwova-Belowa.

The Kiev leadership welcomed the decision of the International Criminal Court. Advisor to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mikhailo Podoliak, said on Friday that the decision from The Hague was “a clear signal to the (Russian) elites what will happen to them and why it will not be ‘like before'”. Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the step was “just the beginning”.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also welcomed the decision. “International criminals will be held accountable for child theft and other international crimes.”

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said in online media: “The world has received a signal that the Russian regime is criminal and its leadership and henchmen will be held accountable.” This is “a historic decision for Ukraine and the entire system of international law”.

Moscow has described the arrest warrant as “meaningless”. “The decisions of the International Criminal Court are meaningless for our country, also from a legal point of view,” said the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday in the online service Telegram, without naming Putin. Moscow will “not cooperate with the court”.

Russia is “not a contractual partner” of the ICC and has “no obligations” towards it. The ICC’s move was outrageous and unacceptable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

“Such allegations are simply outrageous, they don’t even fall under the definition of absurd,” said prominent foreign politician Leonid Slutsky shortly after the news from The Hague became known.