Russia calls US' reaction to ICC's warrant against Putin as ‘schizophrenic’

After the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow’s diplomatic mission in the country said Washington’s reaction to the ICC's "arrest warrant" against Putin seems "schizophrenic".

Underscoring the relationship between the ICC and the US, the embassy said that though the US is uncooperative with the court, this time it was quick to welcome the decision of Putin's arrest.

Russia refers US' reaction to ICC's warrant as ‘schizophrenic’

On Telegram, the Russian Embassy said that the position of the US is "reminiscent of sluggish schizophrenia." The post further mentioned that while American officials have praised the ICC’s decision to charge Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, the same US is not bound by the court. It further said that Washington is showing such double standards only for the sake of its own geopolitical interests. Recalling the US army's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2020, the embassy asserted that the same US had sanctioned former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda when the Court had tried to investigate America’s alleged war crimes.

"For the sake of its own geopolitical interests, Washington supports the unprecedented legal bacchanalia unleashed by the ICC, knowing full well that Russia, like the United States, does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC," the embassy said, adding that the ICC’s attempt to investigate America’s alleged war crimes in Afghanistan in 2020 resulted in the US placing sanctions on then-Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

Biden justifies ICC's decision to arrest Putin

After the news of an arrest warrant against Putin broke, US President Joe Biden addressed the media on Friday, saying that he believed that the International Court of Justice's decision to arrest the Kremlin leader was "justified," as Putin "clearly committed war crimes." However, he quickly mentioned that the court is "not recognised internationally by us, either."

It was in the year 2002 when America withdrew from the ICC, it passed legislation that allows "all means necessary and appropriate"—including military force—to release any American or national of an allied country should they be detained by the court.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that arrest warrants against Putin are "outrageous and unacceptable," and Russia dismisses them as "null and void from a legal standpoint."

(Image: AP)