Biden and Zelenskyy Welcome Putin Arrest Warrant Issued by ICC

Facts

• US and Ukrainian leaders Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy both welcomed a decision from the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin on Friday. Putin, as well as Russia’s commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, are accused of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine.¹
• In his comments to reporters on Friday, Biden said the ICC decision was 'justified' and that Putin has 'clearly committed war crimes in Ukraine.' Biden said: 'I think it’s justified, but the question is it’s not recognized internationally by us either. But I think it makes a very strong point.'¹
• Zelenskyy meanwhile said it was a 'historic' decision. 'Today, we have a fundamental decision of international justice,' he said. 'The historic decision, from which historical responsibility will begin. The head of the terrorist state and another Russian official have officially become suspects in a war crime.'²
• In addition to the US, neither Russia nor Ukraine are party to the ICC, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the arrest warrant 'outrageous and unacceptable.' Peskov said: 'Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of law.'¹
• Meanwhile, as Saturday marked nine years since Russia annexed Crimea, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry called on Russia to withdraw from all Ukrainian territories, denouncing the referendums held last year in the regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk — recognized as 'illegal' by Kyiv and the West. This came as Putin attended an event in Sevastopol, the peninsula's largest city.³
• Elsewhere, US officials — including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley — held a call with Ukrainian counterparts on Friday to discuss Ukraine's battlefield situation and ongoing needs in terms of weapons and equipment. Zelenskyy reportedly joined toward the end of the call.⁴
• On the ground, Ukrainian officials reported that one civilian was killed and three more were injured in Russian attacks on Donetsk in the past day. Meanwhile, three civilians were also reported injured in attacks on the Kherson region. Russian attacks were also recorded in the regions of Lviv, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, as well as Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, without additional reports of civilian casualties. Pro-Russia officials said two civilians were killed and two more were injured in Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk during the same time period.⁵

Sources: ¹New York Post, ²Newsweek, ³CNN, ⁴Ukrinform (a) and ⁵Ukrinform (b).

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Bbc news. Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin has clearly committed war crimes in Ukraine. This is a welcome move from the ICC, and hopefully, justice is able to be dealt in a timely manner, in spite of the obstacles.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Tass. Not only is the ICC void in Russia, but it's also clearly a biased and politicized court that only serves the collective West. The fact that this decision came in the lead-up to the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War is an irony that's evaded them.

Predictions