US to approach ICC to discuss allegations of war crimes against Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied its forces have engaged in war crimes, or forcibly taken Ukrainian children.
The delegation led by Representative Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, will talk with ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan - the latest sign of improving ties between Washington and the world's top war crimes court, reported Reuters. McCaul said "30,000 children have been taken away from their families and indoctrinated in Russia." Washington was looking at how it can "help The Hague gather more and collect more evidence and intelligence to prove the case against Putin," he said. The United States is not a member of the court, along with major powers including China and Russia, but US Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced stop off at the court in June, the first of its kind.
In July, US President Joe Biden asked his administration to begin sharing evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the ICC. Washington imposed sanctions against top ICC officials under the Trump administration and then lifted them under US President Joe Biden. It has supported the ICC's work in investigating war crimes in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February of 2022.
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