The White House says it “remains to be seen” whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will eventually face trial for alleged war crimes after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him on Friday, but the US will continue to help Ukraine avoid Moscow’s crimes to document.
“We will remain committed to assisting Ukraine in documenting, analyzing and preserving the types of evidence of the war crimes, atrocities, crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine at the hands of Russian forces,” the National Security Council said. Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told DailyExpertNews’s Jake Tapper Friday.
The United States does not recognize the ICC, but Kirby said the US “will not abandon our belief that there should be accountability for these war crimes, no matter how long that takes.”
Kirby said the US wants “all perpetrators of war crimes to be held accountable,” but declined to say whether US President Joe Biden would tell police to arrest Putin if he came to the US. He said it was “very, very unlikely” that the Russian leader would travel to the United States.
When asked if the US would ask other countries such as Israel or India — which also do not recognize the ICC — to arrest the Russian leader, Kirby said it should be “sovereign decisions that the leaders make”.
To remind: Russia also does not recognize the ICC, and the court does not conduct trials in absentia, so Putin would have to be handed over by Moscow or arrested abroad to be charged by the court.
Moscow’s ties to Beijing: Tapper also asked Kirby if there was any information to suggest that China has decided to give Russia weapons to aid in the country’s attack on Ukraine.
“We don’t believe they’ve still taken it off the table, but we also don’t see any indication, any confirmation, that they’re going that way or that … they’ve sent deadly weapons,” Kirby said.
“We don’t think it’s in their best interest. Frankly, it should be in no one’s interest to help Mr. Putin continue to slaughter innocent Ukrainians,” he added.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will fly to Moscow next week to meet Putin on his first visit to Russia since Putin launched his devastating invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.
The visit will be seen as strong evidence of Beijing’s support for Moscow in Western capitals, where leaders have become increasingly wary of the two nations’ deepening partnership as war rages in Europe.
DailyExpertNews’s Nectar Gan and Anna Chernova contributed to this report.
