EU on anniversary of ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin: “No escape for perpetrators”

That’s according to a statement by the EU Delegation to the OSCE, read out before the Permanent Council in Vienna on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“The concluding date of Russia’s Presidential elections – 17th March, marked  one year since the ICC issued arrest warrants against Russia’s President Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova over their alleged responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, as well as for the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children within Ukrainian territories, illegally and temporarily occupied by Russia,” the statement reads.

The Delegation notes that international monitoring mechanisms, including the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the UN Commission of Inquiry, as well as the reports of ODIHR and of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism expert mission, “have found evidence concerning this issue”.

“The ICC arrest warrants have sent the clear message that there will be no escape for any perpetrators and accomplices of Russia’s crimes in Ukraine. We reaffirm our full support for the work of the ICC and reiterate that the pursuit of accountability and justice for all crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine will remain a key priority for the EU,” the statement concludes.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of illegal deportation of children and illegal removal of Ukrainians to Russia.

In March 2024, the newly elected head of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, expressed her belief that Putin would eventually be prosecuted for war crimes against Ukraine.