Ukraine’s Zelenskyy makes surprise visit to International Criminal Court – National | 24CA News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday made an unannounced go to to the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged struggle crimes in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy was on a go to to The Hague, which hosts the ICC in addition to the United Nations’ prime judicial organ, the International Court of Justice. The Dutch metropolis calls itself the worldwide metropolis of peace and justice.
Zelenskyy was welcomed exterior the ICC constructing by the court docket’s president, Poland’s Piotr Hofmanski. Court workers crowded at home windows to get a glimpse of Zelenskyy’s arrival and raised a Ukrainian flag subsequent to its personal flag exterior the constructing.
Judges on the ICC final month introduced they discovered “reasonable grounds to believe” that Putin and his commissioner for youngsters’s rights had been chargeable for the illegal deportation and illegal switch of kids from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
But the probabilities of Putin standing trial in The Hague are distant, The court docket doesn’t have a police pressure to execute its warrants, and the Russian chief is unlikely to journey to any of the ICC’s 123 member states which might be below an obligation to arrest him if they will.
The go to got here a day after he denied that Ukrainian forces had been chargeable for what the Kremlin known as an try to assassinate Putin in a drone assault.
On a go to to Helsinki on Wednesday, Zelenskyy instructed reporters: “We didn’t attack Putin. We leave it to (the) tribunal.”
Ukraine’s Air Force Command mentioned early Thursday that Russian forces attacked a number of Ukrainian areas in a single day with Iranian-made drones. Air raid sirens sounded throughout Ukraine in a single day and explosions had been reported within the southern metropolis of Odesa and the capital, Kyiv.
Ukraine’s army mentioned that in Odesa, three drones _ inscribed “for Moscow” and “for the Kremlin,” referencing an alleged Ukrainian assault on Wednesday _ hit a dorm of an academic facility, however the hearth was shortly put out and there have been no casualties. Kyiv was focused with drones and missiles, its army administration mentioned, in what’s a 3rd airborne assault on the capital in 4 days. All of them had been shot down.
The ICC mentioned in a March 18 assertion that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan has made repeated visits to Ukraine and is organising an workplace in Kyiv to facilitate his ongoing investigations within the nation.
However, the ICC doesn’t have jurisdiction to prosecute Putin for the crime of aggression _ the illegal invasion of one other sovereign nation. The Dutch authorities has supplied to host a court docket that might be established to prosecute the crime of aggression and an workplace is being established to assemble proof.
The new International Center for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression needs to be operational by summer time, the European Union’s judicial cooperation company, Eurojust, mentioned in February.
Zelenskyy’s go to to The Hague got here as questions continued to swirl round Russia’s declare that it foiled an assault by Ukrainian drones on the Kremlin early Wednesday. Moscow branded it an unsuccessful assassination try towards Putin and promised retaliation for what it termed a “terrorist” act.
Air raid sirens went off in Kyiv in a single day, however there have been no instant experiences of any airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital.
Putin wasn’t within the Kremlin on the time and was at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence exterior Moscow, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed Russia’s state news company RIA Novosti.
There was no unbiased verification of the purported assault, which Russia authorities mentioned occurred in a single day however introduced no proof to assist it. Questions additionally arose as to why it took the Kremlin hours to report the incident and why movies of it additionally surfaced later within the day.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned the U.S. was “unable to confirm the authenticity” of Russia’s claims of a Ukrainian assault on Moscow. Asked whether or not the U.S. believed Putin was a lawful goal of any potential Ukrainian strike, Jean-Pierre mentioned that because the begin of the battle, the U.S. was “not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its border.”
Asked whether or not the U.S. was involved that the accusation might need been a false flag operation by Russia to function a pretext for extra aggressive army motion on Ukraine, Jean-Pierre mentioned she didn’t wish to speculate, however added, “Obviously Russia has a history of doing things like this.”
The Netherlands has been a robust supporter of the Ukrainian struggle effort since Russia’s invasion final yr. Among army tools Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s authorities has promised are 14 trendy Leopard 2 tanks it’s shopping for along with Denmark. They are anticipated to be delivered subsequent yr. The Netherlands additionally joined forces with Germany and Denmark to purchase at the least 100 older Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine.
Among different army {hardware}, it additionally despatched two Patriot air protection missile programs and promised two naval minehunter ships in addition to sending army forensic specialists to help struggle crime investigations. Zelenskyy’s go to got here on the day the Dutch bear in mind their struggle useless.
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