Ukraine War in Russia Latest News: Putin ‘clearly’ committed war crimes, says Biden after ICC arrest warrant

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the main focus of the Ukrainian armed forces remains on the heavily contested areas in Donbass.

“I held a staff meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief today. The main focus is on the fighting in Donbass: Avdiyivka, Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Maryinka, Bilohorivka,” he said.

Mr. Zelensky added: “The main focus is on our soldiers, how we support our brigades, how we can give them more strength, more capabilities, more weapons and protection.”

“As always, the Commander-in-Chief, Intelligence and Task Force commanders reported. The commander of the Khortytsia group, General Syrsky, the commander of the Tavria group, General Tarnavsky. It is these groups that operate in Donbass,” he said.

Any Chinese-brokered ceasefire would legitimize the illegal takeover of Ukrainian territory and would receive no US support, the White House said:

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia Monday through Wednesday in apparent support for Vladimir Putin, officials in Beijing have confirmed.

The two leaders are likely to discuss plans to circumvent sanctions and China’s interest in a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine, according to the US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War.

It noted that the Kremlin has said that both presidents “intend to sign unspecified bilateral documents and discuss topical issues in the comprehensive Russia-China partnership.”

“Chinese companies have reportedly sold guns, drone parts and equipment to Russian facilities that could be used for military purposes, and Western intelligence agencies have said the Chinese leadership is considering supplying lethal equipment to Russia,” the ISW said in its latest report Assessment of the ongoing war.

It added that the Chinese president likely plans to discuss sanctions-circumvention plans with MRPutin and Russian officials to help sell and supply Chinese equipment to Russia.

“Xi is also likely aiming to encourage Chinese efforts aimed at positioning China as an impartial third-party mediator for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. China released a comprehensive 12-point peace plan for the war in Ukraine on February 24, although it remains unclear what the more definitive Chinese proposals for a negotiated solution to the war would entail,” it said.

The Chinese leader, Russia’s closest ally in the war against Ukraine, “might seek to turn his success in brokering the restoration of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia into greater efforts to broker this war,” the think tank noted.

A multi-storey building burns after being attacked by a Russian airstrike in Avdiivka, Donetsk:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia does not recognize the International Criminal Court and considers its decisions “legally void”.

The International Court of Justice’s move to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges is “outrageous and unacceptable”. Mr Peskov declined to comment when asked if Mr Putin would avoid traveling to countries where he could be arrested under the ICC warrant.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, accusing him of war crimes for taking hundreds of Ukrainian children from orphanages.

The court accuses Mr Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, of “unlawfully deporting” children “from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”.

That means the 123 member states of the court must arrest Mr Putin and him for the trial if he enters their territory.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has clearly committed war crimes and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant against him is justified, his US counterpart Joe Biden said yesterday.

“He clearly committed war crimes,” Biden said.

Referring to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, he added: “Well, I think it’s justified. But the question is – we don’t recognize it internationally either. But I think it’s a very strong argument.”

The ICC has called for Putin’s arrest on suspicion of the illegal deportation of children and the illegal transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow began invading its neighbor last year. The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court.

There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, a US State Department spokesman said after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

“There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities (in) Ukraine and we have made it clear that those responsible must be held accountable,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement.

“This was a decision made independently by the ICC Prosecutor based on the facts before him.”

The US, which is not a member of the International Criminal Court, has separately found that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine and supports accountability for war crimes perpetrators, the spokesman added.

Russian fighter pilots involved in an incident involving a US drone that led to its crash will receive state awards, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said.

The move appears to signal the Kremlin’s intention to take a more aggressive stance on future US patrol flights.

The US military said it grounded the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper in the Black Sea on Tuesday after two Russian warplanes dumped fuel on the surveillance drone and then one of them struck its propeller while it was flying in international airspace.

Moscow has denied that its warplanes hit the drone, claiming it crashed during a sharp maneuver. It said its plane was responding to a violation of a no-fly zone set up by Russia in the area near Crimea amid fighting in Ukraine.