US President Joe Biden has welcomed the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I think it’s justified,” Biden told CNN’s Jeremy Diamond.
The US leader acknowledged the court’s authority is not recognized by Russia or the US, “but I think it makes a very strong point,” he said.
Putin has “clearly committed war crimes,” Biden added.
The White House said it welcomed accountability for perpetrators of war crimes but stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of the ICC’s arrest warrant when it issued an initial statement earlier Friday.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to say whether Biden would tell law enforcement to arrest Putin if he came to the US. Putin traveling to the country in the first place is “very, very unlikely,” Kirby told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
