MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. The Kiev regime is trying to give the Ukrainian military carte blanche to commit crimes and shield them from international justice, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary on Ukraine's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Earlier, Ukraine ratified the ICC Rome Statute, with a stipulation that the court's jurisdiction over the country's citizens for war crimes would not take effect until seven years after the end of hostilities.
"The statement made by Ukraine in ratifying the Rome Statute clearly demonstrates the true attitude of the Ukrainian authorities towards international humanitarian law and justice. In fact, they want to exempt their own citizens from the jurisdiction of even this court, which is as loyal to them as possible, while at the same time retaining the ability to prosecute citizens of other countries in The Hague based on charges fabricated by Kiev itself. This step is just an overt way of giving their military carte blanche to commit grave war crimes," Zakharova said.
She emphasized that the reputation of both the Kiev regime and the ICC is "well known." "Neither of them is independent. They have nothing to do with law or justice. This is a case where two wrongs do not make a right, but rather increase lawlessness," the diplomat continued.
"All attempts to avoid responsibility are doomed to failure. The Ukrainian criminals guilty of grave international crimes against their own people and against Russian citizens, as well as their accomplices, will be brought to justice and will be punished as they deserve," the spokeswoman concluded.