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Statements by German officials supporting ICC’s warrant arouse concern — Russian envoy

According to Russian Ambassador to Germany, the support of "the illegal and absolutely absurd decision by the International Criminal Court" shows how far the West is "from the reality in its strive for further escalation of the conflict with Russia"

BERLIN, March 19. /TASS/. Irresponsible statements made by a number of German officials supporting the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin arouse concern, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev said on Sunday.

"Irresponsible statements made by certain German officials on support and readiness to fulfill the illegal and absolutely absurd decision by the International Criminal Court are a source of great concern and they show how far they are from the reality in their strive for further escalation of the conflict with Russia," he was quoted as saying on the embassy’s Telegram channel.

German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said in an interview with the country’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper earlier that Berlin would comply with the demands of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for arresting the Russian leader if he set foot on German soil.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on Friday. The court’s statement said they could be responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Commenting on this decision, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow did not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC. In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the decisions of the ICC had no meaning for Russia, with possible arrest warrants legally void.

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Foreign policy Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Putin Germany

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