The Newsweek reported that the West, led by Washington, didn’t support Kiev’s proposal to sue Russia and President Vladimir Putin internationally, for fear of creating a precedent that would expose the immunity of Western leaders themselves to prosecution.
Quoting the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andrei Smirnov, who is responsible for international negotiations on the trial of Russia, that the United States and its allies fear jeopardizing the international and legal immunity of their leaders, and therefore refused to support the Ukrainian proposal, to form an international tribunal under the supervision of the United Nations to try Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Smirnov also pointed out that “the Ukrainian proposal didn’t receive support from the United States, France and Germany, pointing out also that their hesitation is evidence of their fear of undermining their international status, and introducing their leaders into a political precedent that affects their international immunity”.
According to him, the West proposed to replace the proposed trial, with the participation of the United Nations, by establishing a court that would be under the jurisdiction of Ukraine and, therefore, wouldn’t pose a threat to the international and legal immunity of the West’s leaders.
The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, had previously expressed concern about the safety of the US military, as a result of the procedures of the International Criminal Court, against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
In March, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had obstructed the submission of a number of documents to the International Criminal Court on alleged crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine, fearing that the Americans would be held liable in this regard.
On March 17, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova Belova.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, confirmed that Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and that any decisions it has are null and unacceptable from a legal point of view.
Moscow also indicated that many international organizations have turned a blind eye to Kiev’s actions against the civilian population in Donbas since 2014.
For his part, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin stated that the European Union is trying to cover up its involvement in war crimes in Ukraine, by initiating the establishment of a special court.
