Biden says Putin apprehension warrant 'justified'
Joe Biden has said Vladimir Putin intelligibly committed warfare crimes and that the planetary transgression court’s determination to contented an apprehension warrant for the Russian person is justified.
“Well, I deliberation it’s justified,” the US president said connected Friday of the warrant. “But the question is – it’s not recognised internationally by america either. But I deliberation it makes a precise beardown point.”
The US is not a subordinate of the planetary transgression tribunal and the Pentagon has resisted cooperating with it retired of fears American soldiers could perchance beryllium pursued by the court.
The court’s determination marks the archetypal clip it has issued a warrant against 1 of the 5 imperishable members of the UN information council.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, hailed the ICC’s move, saying connected societal media it was “a historical determination from which historical work volition begin”.
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Opening summary
Hello and invited backmost to our unrecorded sum of the Russia-Ukraine war. This is Adam Fulton bringing you the latest developments.
The US president, Joe Biden, says Vladimir Putin has “clearly committed warfare crimes” and that the planetary transgression tribunal is “justified” successful issuing an apprehension warrant for the Russian president.
The tribunal called connected Friday for Putin’s apprehension implicit allegations of overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children and unlawful transportation of radical from Ukraine to Russia during the war.
Moscow said the apprehension warrant was “meaningless” and legally “void” due to the fact that it did not recognise the court’s jurisdiction.
More connected that communicative soon.
In different developments arsenic it approaches 9am successful the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv:
Russia is sustaining up to 1,500 casualties a time successful its existent offensive, mostly successful the eastbound metropolis of Bakhmut, according to a elder Nato official. Ukraine was taking “an bid of magnitude less” successful warring wherever “several thousand” shells a time person been fired by some sides, said the official, speaking connected information of anonymity.
China’s President Xi Jinping is to sojourn Russia adjacent week successful an evident amusement of enactment for Vladimir Putin. During the visit, scheduled for 20-22 March, the 2 leaders would motion “important” bilateral documents and sermon issues of further improvement of broad concern and strategical enactment betwixt Moscow and Beijing, the Chinese overseas ministry has said.
The US has heavy concerns that China could effort to presumption itself arsenic a peacemaker successful the warfare successful Ukraine by promoting a ceasefire, the White House has said. A ceasefire successful Ukraine would “in effect recognise Russia’s gains and its effort to conquer its neighbour’s territory by force, allowing Russian troops to proceed to inhabit sovereign Ukrainian territory”, said the White House nationalist information spokesperson, John Kirby.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would start the process of ratifying Finland’s Nato rank bid successful parliament aft Helsinki took “authentic and factual steps” to support its promises successful a trilateral agreement. Erdoğan besides said Turkey’s willingness to see ratifying Sweden’s Nato bid would “depend connected the coagulated steps Sweden volition take”.

Sweden remained assured it would articulation Nato, the overseas curate said. Tobias Billström said abstracted ratification of Finland and Sweden’s bids by Ankara was “a improvement that we didn’t privation but it’s thing that we’re prepared for”.
Slovakia volition donate 13 MiG-29 warplanes to Ukraine, its premier curate has said. Eduard Heger told a quality league his authorities was “on the close broadside of history” arsenic Slovakia became the 2nd Nato member to denote specified a shipment successful 24 hours, aft a akin determination by Poland. The Kremlin said the promised planes were different illustration of Nato members “raising the level of their nonstop engagement successful the conflict”, adding that “all this instrumentality volition beryllium taxable to destruction”.
Talks are successful advancement connected the renewal of an statement allowing the harmless export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the UN’s bureau successful Geneva has said. The Black Sea atom initiative, brokered betwixt Russia and Ukraine by the UN and Turkey past July, is owed to expire connected Saturday. The UN, Ukraine and Turkey person called for a 120-day rollover of the agreement. Russia has said the woody should beryllium renewed for lone 60 days.
Kyiv’s wartime curfew volition beryllium reduced by an hr to boost business. The caput of Kyiv metropolis administration, Serhiy Popko, said the caller curfew play – starting astatine midnight alternatively of 11pm – would summation the clip for nationalist transport and that reducing its duration “should assistance trim societal tension, summation production, make caller jobs”.
Russia’s defence secretary, Sergei Shoigu, has presented authorities awards to the pilots of the Su-27 planes progressive successful the drone incident implicit the Black Sea for “preventing the usurpation of the borders of the peculiar cognition country by the American MQ-9 Reaper drone”.
Moldova’s president has said she sees nary information of warfare successful her countries portion Ukraine continues to excavation successful against Russia. “The Russian service cannot get present portion Ukraine holds retired – and [therefore] protects Moldova,” Maia Sandu told the Moldovan parliament.