US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken today called on all members of the International Criminal Court to comply with a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last week, the ICC charged Putin with a war crime involving smuggling hundreds of children from Ukraine to Russia. Under this charge, the 123 member states of the ICC would normally have to arrest Putin and hand him over to The Hague for trial if he set foot on their soil.

“I think that everyone who is a party to the tribunal should fulfill their obligations,” Blinken said when US Senator Lindsey Graham asked him if he would encourage European allies to “surrender” Putin.

While the United States is not a party to the ICC, US President Joe Biden said on Friday that Putin had clearly committed war crimes, adding that the ICC warrant was warranted.

Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of atrocities committed by its forces during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Kremlin has called the court’s decision “null and void.”

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, although Kyiv has given the court jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court does not have its own police force and it is up to its member states to enforce arrest warrants.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.