US remains a rare safe haven for Vladimir Putin
To prevent the world's highest criminal court from being used to prosecute Americans, the US has long refused to join the ICC, created over 20 years ago under the 1998 Rome Statute to handle accusations of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. As a result, the US is virtually the only country in the West that Putin can visit without worrying about arrest. Only a handful of other major powers, including China, India, Russia and Israel, have abstained from becoming signatories to the court.
PTI
Vladimir Putin
ANCHORAGE: When the International Criminal Court accused President Vladimir Putin of Russia of war crimes in 2023 and issued a warrant for his arrest, the move was largely symbolic because there was little chance he would stand trial. But it immediately jeopardised Putin's ability to travel to the more than 120 countries that have signed on to the ICC.
They include almost every nation in Europe and dozens more in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They are all legally required to arrest Putin and send him to The Hague if he sets foot on their soil. But Putin's visit to Alaska highlighted a notable exception.
To prevent the world's highest criminal court from being used to prosecute Americans, the US has long refused to join the ICC, created over 20 years ago under the 1998 Rome Statute to handle accusations of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. As a result, the US is virtually the only country in the West that Putin can visit without worrying about arrest. Only a handful of other major powers, including China, India, Russia and Israel, have abstained from becoming signatories to the court.
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Business Standard
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- Business Standard
Trump faces setbacks in Putin diplomacy as no ceasefire agreed at Alaska
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It was a dramatic reversal that laid bare the challenges of dealing with Putin, a cunning adversary, as well as the complexities of a conflict that Trump had repeatedly boasted during his campaign that he could solve within 24 hours. Trump's position after the summit with Putin Few details have emerged about what the two leaders discussed or what constituted the progress they both touted. The White House did not respond to messages seeking comment Saturday. While European leaders were relieved that Trump did not agree to a deal that ceded territory or otherwise favoured Moscow, the summit allowed Putin to reclaim his place on the world stage and may have bought Russia more time to push forward with its offensive in Ukraine. We're back to where we were before without him having gone to Alaska, said Fiona Hill, who served as Trump's senior adviser on Russia at the National Security Council during his first term, including when he last met Putin in Helsinki in 2018. In an interview, Hill argued that Trump had emerged from the meeting in a weaker position on the world stage because of his reversal. Other leaders, she said, might now look at the US president and think he's not the big guy that he thinks he is and certainly not the dealmaking genius. All the way along, Trump was convinced he has incredible forces of persuasion, she said, but he came out of the meeting without a ceasefire the one thing he had been pushing for, even after he gave the Russian leader the red carpet treatment." Trump has run up against a rock in the form of Putin, who doesn't want anything from him apart from Ukraine," she said. Democrats call for consequences for Putin At home, Democrats expressed alarm at what at times seemed like a day of deference, with Trump clapping for Putin as he walked down a red carpet during an elaborate ceremony welcoming him to US soil for the first time in a decade. The two rode together in the presidential limousine and exchanged compliments. Trump seemed to revel in particular in Putin echoing his oft-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been in office instead of Democrat Joe Biden at the time. Before news cameras, Trump did not use the opportunity to castigate Putin for launching the largest ground invasion in Europe since World War II or human rights abuses he's been accused of committing. Instead, Putin was the one who spoke first, and invited Trump to join him in Moscow next. President Trump appears to have been played yet again by Vladimir Putin," said Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The President rolled out a red carpet and warmly greeted a murderous dictator on American soil and reports indicate he got nothing concrete in return. Enough is enough," she went on. 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Murkowski said it was also encouraging to hear both presidents reference future meetings" but that Ukraine must be part of any negotiated settlement and must freely agree to its terms. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, offered that he was very proud of Trump for having had the face-to-face meeting and was cautiously optimistic that the war might end well before Christmas if a trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin transpires. I have all the confidence in the world that Donald Trump will make it clear to Putin this war will never start again. If it does, you're going to pay a heavy price, he said on Fox News. For some Trump allies, the very act of him meeting with Putin was success enough: conservative activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk called it a great thing. Some see a Putin win and a Trump loss But in Europe, the summit was seen as a major diplomatic coup for Putin, who has been eager to emerge from geopolitical isolation. 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