War crimes warrant against Putin may complicate peace in Ukraine

The Hague, Netherlands (AP) – Ann international arrest warrant Because President Vladimir Putin raises the odds of a man whose country Ukraine invaded He faces justice, but complicates efforts to end that war in peace talks.

Both justice and peace seem to be distant possibilities today, and the conflicting relationship between the two is an impasse at the heart of the March 17 decision by the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of the Russian leader.

Judges in The Hague found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights were responsible for war crimes, specifically illegal deportation and Illegal transportation of children From the occupied regions of Ukraine to Russia.

Although Putin sitting in a courtroom in The Hague now seems unlikely, other leaders have faced justice in international courts.

Former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, the driving force behind the Balkan wars of the 1990s, went on trial for war crimes, including genocide, before a United Nations tribunal in The Hague after losing power. He died in his cell in 2006 before a verdict was reached.

Serbia, which wants EU membership but maintains close ties with Russia, is one of the countries that has Criticize the work of the International Criminal Court. Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the arrest warrants “will have bad political consequences” and create “a great reluctance to talk about peace (and) about an armistice” in Ukraine.

Others see consequences for Putin, and anyone convicted of war crimes, as the primary desired outcome of international action.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday in a speech marking one year Anniversary of the liberation of Busha, the Ukrainian city that witnessed some of the war’s worst atrocities. “War criminals will be held accountable for their actions.”

Hungary did not join the 26 EU members in signing a resolution supporting the ICC’s warrant against Putin. The government’s chief of staff, Gergely Golis, said that the Hungarian authorities would not arrest Putin if he entered the country.

Story continues

He described the notes as “not the most fortunate, because they lead to escalation and not towards peace.”

Putin appears to have a firm grip on power, and some analysts suspect that the memorandum pending on him may provide an incentive to prolong the fight.

“The warrant for Putin’s arrest may undermine efforts to reach a peace agreement in Ukraine,” Daniel Krkmarek, an associate professor of political science at Northwestern University, said in emailed comments to The Associated Press.

One potential way to facilitate peace talks could be for the UN Security Council to ask the International Criminal Court to suspend the investigation into Ukraine for a year, which is allowed under Article 16 of the treaty. Rome Statute Treaty that created the court.

But this seems unlikely, Krkmarek said, as his book The Justice Dilemma deals with the tension between the pursuit of justice and the pursuit of a negotiated end to conflicts.

“Western democracies should worry about the costs of public opinion if they take the morally questionable decision to trade justice for peace in such a frank manner,” he said, adding that Ukraine was unlikely to support such a move.

Russia immediately rejected the notes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow does not recognize the International Criminal Court and considers its decisions “legally invalid.” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, which Putin chairs, indicated that the headquarters of the International Criminal Court on the Dutch coast could become the target of a Russian missile attack.

Alexander Paunov, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment, noted in a commentary that the warrant for Putin’s arrest amounted to “a call for the Russian elite to abandon Putin” which could erode his support.

And while rights groups welcomed the arrest warrants for Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, they also urged the international community not to forget the pursuit of justice in other conflicts.

“The ICC warrant against Putin reflects a sophisticated, multifaceted justice effort that is needed elsewhere in the world,” Belqis Jarrah, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Similar justice initiatives are needed elsewhere to ensure that the rights of victims globally – whether in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar or Palestine – are respected.”

___

Follow AP coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine