Europe should detain Putin, give him to ICC if he visits their countries, Blinken says

22/03/2023

2 minute read

European countries should detain Vladimir Putin and turn him over to the International Criminal Court if the Russian president visits their countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers Wednesday, Washington Post reports.

Blinken’s remarks, made in response to a line of questioning, follow the court’s decision last week to issue an arrest warrant for Putin that accuses him of being personally responsible for the abductions of children from Ukraine — the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Putin is unlikely to visit hostile European countries any time soon, especially in light of the ICC arrest warrant — a decision that received both praise for standing up against Putin and criticism for potentially closing diplomatic pathways for reaching a political resolution that ends the fighting.

Blinken argued that the State Department budget would put Washington in a place to address all of its key challenges, which he categorized into two “sets.”

“The first set is posed by our strategic competitors — the immediate, acute threat posed by Russia’s autocracy and aggression, most destructively through its brutal war against Ukraine … and the long-term challenge from the People’s Republic of China,” said Blinken. “The second set is posed by shared global tests, including the climate crisis, migration, food and energy insecurity, and pandemics, all of which directly impact the lives and livelihoods of Americans and all peoples around the world,” he added.

“The post-Cold War world is over, and there is an intense competition underway to determine what comes next,” Blinken told a Senate panel on appropriations. “This budget will help us advance that vision, and deliver on the issues that matter most to the American people.”

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