"It is important that we ensure that Russia is held accountable, and we support efforts to bring them to justice, but I do have concerns about a possible reaction to actions in this direction," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
So he answered in the US Congress to the question of why the US military did not participate in the transfer of data on Russia's "war crimes" to the ICC.
Austin stressed that for him the protection of the United States military is a priority.
On March 21, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin proposed prosecuting judges of the International Criminal Court for issuing an "arrest warrant" for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that no decisions of the ICC matter to Russia, including from a legal point of view.
According to the Russian Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, Russia considers any documents of the ICC null and void and illegal.