Russian President Vladimir Putin is calm about the decision of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) to issue a warrant for his arrest. This was announced by the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov.
"We take it calmly, carefully fix everything and continue to work. The president continues, most importantly, to work, "Peskov said, answering a question about the personal attitude of the Russian leader to the ICC decision.
According to him, the administration of the President of the Russian Federation is trying "not to take to heart" numerous hostile manifestations emanating from the countries of the Western world.
"We observe so many openly hostile manifestations against both our country and our president in the world that, of course, we record this, but if each of these hostile manifestations is taken to heart, probably nothing good will happen," the Kremlin spokesman explained.
Earlier, the press secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov, called the decisions of the International Criminal Court "legally null and void", recalling that Russia and a number of other states do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Also at the russian.rt.com "Unprecedented legal bacchanalia": how Russia reacted to the ICC decision against Putin
Recall, on March 17, the International Criminal Court announced the issuance of arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of Russia Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of "illegal deportation of children." Note that the international body decided to publicly disclose the information, since allegedly "the actions considered in this situation are presumably still ongoing, and public awareness of these warrants can help prevent further crimes." According to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, the arrest warrant issued is regrettable.
As the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova reminded, the Russian side is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and "does not bear obligations under it."
In turn, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin instructed to conduct an inspection because of the illegal issuance of arrest warrants for Russian citizens. The agency will identify specific individuals from among the judges of the ICC who made knowingly illegal decisions.
Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova on the TV channel "Russia 24" called the incident a "very strange" case: "When you have no other ways to intimidate the country, you come up with such absolutely fantastic things."
"Like little children: when they have nothing to do, they show their fist from somewhere far away," she added.
Later, German Justice Minister Marco Bushman said that Berlin would comply with the decision of the International Criminal Court on the arrest of Vladimir Putin. In response to this, the Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev made a comment.
"The irresponsible statements of some German officials about their support and readiness to comply with the illegitimate and completely absurd decision of the International Criminal Court are of extreme concern and testify to how far they are from reality in seeking further escalation of the conflict with Russia," the diplomat said.
In turn, Alexander Bastrykin instructed the central office of the IC to give a legal assessment of Bushman's statements.
On the morning of March 20, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev stated that the ICC warrant would lead to monstrous consequences for international law.
"After all, this is the collapse of the foundations, the principles of law. Including postulates about the inevitability of responsibility. Now no one will go to any international bodies, everyone will agree among themselves. All the stupid decisions of the UN and other structures will burst at the seams. A gloomy sunset of the entire system of international relations is coming. Trust has been exhausted," he wrote in his Telegram channel.