Putin to visit China in first foreign trip since ICC arrest warrant over Ukraine war crimes: Report

Ever since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to make his first foreign visit to China in October. According to Bloomberg, the Kremlin is preparing for the Russian president’s China visit for the Belt and Road Forum after he accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation to attend the conclave later this year. Putin’s trip to China will come months after Jinping made visit to Moscow in March. Putin has remained primarily within Russia or countries formerly held by the Soviet Union since the court issued its warrant in March. Putin risks arrest if he steps into territory which is a signatory to the Rome statute on war crimes. Earlier this month, Putin skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa after the local government in Copenhagen stated it would comply with the ICC order to arrest him as a signatory to the international court. Putin has also excused himself from the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi in September, although India is not a signatory to the ICC. The court has issued arrest warrants for the Russian president and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, where many have been adopted by Russian families. Forced deportation of populations is recognised as a crime under the Rome statute that established the court. Russia was a signatory to the Rome statute, but withdrew in 2016, saying it did not recognise the jurisdiction of the court. Although Ukraine is itself not a signatory to the court in The Hague, it granted the ICC jurisdiction to investigate war crimes committed on its territory. With inputs from agencies