The US State Department reacted to the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov: details
The US State Department expressed support for the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller emphasized that the United States welcomes this decision and supports international investigations into atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
He stated this at the briefing State Department spokesman Matthew Miller
Having expressed his position, Miller stated that the Russian troops occupying Ukraine committed atrocities for which they should bear responsibility.
“We have made it clear that Russian forces committed atrocities during their illegal invasion of Ukraine, and that these atrocities must be held accountable. We support a number of international investigations into Russian crimes in Ukraine, including by the ICC“, the representative of the State Department said
The representative of the State Department supported the international investigation of Russia’s crimes in Ukraine, in particular, the one conducted by the International Criminal Court.
“As I said, we support the ICC investigation and other prosecution investigations. But in terms of private exchanges, I think I’ll keep them private.”, – he noted.
The arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov were issued before similar warrants were issued for the commanders of the aviation units of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, as part of the investigation into shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The day before, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov due to shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Previously, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the commanders of long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in connection with the shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The first persons who became the object of the Court’s warrants were the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the removal of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine.
