Russia-Ukraine War Live: Biden Backs Putin Arrest Warrant, Says Russian Leader ‘Clearly Committed War Crimes’ | Ukraine

Joe Biden has said Vladimir Putin clearly committed war crimes and that the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian leader is a “very strong point”.

“Well, I think it’s justified,” the US president said Friday of the decision.

But the question is – it is not recognized internationally by us either. But I think it’s a very strong point.

The US is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Pentagon has resisted cooperating with it for fear that US soldiers could potentially be prosecuted by the court.

The ICC decision, over allegations that Putin oversaw the abduction of Ukrainian children, marks the first time the court has issued an arrest warrant against one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiyhailed the court’s move, saying on social media that it was “a historic decision from which historic responsibility will begin”.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the war between Russia and Ukraine. This is Adam Fulton bringing you the latest developments.

That’s what US President Joe Biden says Vladimir Putin has “obviously committed war crimes” and that the International Criminal Court is “justified” to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian president.

The court on Friday called for Putin’s arrest on charges of overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children and the illegal transfer of people from Ukraine to Russia during the war.

Moscow said the arrest warrant was “meaningless” and legally “void” because it did not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

More on that story soon.

In other events as it approaches 9:00 a.m. in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev:

• Russia is suffering up to 1,500 casualties a day in its current offensive, mostly in the eastern city of Bakhmut, according to a senior NATO official. Ukraine took “an order of magnitude less” in fighting where “several thousand” shells a day have been fired by both sides, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia next week in an apparent show of support for Vladimir Putin. During the visit, scheduled for March 20-22, the two leaders would sign “important” bilateral documents and discuss issues of further development of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between Moscow and Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said.

• The US is deeply concerned that China could try to position itself as a peacemaker in the war in Ukraine by promoting a ceasefire, the White House has said. A ceasefire in Ukraine would “effectively recognize Russia’s gains and its attempts to seize neighboring territory by force, allowing Russian troops to continue occupying sovereign Ukrainian territory,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

• President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would begin the process of ratifying Finland’s bid for NATO membership in the Riksdag after Helsinki took “genuine and concrete steps” to keep its promises in a trilateral agreement. Erdoğan also said Turkey’s willingness to consider ratifying Sweden’s NATO bid would “depend on the solid steps Sweden will take”.

• Sweden was still convinced that it would join NATO, the foreign minister said. Tobias Billström said separate ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s bids by Ankara was “a development we did not want but it is something we are prepared for”.

• Slovakia will donate 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraineits prime minister has said. Eduard Heger told a press conference that his government was “on the right side of history”. Slovakia became the second NATO member to announce such a delivery within 24 hours, following a similar move from Poland. The Kremlin said the promised plans were another example of NATO members “raise the level of their direct involvement in the conflict”adding that “all this equipment will be subject to destruction”.

• Talks are underway to renew an agreement allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the UN office in Geneva has said. The Black Sea Grains Initiative, brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the UN and Turkey last July, will expire on Saturday. The UN, Ukraine and Turkey have demanded a 120-day extension of the agreement. Russia has said the agreement should be renewed by only 60 days.

• Kyiv’s wartime curfew will be reduced by one hour to boost business activity. The head of Kyiv city administration, Serhiy Popko, said that the new curfew period – starting at midnight instead of 11 p.m – would increase the time of public transport and that shortening its duration “should help reduce social tensions, increase production, create new jobs”.

• The Minister of Defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, has awarded state awards to the pilots of the Su-27 plane involved in the drone incident across the Black Sea to “prevent the violation of the limits of the special operations area by the US MQ-9 Reaper drone”.

• Moldova’s president has said she sees no danger of war in her countries as Ukraine continues to dig in against Russia. “The Russian army cannot get here while Ukraine is holding out – and (therefore) protecting Moldova,” Maia Sandu told the Moldovan parliament.