UN Secretary-General will meet with Putin whenever necessary despite arrest warrant

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will continue to meet and speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for Putin's arrest. Source: Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during a briefing on Friday He emphasised that "the International Criminal Court is independent of the [UN] Secretariat.

We do not comment on their actions." Quote: "We will, as before, assume that the Secretary-General will speak to whoever he needs to speak in order to resolve the issues before him," Guterres' spokesman emphasised.

Dujarric answered evasively when asked whether under the current conditions, the UN Secretary-General could guarantee the Russian President's participation in UN events if they take place on the territory of signatory states of the Rome Statute. Quote: "As I said, this applies to everyone: the Secretary-General will always speak to whoever he needs to talk to in order to move forward...

I can only speak for him," he said. Background: Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Affairs.

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Note: Ukraine is not a party to the Rome Statute, the international agreement under which the International Criminal Court was founded and operates.

However, Ukraine has granted the International Criminal Court the right to investigate crimes on its territory. A total of 123 states are party to the Rome Statute, including South American states and about half the states of Africa, so formally they must pay attention to warrants issued by the ICC. China, India, Belarus, Turkiye and Kazakhstan are among those that have not signed or ratified the statute.

Russia, like the United States, signed the statute but later withdrew its signature.

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