Ukraine war breaking news: Vladimir Putin makes surprise trip to Crimea on warrant

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine.

Putin visited the art school and children’s center on Saturday, the day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader charging him with war crimes.

In particular, the court accused him on Friday of personal responsibility for the kidnapping of children from Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale invasion that began almost 13 months ago.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, which most of the world considered illegal.

The 123 member states of the International Criminal Court are obliged to arrest and extradite Putin if he enters their territory. Russia is not a member, and neither are China, the United States or India, which is hosting a summit of leaders of the G20 major economies later this year, of which Russia is a member.

The World Permanent Court of War Crimes was established by the Rome Statute, a treaty ratified by all EU countries, as well as Australia, Brazil, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, 33 African countries and 19 South Pacific countries.

Russia signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but withdrew its support in 2016 after the ICC classified Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula as an armed conflict.

“Putin is not stupid. He is not going to travel abroad to a country where he might be arrested,” said Iva Vukusic, an assistant professor of history at Utrecht University.

“He can’t travel much outside of states that are either clearly allied or at least somewhat aligned with Russia,” Vukusic said.

The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant was the first against a leader who is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights at the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.

Moscow has dismissed the move, and Ukraine has hailed it as a major breakthrough. However, the possibility of Putin being tried at the ICC is highly unlikely, as Moscow does not recognize its jurisdiction or extradite its citizens.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have met about 40 times since the Chinese leader became president in 2012. The camaraderie between the pair has in many ways defined diplomatic relations between Moscow and Beijing over the past decade (Chris Stevenson write).

Xi made his first foreign visit to Moscow as president in 2013, and this latest visit comes next week after he was handed an unprecedented third term as president. During this time, greetings between Xi and Putin have evolved from “dear president” to “my dear friend” and later to “my old friend”. Last year, just weeks before Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine, the leaders met and announced a “no borders” partnership between the two nations.

Historically, relations between China and Russia have been fraught with mistrust and confrontation, particularly at the height of the Cold War divide in the late 1960s, but Putin and Xi have changed the dynamic. During his last visit to Moscow in 2019, Xi spoke of his “deep personal friendship” with his Russian counterpart. “During the last six years, we have met almost 30 times. Russia is the country I have visited the most, and President Putin is my best friend and colleague, Xi said. Both leaders have a common goal of changing the world order, and they continue to achieve it.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has “clearly committed” war crimes during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since the conflict erupted in the former Soviet country in February last year.

“He has clearly committed war crimes,” the US president said Friday, referring to the Russian leader.

Speaking about Putin’s arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, Biden said: “Well, I think it’s justified. But the question is — we don’t recognize it internationally either. But I think that’s a very strong point.”

The United States is not a member of the World Court.

Pope Francis met thousands of refugees and the charity groups helping them today as he sought to promote legal migration routes to Europe as an alternative to smuggling operations which he said have turned the Mediterranean into a “graveyard”.

Francis said humanitarian corridors in Italy since 2016 were saving lives and helping newly arrived migrants to adapt, while church groups provided housing, education and job opportunities.

“The purpose of humanitarian corridors is not only to bring refugees to Italy and other European countries, rescuing them from situations of uncertainty, danger and endless waiting. they are also working for integration,” he said.

Sant’Egidio Catholic Charities, the Union of Evangelical Churches and the Waldensian Church led an ecumenical humanitarian migration in Italy that has brought more than 6,000 people to Europe, Francis said.

Families from Syria, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Ukraine were in the Vatican auditorium to meet the Pope.

When the Russian-based Wagner group goes on a mass recruiting spree, get up to speed with a mercenary group led by Vladimir Putin’s ex-waiter:

Russia has notified all parties to the Black Sea Grains Agreement that the agreement has been extended by 60 days and reiterated that it will not consider another extension until its concerns are resolved, Moscow said on Saturday.

Turkey and the UN previously said the agreement had been extended, but did not say for how long. A Ukrainian government minister said it would take 120 days.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova sent a copy of a letter from Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations that said Moscow has no objection to extending the agreement by 60 days on May 18.

“The Russian side’s consideration of continuing (the deal) beyond the announced date is possible only if there is concrete progress” in Russian food and fertilizer exports, it said.

Russia says that while the West has not specifically targeted these exports, its payments, logistics and insurance sector sanctions create obstacles

Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to meet with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week highlighted China’s efforts to gain a bigger role on the world stage.

But they also revealed the perils of global diplomacy: Hours after Friday’s trip was announced, an international arrest warrant was issued for Putin on war crimes charges, taking at least some of the wind out of the sails of China’s big reveal.

“He has clearly committed war crimes,” the US president said Friday, referring to the Russian leader.

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