02:43Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov on Wednesday called the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants for Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov 'absurd'.
"We do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court. We are not members of the relevant statute and, accordingly, we do not recognise these warrants. Moreover, we consider them quite absurd, just like the last two warrants that concerned the head of state [Vladimir Putin], our commissioner for children's rights [Maria Lvova-Belova]," the Kremlin spox stated.
Peskov also claimed that the appointment of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General could 'hardly change anything in the general line' of the alliance. "Both individual member countries are led directly by the United States and the alliance itself - that at the moment is working to strategically suppress the Russian Federation," Peskov continued.
Ambassadors of 32 NATO countries approved the candidacy of Mark Rutte as NATO's next Secretary General at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels..
On Monday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu and Gerasimov for 'alleged international crimes committed from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023'.
The press service of the Russian Security Council, in turn, called the accusation a 'shaking of the air', as the ICC's jurisdiction does not extend to Russia.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'We consider them quite absurd' - Peskov on ICC warrants against Russia’s General Staff Chief Gerasimov, former DefMin Shoigu
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov on Wednesday called the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants for Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov 'absurd'.
"We do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court. We are not members of the relevant statute and, accordingly, we do not recognise these warrants. Moreover, we consider them quite absurd, just like the last two warrants that concerned the head of state [Vladimir Putin], our commissioner for children's rights [Maria Lvova-Belova]," the Kremlin spox stated.
Peskov also claimed that the appointment of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General could 'hardly change anything in the general line' of the alliance. "Both individual member countries are led directly by the United States and the alliance itself - that at the moment is working to strategically suppress the Russian Federation," Peskov continued.
Ambassadors of 32 NATO countries approved the candidacy of Mark Rutte as NATO's next Secretary General at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels..
On Monday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu and Gerasimov for 'alleged international crimes committed from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023'.
The press service of the Russian Security Council, in turn, called the accusation a 'shaking of the air', as the ICC's jurisdiction does not extend to Russia.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov on Wednesday called the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants for Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov 'absurd'.
"We do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court. We are not members of the relevant statute and, accordingly, we do not recognise these warrants. Moreover, we consider them quite absurd, just like the last two warrants that concerned the head of state [Vladimir Putin], our commissioner for children's rights [Maria Lvova-Belova]," the Kremlin spox stated.
Peskov also claimed that the appointment of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as NATO Secretary General could 'hardly change anything in the general line' of the alliance. "Both individual member countries are led directly by the United States and the alliance itself - that at the moment is working to strategically suppress the Russian Federation," Peskov continued.
Ambassadors of 32 NATO countries approved the candidacy of Mark Rutte as NATO's next Secretary General at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels..
On Monday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu and Gerasimov for 'alleged international crimes committed from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023'.
The press service of the Russian Security Council, in turn, called the accusation a 'shaking of the air', as the ICC's jurisdiction does not extend to Russia.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.