The International Criminal Court has named Russian President Putin as a War Criminal and issued a arrest warrant….
NOBODY is gonna just scoop him up….
This IS a declaration that will NOT make Putin happy….
It is also NOT making the Pentagon leaders happy….
He HAS been ‘branded’ for his Ukraine grab and it’s violence and carnage ….
Slovakia will send 13 Mig fighters…They are not in good shape and will most likely be used for parts….
The Ukraine wants F-16’s…..
China wants a immediate ‘cease-fire’ that is unlikely because Ukraine President won’t agree to let Russian keep what they have right now….
The likelihood of a trial while Mr. Putin remains in power appears slim because the court cannot try defendants in absentia and Russia has said it will not surrender its own officials. Still, the warrant deepens Mr. Putin’s isolation from the West and could limit his travel overseas.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, noted that Russia does not recognize the court and called its decision to issue a warrant “null and void.”
Here are other developments:
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Mr. Putin will receive China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, for a state visit to Russia starting on Monday that Beijing said would promote peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine. The United States has questioned whether China can play a mediating role, given its close relationship with Russia, and a White House spokesman said Friday that the United States was opposed to China’s proposal for an immediate cease-fire because it would cement the position of Russia’s troops.
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Turkey announced that it would move to ratify Finland’s application to join NATO, clearing a significant hurdle for the Nordic nation’s bid to join the alliance but leaving neighboring Sweden on the sidelines for now.
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The government of Slovakia said that it would send 13 Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine, a day after a similar announcement by Poland’s president. The pledge from a second NATO ally could be a marked shift in increasing arms supplies for Kyiv. But most of Slovakia’s MIG-29 warplanes are not in working order so their delivery to Ukraine, likely to provide spare parts for Ukraine’s own fleet of Soviet-era jets, will not change the balance of force on the battlefield.
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The deal with Russia enabling Ukraine to resume shipments of its grain abroad that has been in place since July is set to expire on Saturday. Russia is willing to extend the deal for 60 days, but U.N. negotiators are holding out for 120 days. Martin Griffiths, the U.N. aid chief, told the Security Council on Friday that U.N. officials were “sparing no effort” to secure an extension….
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- Russian forces and fighters from the mercenary Wagner Group have gained footholds on the western side of Bakhmut, the British Defense Ministry said. Wagner’s founder claimed to have taken full control of the eastern side of Bakhmut, which is divided by a river, earlier this month. The town in eastern Ukraine has been the site of months of fierce fighting, but the British ministry said in its Friday update that Russian offensives there were at “some of the lowest rates” since January. It added that Moscow is likely to resume its pace “once personnel and munition stocks are replenished.”
- Russian attacks in southern Donetsk continue. Russian forces have focused recent attacks in strategic areas around Vuhledar, officials have said, in a bloody fight resembling battles of attrition seen in the east. The city and the region have been bombarded by artillery in the struggle for the important rail and highway lines that lead into Crimea. Russian forces escalated attacks in the last two weeks, sending groups of about 10 to 15 soldiers sometimes supported by a handful of tanks, said Col. Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, a spokesman for forces in the area. The Russian assaults in Vuhledar have slowed in recent days, the U.K. defense ministry said Thursday, after “extremely costly” attacks since January.
- A U.N.-backed inquiry found evidence that Russian authorities committed human rights violations, many of which “amount to war crimes,” according to a report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. The commission was established a year ago by the U.N. Human Rights Council. Russia’s use of torture and attacks on energy-related infrastructure “may amount to crimes against humanity,” the report’s authors wrote.
- A Ukrainian commander was demoted after saying in an interview with The Post that ill-trained troops were weakening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield. He later quit his position, The Post reported. The commander said some troops went into battle without having thrown a grenade or knowing how to handle weapons. His supporters said he should be reinstated and that the military leadership should be willing to hear difficult truths….