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Last week, the court issued an arrest warrant for Putin,
accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of
children from Ukraine. The legal move will obligate the court's
123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague
for trial if he sets foot on their territory.
The letter to President Joe Biden from Democrats Dick Durbin,
Bob Menendez, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse and
Republicans Lindsey Graham and Thom Tillis, noted that Congress
passed legislation to give the administration more flexibility
in assisting the ICC.
"Yet, months later, as the ICC is working to build cases against
Russian officials, including Putin himself, the United States
reportedly has not yet shared key evidence that could aid in
these prosecutions," the letter said.
"Knowing of your support for the important cause of
accountability in Ukraine, we urge you to move forward
expeditiously with support to the ICC's work so that Putin and
others around him know in no uncertain terms that accountability
and justice for their crimes are forthcoming," the letter said.
Although the United States is not a party to the ICC, Biden said
last week that Putin has clearly committed war crimes, adding
that the ICC warrant was justified.
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have
committed atrocities during its one-year invasion of its
neighbor and the Kremlin branded the court decision as "null and
void."
The letter's signers include Durbin, the number two Senate
Democrat, who chairs the Judiciary Committee. Graham is the top
Judiciary Committee Republican. Menendez chairs the Foreign
Relations Committee.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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