Strasbourg 19.04.2023 War crimes: Parliament to debate the International Criminal Court – ICC – arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin will be debated by MEPs on Wednesday morning, on April 19.

The arrest warrants for President Putin and for Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of Russia, were issued on 17 March 2023. Both are suspected of the alleged war crimes of unlawfully deporting and transferring Ukrainian children from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. (Image: European Parliament, Strasbourg, illustration)

During the plenary debate, MEPs are also expected to examine the issue of the safety of Ukrainian children closely, with varying reports estimating that thousands of them might have been abducted or unwillingly relocated to Russia following the start of Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Debate: Wednesday 19 April

Procedure: Statement by the Council and Commission, without a resolution