The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. The charges are focused on the abductions of Ukrainian children. The ICC said in a statement that Putin "is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."

Axar.az reports citing foreign media this is the first time that the global court has issued an arrest warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Rubbishing the charges, Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia does not recognise the ICC.

Can Putin be arrested

This is unlikely because the ICC does not have its own police force; it depends on countries to enforce its arrest warrant. Moreover, Russia does not recognise the ICC and is not party to the Rome Statute. The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. A total of 123 countries are party to the statute. Besides Russia and Ukraine, the United States and China are not members of the 123-member ICC. He could be arrested in any of the countries that have signed the statute, but is unlikely the Russian President will travel to any of these, TIME stated in a report. Moreover, no country is willing to face the dramatic consequences of attempting to arrest Putin.