Medvedev: ICC's Decision on Putin Will Have Horrible Consequences

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
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Medvedev: ICC's Decision on Putin Will Have Horrible Consequences

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. EPA
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. EPA

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russia President Vladimir Putin will have horrible consequences for international law.

"They decided to try a president of ... a nuclear power that does not participate in the ICC on the same grounds as the United States and other countries," Medvedev wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

"The consequences for international law will be monstrous."

Justice ministers from around the world will meet in London on Monday to discuss scaling up support for the ICC after it issued the arrest warrant for Putin over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war. Moscow rejects the charge.

"We are gathering in London today united by one cause: to hold war criminals to account for the atrocities committed in Ukraine during this unjust, unprovoked and unlawful invasion," British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday.

Several European Union countries will sign an agreement on Monday in Brussels to buy 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine, with the first orders possibly placed by the end of May.

Ukraine has identified the supply of 155 mm shells as a critical need, with both sides firing thousands of artillery rounds every day.

In Ukraine, fierce fighting continued in the eastern town of Bakhmut with each side launching counter offensives. Ukrainian forces have held out in Bakhmut since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the year-long war.



Finland Hails Plan for Allies to Join NATO Land Forces on its Soil

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
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Finland Hails Plan for Allies to Join NATO Land Forces on its Soil

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen hailed plans on Wednesday for six NATO member states including Britain and France to participate in land forces that are to be established in northern Finland. Finland, which has a longer border with Russia than any other NATO state, has strengthened the frontier in the two years since it joined the military alliance following a policy U-turn after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Reuters reported.

"I am very pleased that yesterday, in connection with the ministerial meeting, we were able to announce that Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Denmark and Iceland are set to join FLF Finland," Hakkanen said on X, referring to what NATO calls Forward Land Forces.

NATO leaders were meeting on Wednesday in The Hague.

Helsinki and Stockholm agreed last year that Sweden would lead the establishment of a NATO land force in Finland and invited other allies to participate.

The number of troops is yet to be defined. But the Finnish defense ministry has said that there is a plan for up to a brigade - about 5,000 soldiers - and a significant number of equipment to be brought in if the security situation worsens.

The first NATO land forces will start to arrive this year and be placed above the Arctic circle in Rovaniemi and Sodankyla, it said.

In addition to the foreign reinforcement force in the north, Finland will host a new NATO land force headquarters for officers in Mikkeli, southern Finland, an about two-hour drive from the Finnish-Russian border.