Kremlin doubts anyone dares to use International Criminal Court warrant against Putin

MOSCOW

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has expressed doubt that the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant would be used against the leader of the nuclear power, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with the ATV channel from the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, late Wednesday, Peskov said Moscow sees the ICC as a "puppet in the hands of the collective West," used to increase pressure on Russia.

"After all, here we are talking about one of the largest countries in the world, one of the largest nuclear powers in the world. It is hard to imagine that anyone would even seriously think about using this warrant against the President of the Russian Federation," he asserted.

Peskov said the West's mistakes pushed Russia to launch a "special military operation" in Ukraine, among which, according to him are the West-sponsored coup in Kyiv in 2014, and the government’s reluctance to settle the civil war in the country that lasted for eight years.

The spokesman explained the protracted nature of the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict by Western interference, saying the US, EU, and NATO backed Kyiv, pumping it with heavy weapons, providing financial support, and everything and the rest is now before you.

"The special military operation began as a conflict between Russia and Ukraine... Now, in fact, NATO is a participant in this conflict on the side of Ukraine," he noted.

Nonetheless, some of the goals of Russia's "special military operation" were achieved in 14 months, he claimed, reiterating that Ukraine's military capabilities have been significantly reduced during this period, which is in line with the goal of "demilitarization."

Expressing certainty, Peskov claimed that Ukraine's city of Bakhmut (Artyomovsk in Russian) would be taken by the Russian forces, but refused to comment on details, saying it is not his area of expertise.

He slammed numerous "terrorist" attacks in Russia, including a drone strike on Putin's residence in the Kremlin, calling Ukraine a "sponsor of terrorism."

"This is an absolutely outrageous and unacceptable terrorist activity of this state. We believe that in this way, Ukraine actually equates itself with the states -- sponsors of terrorism," he stressed.

Asked about Western media coverage of the conflict in Ukraine, Peskov claimed that there is no freedom of speech there.

"The collective West has enjoyed its monopoly in the media for a very long time, primarily the Americans and the British," he noted.

It is impossible to "break this monopoly in one fell swoop," he said, adding that even a modest attempt by Russia to compete with them "provoked hysteria."

"They immediately took off all the masks and showed that there is no real media freedom there (...) as soon as some media began to take a different view from the (West) mainstream media, they just began banning them," he said.

Even Western countries impose sanctions on journalists, which, the spokesman said seemed unbelievable a few years ago.

"They have no freedom of speech. If you don't think like them, then they announce sanctions against you," he said, adding that this situation made it more difficult to have an alternative point of view on different issues.

And that is why, the spokesman said, the Kremlin has had no contact with Western media in the last one year.

"I have made a decision… until I see that the Western media show some interest in (listening to) the truth, we will not contact them," he said.