Islam Times - Medvedev: Putin’s Arrest A Declaration of War

Islam Times - Russia’s ex-President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that any attempt to arrest President Vladimir Putin abroad would be seen as “a declaration of war.”

The International Criminal Court [ICC] based in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin last week for alleged war crimes.

“Let's imagine — obviously this situation which will never be realized — but nevertheless lets imagine that it was realized: The current head of the nuclear state went to a territory, say Germany, and was arrested,” Medvedev said in a video posted to Telegram late on Wednesday.

He further said: “What would that be? It would be a declaration of war on the Russian Federation. And in that case, all our assets — all our missiles et cetera — would fly to the Bundestag, to the Chancellor's office.”

Russia, which is not a party to the ICC, initially called the arrest warrant “null and void.”

On Monday, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened its criminal investigation in to the ICC's chief prosecutor Karim Khan.

It said Khan's actions may have breached two Russian laws relating to accusing an innocent person of a crime, and “preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection, in order to complicate international relations.”