Moscow says Russia planned Security Council meeting on the issue long before an international arrest warrant was issued for Vladimir Putin.

The announcement comes following the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes related to the alleged abduction of Ukrainian kids.

Russia’s United Nations Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told a news conference on Monday that Moscow planned the council meeting long before Friday’s announcement by the ICC. Russia holds the rotating presidency of the council in April.

The court said it was seeking Putin’s arrest because he “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”.

The announcement of the warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, was welcomed by Ukraine as a first step towards accountability for crimes following the February 2022 invasion.

It was dismissed by Moscow, which is not one of the 123 countries that are parties to the court, calling the action “legally void” and “outrageous”.

On Monday, Russia’s top investigative body opened a criminal case against the ICC’s prosecutor and judges, saying there were no grounds for criminal liability on Putin’s part, and heads of state enjoyed absolute immunity under a 1973 UN convention.

‘Totally overblown’

A report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine on Thursday said there was evidence of the illegal transfer of hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The commission said both parents and children faced many obstacles in establishing contact, with the burden falling primarily on the children. Young children are likely unable to make any contact. It concluded the forced deportations “violate international humanitarian law and amount to a war crime”.

The Ukrainian government has said 16,221 children have been taken to Russia since the war began.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was quoted by the Courthouse News Service as telling Russia during a conference of justice ministers from more than 30 countries in London on Monday: “Return the children, repatriate the children.”

Russia’s Nebenzia called the issue “totally overblown” and said Moscow wants to explain at the Security Council meeting, that around April 6, they were taken to Russia “simply because we wanted to spare them of the danger that military activities may bring”.

Nebenzia was asked whether Russia planned on returning the children. “When conditions are safe, of course. Why not?” the Russian envoy replied.