President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that Russia will pull out of the International Criminal Court. The body, which exists to try war crimes, had issued a report calling Russia’s annexation of Crimea an “international military conflict.” The resolution condemned Russia’s “temporary occupation of Crimea,” in addition to noting human-rights abuses, including discrimination against Crimeans. Putin has ordered the Russian foreign ministry to inform the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that it is no longer a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. In addition to the Crimean annexation, a withdrawal would release Russia from international obligations in Syria, where the U.K.—among others—has requested a probe of alleged Russian war crimes during its bombing campaign in Aleppo.
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