Spain will join the initiative to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to hold him accountable for the “war crimes” committed by Russian forces during the Ukraine invasion, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.
In an interview with private television channel Telecinco, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stressed that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine “won’t be for free”.
Albares explained that his government’s objective is now “to ensure that Ukraine continues to live in peace”. However, Madrid has recently sent a second shipment of lethal weapons to Ukraine, mainly anti-tank launchers and ammunition, to help repel the Russian invasion.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed that Spain would increase its military budget – likely to reach 2% of its GDP in line with NATO’s requirements – to face the new challenges to the country’s security posed by the threat of Russia in Eastern Europe.
The executive defended the increase on Tuesday (15 March) despite criticism from some members of its coalition partner, left-wing Unidas Podemos (United We Can).
Sánchez warned that Europe must “take notice” of what is happening in Ukraine, and the EU bloc must improve its defence capabilities together with its NATO allies, in an interview aired by private channel La Sexta.
“We have to stop Putin now, in Ukraine, because we don’t know which country will be next”, warned Sánchez, who said there is no dispute with Unidas Podemos on the Spanish position in the conflict with Russia.
Asked whether there is a “risk of World War III”, Sánchez made it clear that this is exactly what the EU and the US want to avoid.
KD__91 on March 17th, 2022 at 08:32 UTC »
What about naming generals and even other lower officers in the Russian army, and when the Ukrainian army captures some of them in Ukraine, they send them straight to the Hague and they can start up Nuremberg style trials even during the war? Would be hard for Putin to spin that if there was another 141-5 style UN vote in favor of this.
abbeyeiger on March 17th, 2022 at 05:50 UTC »
To all the people replying: "lol, good luck getting him to give himself up stupid idiots lol!"
Nobody actually thinks Putin is going to give himself up in this scenario.
It's more about permanently restricting his ability to set foot in any of these countries or a country sharing extradition laws with them.
Putin will no longer be able to meet other world leaders, and will not be able to fulfill his duties as president of Russia.
It's just another measure to pressure him and Russia.
autotldr on March 17th, 2022 at 05:00 UTC »
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 62%. (I'm a bot)
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