What is the ICC that issued Putin’s arrest warrant and what consequences does it face?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he may never face trial for his alleged crimes, according to materials released by the court.

“This is probably the most high-profile action the International Criminal Court has ever taken,” Steven Groves, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation specializing in international law, told Fox News Digital.

“[The court] has accused heads of state before, like al-Bashir, but that’s Sudan. This is Russia,” Groves said. “The reality of the situation is that Putin will never report himself and Russia will not report Putin.”

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, along with an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights at the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.

RUSSIAN ENERGY COMPANY SUPPORTING CHINA’S WEAPONS PROGRAM IS A ‘DIRECT THREAT’ TO US, GOP WARNS

The court said it found “reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of population from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, to the detriment of Ukrainian children.”

Watchdog groups hailed the warrant as strong testimony, but the ICC’s own materials indicate that it has only judicial powers and relies on member states to honor requests to extradite suspects.

A booklet on the subject “Arrest of ICC suspects at large‘ notes that 15 people are at large with pending warrants and the court has seen that at least four warrants have expired since the suspect died before authorities could arrest them.

The ICC operates largely under the authority of the 1998 Rome Statute, which not all countries follow or recognize, including the US, Russia and China. Many other states — some 123 in all — including the G20 and G8 members are member states, and this is where Putin could feel the most influence.

SENATOR, FORMER FIGHTER PILOT SAYS IT’S NOT JUST RUSSIAN AGGRESSION THAT CAUSED THE AIRCRASH

“The real rubber hits the road when Putin travels, because if Putin travels to another country that is a party to the Rome Statute, there is a legal obligation for that party to comply with the treaty,” Groves said.

“It doesn’t matter whether Russia goes to China, for example, or to another country that is not a member of the ICC,” he explained. “But let’s say there’s a G-20 meeting in Japan, for example, or in another country that’s a party to this treaty and takes its obligations seriously… You would be obligated under the terms of the treaty to help arrest of.” someone who is charged and has an arrest warrant out.”

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Ahmad Khan stands in front of the Ukrainian flag as he visits Kiev and Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine April 14, 2022. (Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Groves noted that his key takeaway from the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant is that it is likely to limit Putin’s involvement in G20 and G8 trials and similar international bodies. Countries such as Japan, Canada and Turkey are member states of the statute.

But the warrant carries the risk that it could demonstrate the ICC’s lack of authority or power and rely too heavily on the treaty or other countries’ obligations to arrest Putin.

RUSSIA AWARDS STATE AWARDS TO PILOTS BEHIND US DRONE CRASH

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the arrest warrant, saying: “The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, even from a legal point of view.”

Groves suggested that Interpol may need to issue a red letter notice to bring Putin to justice, but the group has not yet announced any intention to issue an arrest warrant and has not yet responded to a Fox News Digital request a comment on the matter replied to the publication.

FILE – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova gestures as she attends the annual press conference held by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, Friday, January 17, 2020. Turkey had warned Russia in advance before stopping Russian planes flying to Syria over its territory, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, April 28, 2022. Zakharova said Turkey asked Russia more than a month ago not to send planes to Syria via their territory. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)

And ultimately, the power to impose additional sanctions on Russia rests with individual nations or with the United Nations Security Council — the latter likely to prove ineffective given Russia’s veto power as a permanent member of the council, Groves noted.

“The bottom line for me is that if the international community wants real accountability for war crimes, it should ensure that Ukraine has the ability to conduct war crimes trials on its own soil and that it gets as many members of the Russian military for it can be arrested as on the battlefield and tried for war crimes,” Groves said.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch welcomed the announcement, saying it sends “a clear message” and “a wake-up call to others” that “their day in court could come, regardless of their rank or position.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This is a big day for the many victims of crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine since 2014,” Balkees Jarrah, deputy director for international justice at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “With these arrest warrants, the ICC has made Putin a wanted man and taken a first step towards ending the impunity that has encouraged perpetrators in Russia’s war against Ukraine for far too long.”