US President Joe Biden has welcomed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) issuing of an arrest warrant against his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The ICC accused President Putin of committing war crimes in Ukraine – something President Biden said the Russian leader had “clearly” done.

President Biden said that, while the court also held no sway in the US, the issuing of the warrant “makes a very strong point.” “He’s clearly committed war crimes,” he told reporters, the BBC reported.

The claims focus on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow’s invasion in 2022.

Moscow has denied the allegations and denounced the warrants as “outrageous”.

Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has said the warrants were “based upon forensic evidence, scrutiny and what’s been said by those two individuals”.

It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move, as the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects without the co-operation of a country’s government.

Russia is not an ICC member country, meaning the court, located in The Hague, has no authority there.

However, it could affect Putin in other ways, such as being unable to travel internationally. He could now be arrested if he sets foot in any of the court’s 123 member states.