Spain joins international move to put Putin on trial for war crimes and genocide

The Spanish government agreed yesterday, 16 March, to join the lawsuit against Russian president Vladimir Putin which is being brought by almost 40 countries for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Spokeswoman Isabel Rodríguez said at the press conference after a cabinet meeting that ministers had agreed to refer the request for an investigation to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to establish whether crimes under its jurisdiction have been committed in Ukraine. "We will do everything in our power and use all the tools of the state to fight Putin's war," she said.

This is the first step in a process which could result in Putin being banned from entering any of the 123 countries which are part of the ICC for fear of being imprisoned. For that to happen, the prosecution would have to issue a detention order against him after obtaining evidence to show that he had committed heinous crimes. However, as Russia has never ratified the ICC’s Rome Statute – and nor has Ukraine – and does not recognise its authority, the chances of seeing the Russian president in the dock are practically zero.

The government had indicated at the regional presidents’ conference in La Palma last Sunday that it would join the initiative as part of the pressure which Spain and other European countries are putting on Russia via economic sanctions.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also said on Wednesday that the main objective of all this is to “isolate Putin and those around him more and more” and that the aggression against Ukraine would have consequences for Russia. In a TV interview, Albares said the Russian leader had begun a 20th century-style war to which the other countries are responding with 21st century tools. In other words, with massive economic sanctions and accusations of war crimes to which Spain is now also a signatory.