The Kremlin has called the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova “outrageous and unacceptable."
"Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court and, accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of law,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tweeted on Friday.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and Deputy Chair of the Security Council of Russia, also dismissed the warrant in a tweet.
Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia also condemned the ICC as a "prejudiced, biased, and incompetent internal body."
Nebenzia called the war crimes court a puppet of the large Western countries and said since Russia is not a party to the ICC's Rome statutes, the court's decision to issue the arrest warrants was null and void.
Located in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute first brought before the United Nations, the ICC operates independently. Most countries are parties to the treaty — but there are very large and notable exceptions, including Russia.
This means for the trials to move ahead, Russian officials charged would either have to be handed over by Moscow or arrested outside of Russia.
CNN's Richard Roth contributed reporting.