Russia’s Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham following his comments during the recent trip to Ukraine.
Graham replied to the news of the warrant by offering to submit to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if the Russian leaders who wanted to arrest him did the same. “Come and make your best case. See you in The Hague!” he wrote on Twitter.
The International Criminal Court previously issued arrest warrants against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova in March. The Kremlin replied by putting The Hague prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan on its wanted list.
The news of the arrest followed Graham’s comments during his recent visit to Kyiv. The edited version of Graham’s conversation with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed Graham saying “the Russians are dying,” followed by “this is the best money we have ever spent.”
Reuters later reported that the full video of the meeting released by Ukraine showed that the remarks did not follow each other before the edit released by the Ukrainian president's office.
Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Graham would need to personally confirm his words were taken out of context to verify what happened, according to a Telegram video.
During the Kyiv visit, Graham reiterated the American support for Ukraine. He called for supplying long-range ATACMS missiles and cluster munitions to help achieve Ukraine’s strategic goals.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
