Ukraine Invasion: “You’re Lying To Yourself” – Macron Tells Putin

• Ukraine’s Parliament goes tough
• ICC Investigates Putin on War crimes

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday told his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin that he was making a “major mistake” in Ukraine.

According to a top French official, Macron pointedly said that Putin was deluding himself about the government in Kyiv and that the war would cost Russia dearly over the long term.

The French official said in the phone call initiated by Putin on Thursday, the Russian leader reiterated his determination to obtain the neutralisation and disarmament of Ukraine, whether diplomatically or by arms.

Reuters news agency quoted the French presidential adviser as saying; “There was nothing in what President Putin said that could reassure us,” adding that Putin had reiterated his “narrative” that he was seeking the “de-nazification of Ukraine”.

“’You are lying to yourself’,” Macron told Putin, the official said. “’It will cost your country dearly, your country will end up isolated, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time’.”

Ukraine’s Parliament Goes Tough On Russians’ Assets

Meanwhile, in a retaliatory moves at the Russian government, Ukraine’s parliament has approved a bill allowing the seizure of assets or property in Ukraine owned by Russia or Russian citizens due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Under the law, the government can suggest which assets to confiscate to the Security Council, which must then give its approval for their transfer to state ownership, Reuters reported.

ICC Investigates War Crimes Allegations Against Putin

An advance team left the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Thursday to start investigating possible war crimes, its top prosecutor told Reuters in an interview.

Their departure came hours after prosecutor Karim Khan said he would start collecting evidence as part of a formal investigation launched after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February.

“Yesterday I formulated a team and today they are moving to the region,” Khan said. “It’s an advanced team, comprised of investigators, lawyers, but also those with particular experience in operational planning.”

Khan said his office would be examining possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – the offences under the court’s jurisdiction – by all parties in the conflict.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, and Moscow does not recognise the court, which was established in 1997 by the Rome Statute and opened in The Hague in 2002.

Though not a member of the ICC, Ukraine signed a declaration in 2014 giving the court jurisdiction over alleged grave crimes committed on its territory from 2014 onwards regardless of the nationality of the perpetrators. – With the Guardian reports