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Lawmakers in the United States have accused the Pentagon of impeding the prosecution of Russian war crimes by preventing the sharing of US military intelligence

with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

During a Senate hearing, Senator Dick Durbin stated that ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, confirmed that the US State Department and Justice Department were cooperating, but the Defense Department, led by Secretary Lloyd Austin, was not. Durbin asked Austin why the Department of Defense was hesitant to share evidence gathered in the United States regarding war crimes committed by Vladimir Putin.

In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin for suspected war crimes against Ukraine. While Austin stated he supported the goal of holding Russia accountable, he voiced concerns that any cooperation with the court could lead to politicized prosecutions of US troops deployed overseas.

Senator Lindsay Graham urged Austin to abide by a law passed last year, allowing international cooperation to hold Russia accountable for war crimes. Photo by U.S. Senate Photographic Studio; Rebecca Hammel, Wikimedia commons.