On January 11, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reacted to the statement of British Defense Secretary John Healy wanting to kidnap Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with local media, Ms. Zakharova denied the accusations made by Secretary Healey as well as the possibility of President Putin being kidnapped. She believes this idea is beyond imagination.
Mr. Putin was originally the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2023, with charges of bringing people, including Ukrainian children, to Russia.
Notably, London is a member of the ICC. Accordingly, this country will have to execute an arrest warrant in case President Putin appears on British territory. Conversely, Moscow is not a member of the ICC and describes the ruling as legally invalid.
Previously, on January 9, Mr. Healy said that if he could kidnap any leader, he would "seize Mr. Putin", and accused the Russian leader of violating international law for deploying a military operation in Ukraine.
Mr. Healy's statement was made after the US launched an unprecedented raid on Venezuela in the early morning of January 3 (local time).
US forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Both were later escorted to New York for trial, along with charges of drug and weapon smuggling.
In the hearing on January 5, President Maduro affirmed his innocence after being prosecuted for 4 charges including drug terrorism conspiracy, cocaine import conspiracy, possession of machine guns and weapons of mass destruction, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and weapons of mass destruction.
For its part, Russia condemned the US military campaign, describing it as a move that violates Venezuela's sovereignty and international law. Meanwhile, Britain did not clearly oppose Washington, saying that this country "has long supported the transfer of power in Venezuela".
