Joe Biden made the decision in recent days, The New York Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
It comes after months of resistance from the Pentagon, which had argued that such a decision may allow the Hague-based ICC to prosecute American troops in the future, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Biden administration “expressed support for the court when it issued arrest warrants in March for top Russian officials, like President Vladimir V. Putin, accusing them of orchestrating the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children,” the NYT noted.
At the same time, there was a fierce debate among US officials over whether to share intelligence shedding light on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, according to the US newspaper.
While the State Department and the Justice Department favoured giving the evidence to the ICC, the Pentagon was against it, the PAP news agency reported.
Neither Russia nor the US are parties to the 1998 Rome Statute creating the ICC, the NYT noted.
Pentagon officials had argued that helping the ICC with its probe into Russia’s actions in Ukraine would pave the way for the Hague-based court investigating and prosecuting Americans, the US newspaper reported.
The decision to start sharing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the ICC is a significant move signalling a major shift in US policy, the NYT reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 519 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, The New York Times, CNBC