Picture this, Russia’s Vladimir Putin departs from his presidential plane in America on Friday… only to be met with handcuffs the moment he steps foot on US soil.
The 72-year-old is currently scheduled to travel to Alaska this Friday (15 August) for a summit with his US counterpart Donald Trump as the Republican leader seeks to end Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Putin’s trip to the US will mark the first time in which the Russian leader has been invited to the States in a decade and will likely be a huge moment for relations between the two global superpowers.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be noticeably absent from the summit, which feels rather redundant considering the conflict being discussed involves his country, allowing Trump to get some one-on-one time in with the Russian leader.
However Putin is a wanted man in numerous countries, so what would happen if he were to be arrested upon arrival?
Why is there an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin?
On 17 March 2023 the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigated Putin over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The investigation resulted in Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, being issued an arrest warrant on charges of allegedly unlawfully trafficking children living in occupied Ukrainian provinces to Russia.
It’s believed that at least 35,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia (per Yale Research Institute) since the start of the war in February 2022.
Following the arrest warrant, Putin and Lvova-Belova could face arrest if they entered territory belonging to any of the countries which are part of the ICC under the Rome Statute, which requires all signatories to execute an arrest warrant for a person wanted on charges of crimes against humanity.
Which countries could Vladimir Putin be arrested in?
Under the treaty, Putin would theoretically be arrested if he entered any of the 125 ICC signatories, this includes the UK, Germany, France and Australia.
The list of nations is as follows:
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Andorra
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Latvia
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Republic of Korea
- Republic of Moldova
- Romania
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- Spain
- State of Palestine
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Timor-Leste
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United Republic of Tanzania
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Zambia
However there are several notable absences from the list, including Russia, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US.
Why can’t Vladimir Putin be arrested in America?
As one of the countries that doesn’t recognise the ICC ruling, the US isn’t expected to arrest Putin the moment his presidential plane touches down in the northernmost US state.
However this hasn’t stopped people from calling for the US to do just that.
“Putin is wanted for War Crimes, the only thing Trump should be doing is make sure Putin is arrested,” wrote one person in response to the news.
“Since Putin is an internationally wanted [alleged] war criminal, I assume that Trump is going to have him arrested in Alaska,” added a second X user.
Despite calls for his arrest it’s ultimately unlikely Putin will be put in cuffs in Alaska, with ex-army chief Hamish de Bretton-Gordon telling The Sun: “Trump will have given Putin some cast iron agreement he won’t be arrested for the criminal proceedings against him.”
What would happen if Vladimir Putin was arrested?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Russian officials wouldn’t react well to an event where Putin was arrested.
Ex-president Dmitry Medvedev previously stated that arresting Putin would be seen as ‘a declaration of war’ by Russia. Which is something that could escalate drastically, given Medvedev’s apparent fondness for threatening the use of nuclear weapons on social media.
Putin has even visited an ICC signatory since the ruling, with a state visit to Mongolia taking place in late 2024.
The East Asian nation faced backlash for its failure to comply with the ruling, prompting a government spokesman telling Politico they had a ‘policy of neutrality’ and relied on Russia for petroleum and electricity.