President Biden has quietly ordered the U.S. government to begin sharing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, according to officials familiar with the matter, signaling a major shift in American policy.
The decision, made by Mr. Biden in recent days, overrides months of resistance by the Pentagon, which argued that it could pave the way for the court to prosecute American troops, according to the officials.
It was unclear why Mr. Biden let the impasse linger or what finally led him to resolve it.
Already, they have shared some of that evidence with Ukrainian prosecutors but had refrained from doing so with The Hague.
Since the International Criminal Court was created by a 1998 treaty to investigate war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, administrations of both parties have viewed it with wariness and sometimes hostility.
Persons:
Biden, Mr
Organizations:
International Criminal, Pentagon
Locations:
Ukraine, The Hague, Hague