Sen. Lindsey Graham Wants War Crimes Probe Of Putin

New York, NY – April 29, 2018: US Senator Lindsey Graham speaks during 7th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference at Marriott Marquis Hotel

Sen. Lindsey Graham has stated that he will be introducing a resolution for the Senate to help press the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into Russian President Vladimir Putin for committing potential war crimes, according to a report from The Hill on Wednesday.

The South Carolina Republican stated that the resolution would fully support “the complaint filed by the Ukrainian government. This is a good example of where the International Criminal Court should exercise jurisdiction… I want the Senate to vote and speak with one voice in support of this complaint.”

Graham then stated during a press conference that he has talked about the non-binding, draft resolution with a few folks in the Democratic Party, saying, “I’m going to introduce this thing pretty soon and I’m going to try to build consensus.”

via Newsmax:

At a press conference with Graham, Rep. Victoria Spartz, an Indiana Republican who was born in Ukraine, told reporters about messages she is receiving from her friends and family in Ukraine, saying “this is criminal. This is pure killing of individuals. This is just brutal.”

Earlier this week the International Criminal Court said it was opening a probe into what is happening in Ukraine.

Graham said the draft Senate resolution would condemn “the ongoing violence, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and systematic human rights abuses continually being carried out by the Russian Armed Forces and their proxies,” and would urge countries worldwide to press for a war crimes investigation and back a probe into Putin for war crimes, according to The Hill.

The resolution comes as congressmen are also in discussions to provide aid for Ukraine, with the Biden administration requesting $6.4 billion, but senators talking about a figure closer to $10 billion.

They are hoping to add the aid package into the government funding bill that has to pass by March 11 in order to prevent a shutdown of the federal government.

“The Senate must keep working on a bipartisan basis to pass a robust aid package in the upcoming omnibus, so we can send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine that we stand with them and that we stand against Putin,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer stated. “The omnibus needs to get done next week, so I’m glad that we seem to be having bipartisan support to get that done.”