Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on arms production in Moscow, Russia, on Dec 26, 2025.
PHOTO: Reuters
December 29, 2025
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Monday (Dec 29) signed into law changes that give Russia the right to ignore judgements in criminal cases issued by foreign and international courts amid Ukrainian and European attempts to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.
The move, which comes as US President Donald Trump is trying to broker a peace deal in Ukraine, appears to be a response to several initiatives to go after Russian officials and military officers for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, something Moscow denies its forces are guilty of.
Ukraine and the Council of Europe human rights body signed an agreement in June forming the basis for a special tribunal, and Europe this month launched an International Claims Commission for Ukraine in an effort to ensure Kyiv is compensated for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russian attacks and alleged war crimes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has also issued arrest warrants for Putin and five other Russians, accusing them of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
The Kremlin, which called the ICC move outrageous, says the allegation is false and that Moscow has only acted to remove children from a conflict zone for their own safety.
Under the changes to Russian law backed by Putin on Monday, Moscow will formally have the right under its own domestic legislation to disregard rulings in criminal cases taken by foreign courts on behalf of foreign governments without Russia's participation.
Rulings issued by international legal bodies whose authority is not based on an international agreement with Russia or a UN Security Council resolution can also be ignored under the changes.
New Law Specifies that Moscow will No Longer Obey Any International Courts Not Set Up by UN Security Council where Moscow has a Veto
Paul Goble
Staunton, Dec. 29 – According to the terms of a new law just approved by the Duma and signed into law by Vladimir Putin, Moscow no longer feels itself obliged to obey any decision of an international court not established with the approval of the United Nations Security Council where the Russian Federation as a permanent member has a veto.
The new law (publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202512290002) gives legal format to what had become Russian practice and means that Moscow will no longer obey the orders of the International Criminal Court or the findings of any tribunal set up to examine Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
That Moscow should do so is no surprise – it was highly offended when the ICC ordered Putin’s detention and trial earlier – but it represents yet another step by Moscow to remove itself from the international legal order that had been coming into being in the last several decades and provides cover for other governments that don’t like such international supervision.
Thus, what may appear to be a small step, in fact is a giant leap toward undermining the international legal order that had emerged and throws the world back to one where the reconstitution of this order anytime soon will be difficult if not impossible, something that will further untie the hands of dictators and other authoritarians.
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