Crimea's Russia-installed leader could be in trouble, former minister says:
Russia withdraws signature from ICC's founding statute:
Russia says it is formally withdrawing its signature from the founding statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a decree signed on November 16, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Foreign Ministry to inform the United Nations of the decision.
"The court did not live up to the hopes associated with it and did not become truly independent," the ministry said, describing the court's work as "one-sided and inefficient."
The move comes after the lead prosecutor for the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, for the first time said on November 14 that the simmering conflict in Ukraine should be considered an international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The United Nations says at least 9,600 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
In 2000, Russia signed the Rome Statute of the ICC, which was established to prosecute war crimes, but the country did not ratify an agreement to join. (dpa, Reuters, TASS, AFP)