Senator Lindsey Graham is now wanted for arrest in Russia. And the South Carolina Republican said he wanted it that way.
As President Vladimir Putin’s bloody war on Ukraine enters its 16th month, Graham has stood out in the GOP — and outside his political ally Donald Trump — with particularly scathing criticism from the Kremlin.
‘I will wear the arrest warrant issued by Putin’s corrupt and immoral government as a badge of honour’, Graham tweeted Monday.
Last Friday, Graham met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and told reporters that “industrial level war crimes that have been committed against the Ukrainian people” cannot be forgiven.
The visit did not go well in Moscow.
The Russian Interior Ministry has ordered criminal charges against Graham under an unspecified article of the Russian criminal code, according to the Kremlin spokesman TASS news agency.
The Russian government has also tangled with Graham over the senator’s comments touting US investments in Ukraine’s war effort, TASS reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed that Washington and kyiv are united by a “Nazi philosophy of hatred towards Russians”, according to TASS.
Russia claimed throughout the war that it sought the demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine. But the argument is confusing. The President of Ukraine is Jewish. And Russia’s brutal bombing of Ukraine damaged Holocaust memorials.
Graham wrote on Twitter that he “will continue to defend Ukraine’s freedom until every Russian soldier is expelled from Ukrainian territory.”
“Knowing that my commitment to Ukraine has drawn the ire of the Putin regime brings me immense joy,” he tweeted.
He also dared to mock the Russian leaders to join him before a neutral tribunal.
“Finally, here’s an offer to my Russian ‘friends’ who want me arrested and put on trial for calling Putin’s regime war criminals: I will submit to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court if you do.” mocked Graham on Twitter.
“Come make your best case,” he added. “See you in The Hague!”