UPDATE 2: Russia quits International Criminal Court

(Adds comments in paragraph 4)

MOSCOW, Nov 16 (PRIME) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on country’s disaffiliation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to documents seen by PRIME on Wednesday.

The president ordered the Foreign Ministry to send a correspondent notification to the U.N. secretary general.

Prosecutor of the ICC Fatou Bensouda earlier published a report recognizing accession of Crimea to Russia as an act equal to an international conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that participation in the Rome Statute of ICC contradicts Russia’s national interests. “This is the position which the country took, guided by precisely national interests.”

The Foreign Ministry said that the court has not met Russia's expectations. “Unfortunately, the court did not live up to our hopes and did not become a truly independent authoritative body of international justice. Various organizations, including the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council noticed in principle an ineffective and one-sided work of the court in the framework of the cases it investigated.”

The ministry said that it is concerned with the court’s decisions over the Georgian conflict of August 2008.

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