THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Vladimir Putin may be traveling abroad next week — for potentially pivotal talks with U.S. President Donald Trump — despite the Russian leader facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
Putin is wanted by the court on a warrant dating back to March 2023 for alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine during the conflict triggered by Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.
The court, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, relies on other countries to arrest suspects and has a spotty history of cooperation.
Putin knows that and has traveled overseas since the warrant was issued, including to ICC member state Mongolia. He's also traveled to China and North Korea, which are not court members.
Choosing the United Arab Emirates as a venue would mean Putin visiting another country that is not a member of the global court.
The court was set up in 2002 and aims to hold leaders and senior officials accountable for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. It has 125 member states, but three major global powers — the United States, Russia and China — are not members. Ukraine officially joined the court in January.
More than 900 staff work for the court that has a budget this year of just over 195 million euros ($228 million).
In an indication of the problems it has getting suspects arrested, judges have issued warrants for 61 people and 30 remain at large.
The ICC is a court of last resort, meaning it only takes on cases when other countries' legal systems are unable or unwilling to prosecute suspects.
Trump's administration has slapped sanctions on the court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, after Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC. He accuses the court of “illegitimate and baseless actions" targeting America and Israel. The court has issued an arrest warrant for two top Israeli officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes in Gaza. They deny the accusations, and Netanyahu has called the warrant “absurd.”
Trump previously sanctioned Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, in his first term in the White House and the Biden administration subsequently lifted those sanctions.
Russia also rejects the court's authority and has issued a warrant for Khan and the ICC judge who signed Putin's warrant.
It is not just Mongolia that has failed to arrest a suspect wanted by the court. In April, Netanyahu visited Hungary, an ICC member state, and was not arrested. Instead, the Israeli leader received a red-carpet welcome from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who later said his country does not arrest its visiting friends. Hungary is now in the process of leaving the court.
The only other countries to have left are Burundi and the Philippines, whose former president, Rodrigo Duterte, is in custody at the court's cell block in The Hague after he was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his government's deadly crackdown on drugs.
Duterte was arrested in his home country in March by Philippine police as he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong. President Ferdinand Marcos said the arrest was “proper and correct” and not an act of political persecution.
South Africa allowed Sudan's then-leader Omar al-Bashir to visit in 2015 without arresting him. Al-Bashir is wanted on charges including genocide for his role in the bloody conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region in the 2000s. He is in prison in his own country but still has not been sent to The Hague, even after being ousted from office in 2019 in a popular uprising.
Karim Khan, the ICC's chief prosecutor, has stepped down pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. He has categorically denied accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will.
No date has been set for the investigation to be completed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan shake hands during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan shake hands during their meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America" during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower," according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released on Thursday by the Democratic National Committee.
The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.
On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."
Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him on the ticket or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.
“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”
A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation.
“Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on social media.
The postelection report, which was authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera, calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”
“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.
The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”
Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.
The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”
“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”
The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”
Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.
Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.
Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.
The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”
“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”
The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.
“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)
