Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal? Vivek Ramaswamy is not so sure

Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy declined to answer whether or not he viewed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, CNN reported on Wednesday.

The question was posed to the GOP presidential contender during a New Hampshire campaign event. Ramaswamy was accompanied by his wife, Apoorva Ramaswamy during the event.

“Yes or no, do you think Putin is a war criminal?” the interviewer asked.

“I think that Putin is a dictator and I think that there are open questions that need to be adjudicated by the ICJ,” Ramaswamy replied. “We have an ICJ for a reason. My job as the US president is to advance American interests. So, I think Putin’s actions have been craven. That much I will say, I’ve said it all along.”

“But do you believe he’s a war criminal?” the interviewer pressed again.

“We have to get the facts before we get to the bottom of that,” Ramaswamy begins to say before the clip is cut off.

John Bolton’s take on Ramaswamy

The CNN segment cuts to the studio of CNN This Morning, where CNN’s Poppy Harlow asks former National Security Advisor John Bolton what he thought of Ramaswamy dodging the question.

“Ramaswamy reminds me an awful lot of Donald Trump. He has very firm opinions on subjects he knows absolutely nothing about, and this was an example of it.” Bolton went on to express his hope that Ramaswamy would explain his confidence in the ICC.

“This is something that ultimately is going to have to be resolved either by the Russians themselves or by the Ukrainians. And the main point is that Ramaswamy has made other statements about this war and about what he’s going to do to try and solve it.” 

Bolton proceeds to compare Trump and Ramaswamy’s previously stated strategies for resolving the Russia-Ukraine war saying.

“They might as well be in kindergarten talking about a very complex situation, but there’s no mistake, I think Ramaswamy emulates Trump every time he can.”