UN official criticised after meeting Russian sought by ICC

FILE PHOTO: Russia's Commissioner for children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova, whom the International Criminal Court wants to arrest on war crimes charges, addresses an informal meeting of U.N. Security Council members via video, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., April 5, 2023. Diplomats from the United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out as she began her statement to the meeting, convened by Russia, on Ukraine and on "evacuating children from conflict zones." REUTERS/Michelle Nichols/File Photo

Rights groups and the top U.S. justice envoy on Saturday criticised a meeting between a leading United Nations official for children and Russia's ombudsman for children's rights, who is wanted by the world's permanent war crimes court.

An arrest warrant was issued in March by the International Criminal Court for Maria Lvova-Belova, who is accused by the ICC's prosecutor of the war crime of deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia.