USA: The International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to indict Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn criticism from former US national security adviser John Bolton, who described the court as "fundamentally illegitimate."

In a statement to Sky News on Monday, Bolton said, "I believe and have for many years [that] the International Criminal Court is fundamentally illegitimate," adding, "The United States should not cooperate with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Putin."

It's an extremely risky institution, he said. There is no constitutional framework to restrain it, so it is an exercise of governmental power in a hoover."

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Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova are wanted for the "unlawful deportation" of children from "occupied areas of Ukraine," according to a warrant issued by the court's pre-trial chamber on Friday. The allegations concern Russia's efforts to evacuate civilians from areas that the Ukrainian military had been shelling, mostly in Donbass, a region with a large Russian-speaking population.

Russia and the US both reject the ICC's authority. US President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he thought the arrest warrant was "justified," but he also acknowledged that the court was "not recognised by us either."

The United States continues to uphold the "Hague Invasion Act," which permits its military to invade the Netherlands in the event that any US citizens are detained at the International Criminal Court. This is in addition to sanctioning a number of top ICC officials in 2020.

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Bolton signed the official letter withdrawing the US from its jurisdiction in 2002 while serving as George W. Bush's undersecretary of state. He threatened sanctions against anyone assisting its investigations into alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan while serving as Donald Trump's national security adviser.

Bolton argued on Monday that even though the ICC's indictment of Putin could obstruct future peace talks in Ukraine, it is still a "direct assault on the concept of national sovereignty," as he has claimed for the past 20 years.

He questioned Sky's Kay Burley, asking if she believed that an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin would increase or decrease the likelihood of negotiations. Instead, he recommended that the Russian president be tested by either Ukraine or a fictitious pro-Western administration in Moscow.

Throughout his political career, Bolton has called for regime change or military action in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea, Venezuela, and Russia. Bolton has long been an advocate for using US hard power against other countries. He acknowledged to CNN last summer that he had "helped plan coup d'etats" all over the world.

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The allegations against Putin have "unfazed" the Kremlin, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday. The indictment has previously been labelled "null and void" by Peskov.