Russia is formally withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, the court that sits in judgment of people charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

A statement on the Kremlin website revealed President Vladimir Putin's decision, which comes two days after a UN committee approved a resolution condemning Moscow's "temporary occupation of Crimea" and abuses against some people from the region.

A foreign ministry statement described the ICC's work as "one-sided and inefficient" and said: "The court did not live up to the hopes associated with it and did not become truly independent.

"In these conditions one cannot speak of trust in the International Criminal Court."

It added: "It is revealing that in its 14 years of work the ICC has pronounced just four verdicts and spent over $1bn (£800m)."


Image: Russian military helicopters celebrate Navy Day in annexed Sevastopol, Crimea

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after the region was taken over by pro-Russian separatists, a move that led to sanctions against Russia from the West.

The UN committee report apparently angered Moscow by referring to the annexation as an armed conflict - Russia disputes that.

Moscow has also complained it is unhappy with the ICC's treatment of the case on Russia's short war with neighbouring Georgia in 2008, arguing it ignored Tbilisi's aggression against civilians in South Ossetia - a pro-Moscow separatist region of Georgia.

The move is purely symbolic because, although President Putin signed the founding treaty for the Hague-based court in 2000, it never ratified it.

Russia is also under international pressure over its involvement with the Syrian government and air strikes over Aleppo.

US officials accuse it of bombing civilians and civilian targets such as hospitals - a claim that Russia denies.

A moratorium on bombing Aleppo has been in place for almost a month and Russia says it remains in place for the time being.

The ICC was set up in 1998 when 120 countries signed the Rome Statute founding treaty to make it the first legal body with permanent international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

It came into being as a result of the Nuremburg trials following the Second World War and the UN war crimes tribunals for the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

A number of African countries have recently accused the ICC of bias and said they are going to leave it.