US boycotts informal UN meeting on ICC's 20th anniversary

An informal UN Security Council meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the statute that created the International Criminal Court was boycotted by the United States, which is not a party to the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

There is no requirement that the 15 council members attend informal meetings, but it is rare for a member to boycott. Russia, China and other council members that don't support the ICC attended today's meeting and spoke.

A US official told The Associated Press that the Trump administration decided not to participate "after careful consideration." The official said: "We recently noted concerns about any potential ICC investigation of US personnel related to the situation in Afghanistan. Other aspects of our policy are under review.