When Vladimir Putin met with Donald Trump in Alaska in August, one prominent strand of social-media commentary had nothing to do with the possibility of a deal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine (the meeting’s ostensible purpose). Rather, it turned on the question of whether Putin—who faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, stemming from Russia’s wartime actions—could conceivably be arrested when he stepped foot on U.S. soil.

As a practical matter, of course, the answer was no—it wouldn’t happen, and not just because the Trump administration had no interest in making an arrest, or because the Russian reaction would be dangerous, or because the United States is not a member of the ICC. As a legal matter, most countries treat a serving national leader—a presiden

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