France, which is under pressure over its stance on an international arrest warrant issued for Israel's prime minister, declined on Thursday to say whether it would be prepared to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin under a similar warrant.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence chief and a Hamas military leader for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.

All European Union member states, including France, are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty but France said on Wednesday it believed Netanyahu had immunity to actions by the ICC as Israel has not signed up to the court statutes.

The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, although Russia is not a signatory to the ICC's founding treaty.