Eight countries, all allies of the United States, issued a joint statement on Friday saying that they "regret and strongly disagree" with the Trump administration's decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom said they appreciated the steps taken by the court to prepare for the sanctions, but warned that if implemented, they would have "significant impact on the Court's work, its dedicated staff and their families" who they say "work every day to bring those accused of the most serious international crimes to justice and to support their victims."