Russian President Vladimir Putin was on an official visit to Mongolia on Tuesday, his first visit to a member state since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest last year.
Putin was greeted by an honour guard the night before as he arrived in Ulaanbaatar, where he began his high-profile visit. It was seen as a challenge against the court, Kiev, the West and human rights groups who had called for Putin to be taken into custody.
The Russian leader is wanted by the Hague-based court for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children since his forces invaded the country in 2022.
Ukraine has reacted angrily to this visit.
On Monday it accused Mongolia of “sharing responsibility” for Putin’s “war crimes” because authorities did not detain him at the airport.
Kiev had urged Mongolia to serve the arrest warrant, while the ICC said last week that all its members had an “obligation” to detain those sought by the court.
In practice, if Ulaanbaatar does not comply there is not much that can be done.
Mongolia, a vibrant democracy situated between authoritarian countries like Russia and China, has close cultural ties with Moscow and important trade relations with Beijing.
During the Soviet era it was subordinate to Moscow.
And since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it has tried to maintain friendly relations with both the Kremlin and Beijing.
The country has not condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and did not participate in a vote on the conflict at the United Nations.
The Kremlin said last week that it was not concerned that Putin would be arrested during the trip.
– ‘Get Putin out of here’ –
The capital’s central Genghis Khan Square, also known as Sukhbaatar Square, was decorated with giant Mongolian and Russian flags on Monday to mark Putin’s first visit to Mongolia in five years.
A small protest occurred in the afternoon, with demonstrators holding a placard demanding “Get the war criminal Putin out of here”.
Another protest is planned for noon on Tuesday at Ulaanbaatar’s Monument to the Politically Repressed, which pays tribute to those who suffered under Mongolia’s decades-old Soviet-backed communist rule.
Mongolia’s government has not commented on the calls to arrest Putin.
But a spokesman for President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Sunday denied reports on social media that the ICC had sent a letter asking for the warrant to be served during his visit.
Russia does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.
And Amnesty International warned on Monday that Mongolia’s failure to arrest Putin could further undermine the legitimacy of the ICC, as well as promote the former KGB spy who has been in power for nearly 25 years.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Baatdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia, said in a statement.
“Any visit to an ICC member country that does not end in an arrest would encourage President Putin’s current actions and should be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the work of the ICC.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
