It is the Russian president’s first visit to an ICC member country after an international arrest warrant was issued for Putin last year.
18:26•Updated 18:35
President of Russia Vladimir Putin has arrived in Mongolia, where he is scheduled to meet the country’s leader on Tuesday Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.
Mongolia is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and this is Putin’s first visit to an ICC member state since the court issued an international arrest warrant for him in March 2023. The ICC has accused Putin of war crimes in Ukraine.
In theory, member states of the International Court of Justice have an obligation to arrest persons for whom an international arrest warrant has been issued. In practice, however, the ICC is not exactly able to intervene in the activities of the member countries’ authorities.
The Russian administration announced last week that it is not worried that Putin would be arrested during his visit to Mongolia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that “all aspects of the visit have been thoroughly discussed” with the Mongolian authorities.
Mongolia, a landlocked country in East Asia, is heavily dependent on Russia for imports of fuel and electricity, among other things.
Sources: AP, Reuters