Q24N — Vladimir Putin is visiting Mongolia and this Central Asian country is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since March 2023, accused of war crimes, for the “deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russian-occupied territories following the start of the offensive in the former Soviet republic in February 2022. The Kremlin rejects these accusations.
Putin will visit Mongolia today, Tuesday, September 3, his first trip to a signatory country of the Rome Statute since the ICC issued the arrest warrant. But it does not look like the arrest going to happen.
Nestled between Russia and China, Mongolia signed the Rome Statute in 2000, ratifying it in 2002.
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According to that Statute, Mongolia must arrest anyone entering its territory against whom an ICC warrant has been issued. But the Russian leader’s welcome in advance suggests that it will not arrest him. On the contrary, Putin was even given a guard of honor at the airport.
“There is no concern. We have an excellent dialogue with our Mongolian friends,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Putin is in Mongolia to attend the commemoration of the 1939 Battle of Chalkhin Gol.
The Russian president was absent from the BRICS summit in South Africa in August 2023 and the G20 summit in India the following month.
He did travel to China in May this year, North Korea in June and Azerbaijan last month, countries that are not members of the ICC.
Putin was also invited to the inauguration of President-elect of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum on October 1, 2024, succeeding Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
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Mexico is also a member of the ICC. However, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has also already indicated that Putin will not be arrested when he arrives in Mexico.
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