Photo: Alexander Kazakov Sputnik via Associated Press The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin in March 2023.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, and Ukraine on Friday called for the arrest of the Russian president during his upcoming visit to Mongolia. But the Kremlin, for its part, says it is calm.
Vladimir Putin, who is serving an arrest warrant for suspected illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, is expected in Mongolia on Tuesday, the first ICC member country he has visited since the warrant was issued and is therefore required to arrest him.
Like all other states parties to the Rome Statute that founded the ICC, Mongolia “has an obligation to cooperate” with it, a spokesperson for the court, Fadi el-Abdallah, told the press.
In Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also urged the Mongolian authorities in a statement to “transfer [Vladimir] Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”
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But, according to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “there is no concern” about this on the Kremlin's side. “We have a very good dialogue with our Mongolian friends,” he told reporters.
“Of course, all aspects of the visit were carefully prepared,” he added, without giving further details.
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When a member country fails to meet its obligations to the ICC, the ICC can refer the matter to the Assembly of States Parties. The assembly meets once a year, but its possible sanctions are mostly limited to a verbal reprimand.
In the past, other individuals subject to an arrest warrant from the Court, such as former Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, have travelled to countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute without being disturbed.
Mongolia signed the Rome Statute in 2000, before ratifying it in 2002.
Vladimir Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of population [of children] and the illegal transfer of population [of children] from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” reads the arrest warrant issued on 17 March 2023.
Russia, which does not recognise the ICC, has always firmly rejected the accusations brought by this jurisdiction against the Russian president.
Mr Putin has, however, been careful for almost a year and a half to avoid certain trips abroad, for example skipping the BRICS summit in South Africa in August 2023, then the G20 summit in India in September of the same year.
On the other hand, he has notably visited China in May, North Korea in June and Azerbaijan in mid-August, none of these countries being members of the ICC.
Mongolia, a courted country
In Mongolia, Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his counterpart Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and take part in the celebrations of the 85th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet and Mongolian armies against Japan at the Battle of from Khalkhin Gol in 1939.
The Russian President's previous visit to Mongolia was in September 2019.
Mongolia is landlocked between Russia and China, which covet its rich natural resources and want to increase their influence there, as does the United States.
In early August, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, to meet with “a central partner” of Washington.
French President Emmanuel Macron also traveled to Mongolia in May 2023, with which Paris wants to strengthen bilateral energy ties.