This is his first visit to a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the court issued his arrest warrant last year.
Russian state television showed Putin’s plane landing in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
The Hague-based ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the head of Russia over the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
ICC members should detain V. Putin if he enters their territory.
Mongolia signed the Rome Statute of the ICC founding treaty in 2000, and ratified it in 2002.
Ukraine last week called on Mongolian authorities to execute the arrest warrant, and the ICC said all its members have a “duty” to detain those wanted by the court.
But in practice, little can be done if Ulaanbaatar does not comply.
The Kremlin said last week that it was not afraid that V. Putin would be detained.
Lying between Russia and China, Mongolia was under Moscow’s sphere of influence during the Soviet era. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it has sought to maintain friendly relations with both the Kremlin and Beijing. This country has not condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
2024-09-03 03:15:35