Vladimir Putin is visiting Mongolia with no sign that the host country will heed calls to arrest him under an international warrant for suspected war crimes stemming from the invasion of Ukraine.
Mongolia’s failure to arrest Putin has dealt a “severe blow” to the international criminal justice system, said the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, as the Russian president arrived for talks likely focused on a new gas pipeline connecting Russia and China. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi stated, “Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thus sharing responsibility for war crimes.” This visit is Putin’s first to a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the court issued an arrest warrant for him about 18 months ago. Prior to his visit, Ukraine urged Mongolia to hand Putin over to the court in The Hague, and the European Union expressed concerns that Mongolia might not execute the warrant.
ICC member states are obligated to arrest suspects if an arrest warrant is issued, but Mongolia, a landlocked country heavily dependent on Russia for fuel and part of its electricity, does not have a mechanism to enforce such warrants.
The International Criminal Court has charged Putin with responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine. On Monday, the European Union expressed concern that the ICC warrant might not be executed and said it had shared this concern with Mongolian authorities.
