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Vladimir Putin has arrived in Mongolia on his first go to to a member state of the Worldwide Legal Courtroom because it issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged battle crimes in Ukraine.
Forward of Putin’s arrival on Monday, the Kremlin dismissed options Mongolian authorities would possibly arrest the Russian president, assured that Ulan Bator would ignore calls from Ukraine and worldwide rights organisations to fulfil its obligation as an ICC member.
Russian flags have been displayed within the Mongolian capital and troopers in brightly colored uniforms lined a crimson carpet laid out to welcome Putin on the airport.
“We aren’t frightened. We’ve got a wonderful dialogue with our Mongolian associates,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed reporters.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova final 12 months, designating them “allegedly answerable for the battle crime of illegal deportation” of kids from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Mongolia has been a member of the ICC because it ratified the Rome Statute in 2002 and is meant to adjust to all arrest orders issued by the courtroom.
Final 12 months, Ulan Bator celebrated the appointment of the primary Mongolian choose to the courtroom’s bench. “By serving as a choose of the ICC for the primary time, Mongolia will make a major contribution to worldwide legislation,” its international ministry mentioned in an announcement on the time.
Nonetheless, Putin’s go to follows an invite by Mongolian president Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to attend the eighty fifth anniversary of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol — Soviet-Japanese border clashes in 1939 — and the arrest warrant is anticipated to go unheeded.
On Tuesday, Putin is scheduled to fulfill his Mongolian counterpart, attend anniversary occasions and go to an academic establishment earlier than ending the day with a proper banquet.
Kyiv condemned the go to and mentioned it will undermine the ICC.
“We name on the Mongolian authorities to execute the binding worldwide arrest warrant,” Ukraine’s international ministry mentioned, including it hoped Mongolia’s president was “conscious that Putin is a battle felony”.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukraine’s presidential administration, mentioned ignoring the warrant would present the world “there aren’t any guidelines”.
“Mongolia has to detain him,” Podolyak instructed Ukrainian tv information on Friday. “Will it accomplish that? Almost definitely not. That’s why Putin’s go to is going on, to point out that there aren’t any guidelines, no ICC, and no Rome statute.”
Putin did not attend a summit of the Brics group of nations last year in South Africa, which can also be an ICC member.
“Welcoming Putin, an ICC fugitive, wouldn’t solely be an affront to the numerous victims of Russian forces’ crimes, however would additionally undermine the essential precept that nobody, irrespective of how highly effective, is above the legislation,” Maria Elena Vignoli, senior worldwide justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, mentioned in an announcement.
Mongolian officers didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Monday.
A European Fee spokesperson mentioned the EU supported the ICC’s investigation into battle crimes in Ukraine and known as on all states to co-operate, including it had “clearly” acknowledged its place to Mongolia by means of diplomatic channels.
Many international locations in Central Asia have walked a tightrope since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as they search to steadiness relations with Russia, China and the west, an method they see as inevitable contemplating the area’s geography.
Mongolia shares a 3,500km-long border with Russia and regardless of efforts to diversify its financial system stays extremely depending on its neighbour, together with for about 30 per cent of imports and all of its petroleum merchandise.
Whereas not supporting Russia over Ukraine, Mongolia has abstained from voting on the UN to sentence the invasion.
The US and Australian ambassadors in Ulan Bator on Monday posted statements on the social media web site X in assist of Ukraine and criticising Russia’s aggression.
Putin’s go to to Mongolia comes amid uncertainty over the fate of Power of Siberia 2, a pipeline that, if constructed, would ship 50bn cubic metres of Russian fuel throughout the nation to China.
The Mongolian authorities didn’t point out Energy of Siberia 2 or some other new fuel pipelines with Russia in its newest five-year improvement plan submitted to the parliament final month.
In feedback to Mongolia’s Unuudur newspaper forward of his journey, Putin described the nation as a “shut neighbour and outdated good friend”. He talked about Energy of Siberia 2 as one among a number of shared tasks, however described it as nonetheless on the “design and survey” stage.
Extra reporting by Daria Mosolova in Brussels
