Russian President Vladimir Putin disregarded an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant as he started a state go to to Mongolia Tuesday.
He met with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh within the capital Ulaanbaatar, marking his first go to to a member of the ICC because the court docket issued the arrest warrant final yr.
The Hague-based ICC needs the Russian chief for the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian kids since his troops invaded the nation in 2022.
Earlier Monday evening, Putin was welcomed by an honor guard, signaling the beginning of a high-profile go to that many view as a present of defiance towards the ICC, Ukraine and the West.
The two leaders met in Ulaanbaatar’s Genghis Khan Square, the place a army band performed each nations’ anthems and Mongolian troopers in conventional apparel, some on horseback, stood in formation.
The go to has sparked outrage in Ukraine, which has accused Mongolia of “sharing responsibility” for Putin’s alleged “war crimes” after the Mongolian authorities didn’t detain him upon arrival.
Kyiv had urged Mongolia to execute the arrest warrant, with the ICC reiterating final week that every one its member states have an “obligation” to detain people sought by the court docket. However, in follow, there’s little recourse if Mongolia doesn’t comply.
Mongolia, a vibrant democracy located between the authoritarian giants of Russia and China, has traditionally maintained shut cultural and financial ties with Moscow.
During the Soviet period, Mongolia was beneath vital Soviet affect and because the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, the nation has sought to take care of pleasant relations with each Russia and China. Mongolia has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has abstained from voting on associated resolutions on the United Nations.
Despite the worldwide stress, the Kremlin acknowledged final week that it was not involved about the potential for Putin being arrested in the course of the go to. Genghis Khan Square was adorned with massive Mongolian and Russian flags for Putin’s first go to to the nation in 5 years.
However, not all have been welcoming. A small protest occurred the day earlier than Putin’s arrival, with demonstrators holding indicators demanding, “Get war criminal Putin out of here.”
Another protest deliberate for Tuesday was thwarted by tight safety, forcing demonstrators to collect a block away from the Monument for the Politically Repressed, which commemorates those that suffered beneath Mongolia’s Soviet-backed communist regime.
Putin’s go to coincides with the eighty fifth anniversary of a big army victory towards Imperial Japan by Mongolian and Soviet forces.
In an interview with the Mongolian newspaper Unuudur earlier than his go to, Putin highlighted a number of “promising economic and industrial projects” between the 2 nations, together with the development of the Trans-Mongolian fuel pipeline linking China and Russia. He additionally expressed curiosity in pursuing a trilateral summit with Mongolian and Chinese leaders.
Mongolia’s authorities has remained silent on the calls to arrest Putin although a spokesperson for President Khurelsukh denied stories on social media that the ICC had despatched a letter requesting Mongolia to execute the warrant throughout Putin’s go to. Russia doesn’t acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Amnesty International issued a warning Monday, stating that Mongolia’s failure to arrest Putin might additional undermine the ICC’s legitimacy and embolden Putin, who has been in energy for almost 1 / 4 of a century.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” mentioned Altantuya Batdorj, govt director of Amnesty International Mongolia, in an announcement.
“Any trip to an ICC member state that does not end in arrest will encourage President Putin’s current course of action and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com