The President of Russia Vladimir Putin on Tuesday arrived in the Mongolian Capital Ulaanbaatar, a move that has extremely angered Ukraine.
Ukraine had earlier called on authorities in Mongolia to arrest President Putin once he sets foot on their country. Mongolia subscribes to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Putin flew to Ulaanbaatar on the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.
Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Tykhyi, called Mongolia’s failure to honor the arrest warrant a “heavy blow to the [ICC] and the international criminal justice system” on social media.
In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against President Putin alongside Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their role in illegally deporting Ukrainian children.
“Mongolia allowed the indicted criminal to escape justice, thereby sharing responsibility for his war crimes. We will work with partners to ensure that this has consequences for Ulaanbaatar,” Tykhyi added in another social media update.
Mongolia became a signatory of the Rome Treaty of the ICC in December 2000. The ICC said last week that all its members have an “obligation” to detain those sought by the court.
Prior to the visit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they “[had] a great dialogue” with Ulaanbaatar, and that “all aspects of the visit were carefully prepared.”
Putin’s visit, held to mark the 85th anniversary of Mongolian and Soviet forces’ victory against Imperial Japan, would see him meet with Khurelsukh.
Ahead of the trip, Putin pointed to a number of “promising economic and industrial projects” between the two countries in an interview with Mongolian newspaper Unuudur shared by the Kremlin.
Among those was the construction of the Trans-Mongolian gas pipeline linking China and Russia, he said. The project, known as Power of Siberia-2, reportedly fell through due to disagreements between Beijing and Moscow, according to earlier reports.
The Kremlin said, “Following international consultations, a number of bilateral documents have been signed in the presence of the two leaders, including the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and Mongolia, intergovernmental agreements on cooperation in counterterrorism and on assistance to interregional and cross-border cooperation, as well as a protocol on the resumption of the intergovernmental agreement on the provision of military technical assistance to Mongolia on a grant basis signed on March 3, 2004. The documents signed also pertain to cooperation between various departments and agencies.”
