The Russian government has denied concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be arrested on a criminal court warrant during his upcoming visit to Mongolia.
“There is nothing to be worried about. We are having an excellent dialogue with our Mongolian friends,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Moscow Times on Friday, adding that “all aspects of the visit have been carefully prepared.”
Putin's recent visit is noteworthy because Mongolia is a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 for his alleged involvement in the abduction of children in Ukraine.
Putin has carefully avoided visiting any signatory countries to the Rome Statute, which would bring them under the jurisdiction of the ICC. Russia, along with other major nations such as the United States, China, India and Israel, is not a signatory and therefore not subject to ICC jurisdiction, but if Putin were to visit a signatory country of the Rome Statute, he would be arrested.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Acting Governor of the Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov via video link on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, August 8, 2024. (Sputnik/Gabriel Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters)
The concerns surfaced during a planned visit to South Africa to attend a meeting of the BRICS economic bloc, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa trying to sidestep the issue by repeating Russia's declaration that the arrests were tantamount to a “declaration of war”.
“Risking ourselves into a war with Russia would be a violation of our constitution,” President Ramaphosa said at the time.
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Putin ultimately decided not to attend the BRICS meeting himself, sending Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead.
Currently, President Putin is scheduled to visit Mongolia, a signatory to the Rome Statute, on September 3rd at the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnagin Khurelsukh to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the joint military victory over Japanese forces.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a family photo with delegations including the six countries invited to join the BRICS group – Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – on the final day of the BRICS summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in the Sandton district of Johannesburg, South Africa, 24 August 2023. (Per Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
The two leaders will also discuss building a “comprehensive strategic partnership” and sign “several bilateral documents,” according to a Kremlin statement.
Ukraine responded to news of Putin's visit by calling on Mongolian authorities to abide by their ICC commitments and pursue Putin's arrest.
In a statement, Ukraine called Putin a war criminal and stressed that child abduction was just “one of many crimes” he has committed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
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“These individuals are guilty of a war of aggression against Ukraine and atrocities against the Ukrainian people,” Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a Telegram post.
“We call on the Mongolian authorities to execute the mandatory international arrest warrant and hand over President Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” the ministry added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
