Russia’s Putin arrives in ICC member country Mongolia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday, his first visit to a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the court issued an arrest warrant for him last year.

Russian state television showed Putin’s plane landing in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.

The Russian president is wanted by a court in The Hague for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv called on the Mongolian authorities to execute the arrest warrant, while the ICC said last week that all members had an “obligation” to arrest those wanted by the court.

If Ulan Bator fails to meet its obligations, there is little that can be done in practice. The Kremlin said last week that it had no fears that Putin could be arrested during his stay in Mongolia.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023, arguing that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that he was “responsible for the war crime of the unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia living in areas of the country controlled by Russian forces.

According to Kyiv, thousands of Ukrainian children were forcibly deported from orphanages and other state institutions after Russian forces seized control of large parts of the country during their invasion in 2022.

Russia said some of the children had been relocated for their protection.

The arrest warrant was dismissed as inconsequential, but the trip to Mongolia is Putin’s first to an ICC member state in the 18 months since it was issued.

After the Russian president landed on Monday evening, Amnesty International warned that failure to arrest him could further embolden the former KGB spy who has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century.

“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Batdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia, said in a statement.

“Any trip to an ICC member state that does not result in an arrest will reinforce President Putin’s current approach and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the work of the ICC.”

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