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Vladimir Putin has arrived in Mongolia on his first visit to a member state of the International Criminal Court since it issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Ahead of Putin’s arrival on Monday, the Kremlin dismissed suggestions Mongolian authorities might arrest the Russian president, confident that Ulan Bator would ignore calls from Ukraine and international rights organisations to fulfil its duty as an ICC member.
Russian flags were displayed in the Mongolian capital and soldiers in brightly coloured uniforms lined a red carpet laid out to welcome Putin at the airport.
“We are not worried. We have an excellent dialogue with our Mongolian friends,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova last year, designating them “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation” of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Mongolia has been a member of the ICC since it ratified the Rome Statute in 2002 and is supposed to comply with all arrest orders issued by the court.
Last year, Ulan Bator celebrated the appointment of the first Mongolian judge to the court’s bench. “By serving as a judge of the ICC for the first time, Mongolia will make a significant contribution to international law,” its foreign ministry said in a statement at the time.
However, Putin’s visit follows an invitation by Mongolian president Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to attend the 85th anniversary of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol — Soviet-Japanese border clashes in 1939 — and the arrest warrant is expected to go unheeded.
On Tuesday, Putin is scheduled to meet his Mongolian counterpart, attend anniversary events and visit an educational institution before ending the day with a formal banquet.
Kyiv condemned the visit and said it would undermine the ICC.
“The Mongolian government’s failure to carry out the binding ICC arrest warrant for Putin is a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the international criminal justice system,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Gosha Tykhyi said in a statement on Monday evening.
“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 Ulan Bator.”
Putin did not attend a summit of the Brics group of nations last year in South Africa, which is also an ICC member.
“Welcoming Putin, an ICC fugitive, would not only be an affront to the many victims of Russian forces’ crimes, but would also undermine the crucial principle that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law,” Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Mongolian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
A European Commission spokesperson said the EU supported the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Ukraine and called on all states to co-operate, adding it had “clearly” stated its position to Mongolia through diplomatic channels.
Many countries in Central Asia have walked a tightrope since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as they seek to balance relations with Russia, China and the west, an approach they see as inevitable considering the region’s geography.
Mongolia shares a 3,500km-long border with Russia and despite efforts to diversify its economy remains highly dependent on its neighbour, including for about 30 per cent of imports and all of its petroleum products.
While not supporting Russia over Ukraine, Mongolia has abstained from voting at the UN to condemn the invasion.
The US and Australian ambassadors in Ulan Bator on Monday posted statements on the social media site X in support of Ukraine and criticising Russia’s aggression.
Putin’s visit to Mongolia comes amid uncertainty over the fate of Power of Siberia 2, a pipeline that, if built, would deliver 50bn cubic metres of Russian gas across the country to China.
The Mongolian government did not mention Power of Siberia 2 or any other new gas pipelines with Russia in its latest five-year development plan submitted to the parliament last month.
In comments to Mongolia’s Unuudur newspaper ahead of his trip, Putin described the country as a “close neighbour and old friend”. He mentioned Power of Siberia 2 as one of several shared projects, but described it as still at the “design and survey” stage.
Additional reporting by Daria Mosolova in Brussels and Chris Miller in Kyiv
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