Ukraine condemns Mongolia over failure to arrest Putin on visit

Ukraine has called for Mongolia to face “consequences” after its failure to arrest Vladimir Putin during the Russian leader’s first visit to a member nation of the international criminal court since it issued an arrest warrant for him last year.

Putin received a red carpet welcome on Tuesday during a state visit to Mongolia, a sparsely populated country sandwiched between Russia and China, where he held talks with President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.

Heorhii Tykhii, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian foreign ministry, called Mongolia’s decision not to arrest Putin “a heavy blow to ICC and the international criminal justice system”.

“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,” Tykhii wrote on X.

The international criminal court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March 2023 against Putin for illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The warrant obliges the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.

Before his trip to Ulaanbaatar, the country’s capital, Ukraine and several leading human rights groups had urged Mongolia to arrest Putin on arrival.

“Mongolia would be defying its international obligations as an ICC member if it allows Russian president Vladimir Putin to visit without arresting him,” Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

“Welcoming Putin, an ICC fugitive, would not only be an affront to the many victims of Russian forces’ crimes, but also undermine the crucial principle that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law,” it added.

There was little chance that Mongolia, which relies on Russia for 95% of its petroleum products and has abstained from criticising Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, was going to follow up on its ICC commitments.

Instead, Putin was greeted with a cordial reception by an honour guard, some of whom were on horseback and dressed in traditional uniforms reminiscent of those worn by Genghis Khan, the 13th-century Mongol ruler.

President Khürelsükh later hailed Putin’s visit to the country while the Russian leader said the two nations’ relations were “developing in all directions”.

Putin’s visit was expected to focus on energy cooperation, as Mongolia lies along the planned route of a Russian pipeline. The pipeline is intended to transport 50bn cubic metres of natural gas annually from Russia’s Yamal region to China.

Mongolia, surrounded by Russia in the north and China to the south, has long tried to cultivate a balancing act between the two while also developing ties with Japan, South Korea and the US.

For Putin, the trip to Ulaanbaatar represents the latest in a series of recent overseas visits aimed at countering the international isolation he has faced as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

He visited China in May, North Korea and Vietnam in June and went to Kazakhstan in July for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

At the end of last year, Putin also visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in an effort to strengthen political and economic ties with the two Middle Eastern nations, traditionally western allies.

In July 2023, he skipped a Brics summit in Pretoria because of concerns that the South African hosts, as members of the ICC, would feel compelled to attempt his arrest.