Ukraine urges Mongolia to arrest Putin on international warrant during visit

Ukraine urged Mongolia on Friday to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin on an International Criminal Court warrant when he visits on Sept. 3. Still, the Kremlin said it was not worried that Mongolia could arrest Putin during his visit next week to the member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued a warrant for the Russian leader.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant in March of last year against Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed the accusation, saying it is politically motivated.

Putin will travel to Mongolia on Tuesday, in a first trip to an ICC member since The Hague-based court issued a warrant for his arrest over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children in March 2023.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

Also Read: Putin to visit Mongolia next week, will he be arrested? Kremlin says Russia president not worried

The warrant obliges the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.

”We call on the Mongolian authorities to comply with the mandatory international arrest warrant and transfer Putin to the International Criminal Court in the Hague,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram.

Asked earlier on Friday whether Moscow was concerned that Mongolia is a member of the ICC, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: ”No, no worries about this. We have a great dialogue with our friends from Mongolia.”

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

Asked whether there had been discussions with Mongolian authorities about the ICC warrant, Peskov said: ”Obviously the visit, all of the aspects of the visit have been thoroughly discussed.”

Mongolia became a signatory of the Rome Treaty of the ICC in December 2000.

Under the treaty, each ICC member would be expected to implement the warrant if Putin were to set foot on its territory.

Moscow has brushed off the warrant but Putin – while already vastly scaling down foreign visits since launching the Ukraine offensive in 2022 – has not travelled to ICC member states until now.

With inputs from agencies.