An arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin issued by the International Criminal Court is in force, but the Russian leader is unlikely to be arrested during his visit to Mongolia.
A seemingly innocuous visit. Vladimir Putin “will make an official visit to Mongolia on September 3”the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday. A country where the Russian president last visited in September 2019and where he is moving this time “at the invitation of Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to participate in the celebrations of the 85th anniversary of the joint victory of the Soviet and Mongolian armed forces over the Japanese militarists” during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
But this visit has a very particular stake, far from the military commemorations of the Second World War. This is indeed Vladimir Putin’s first trip to a member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the latter issued an arrest warrant against him in March 2023. For “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children.
Mongolia has in fact been a signatory to the Rome Statute since 2000, the treaty governing the rules of the ICC, before ratifying it in 2002. However, each Member State is required to arrest any person on its soil. who is the subject of an arrest warrant from the ICC, which is the case for Vladimir Putin. In principle, therefore, the country’s justice system is supposed to be obliged to arrest him as soon as the Russian president sets foot on Mongolian territory.
Kyiv reacts, Moscow has no “concerns”
This was enough for Ukraine to step up to the plate and urge Mongolia to “execute the mandatory international arrest warrant and transfer Vladimir Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague”according to the terms of the press release of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which also states that “The kidnapping of Ukrainian children is just one of many crimes for which Putin and the rest of Russia’s military and political leaders must be brought to justice.”
The Kremlin, for its part, claimed not to have “of worry” regarding a possible arrest of Vladimir Putin. “We have an excellent dialogue with our Mongolian friends”Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Of course, all aspects of the visit were carefully prepared”he added, without giving further details. There is little doubt that Mongolia would not have invited the Russian autocrat to military commemorations without assuring him of his full and complete security during the entire trip.
The Russian and Mongolian leaders also met very recently, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on July 3 in Kazakhstan. A body largely dominated by China and which has taken an anti-Western turn, promoted by Beijing and Moscow. A sign that Ulaanbaatar is far removed from the Western priorities of placing Vladimir Putin behind bars.
The Kremlin, which does not recognize the ICC, has always firmly rejected the Hague accusations against the Russian president. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin had always taken care for almost a year and a half to avoid traveling abroad as much as possible, for example skipping the BRICS summit in South Africa in August 2023, then the G20 summit in India in September of the same year. On the other hand, he notably went to China last May, to North Korea in June, and to Azerbaijan in mid-August, none of these countries being members of the ICC.
A strategic visit
Beyond the symbolic stakes for the Kremlin to show that the ICC has no control over its movements, this visit to Mongolia also has strategic elements. Vladimir Putin and Ukhnaa Khurelsukh have planned talks and “will discuss prospects for the development of Russian-Mongolian relations”according to the Kremlin. The two leaders “will exchange views on current international and regional issues”the Russian presidency also added, according to which “a number of bilateral documents” will be signed on this occasion.
Mongolia, a country rich in natural resources, is located in East Asia, landlocked between Russia and China, and has a vast territory (three times the size of metropolitan France). However, it has only 3.4 million inhabitants.
In early August, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. to display with “a central partner” Washington’s visit to the region was part of a stated desire by the United States to increase its influence in this vast country, also coveted by its Russian and Chinese rivals. French President Emmanuel Macron also visited Mongolia in May 2023.with whom Paris wants to strengthen bilateral ties in energy matters.