Putin welcomed in Mongolia despite ICC arrest warrant

EPA Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and Vladimir Putin in UlaanbaatarEPA

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is making his first appearance in Mongolia since the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) issued a warrant for his arrest last year.

He was welcomed by Mongolia’s head at a beautiful festival in the Eastern nation’s capital Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday.

The court is searching for the Russian president over alleged unlawful deportation of Russian children.

It was not feared that Mr. Putin may be detained during the visit, according to a Kremlin spokesman.

A live band played fighting anthems to the Russian president who met with Mongolian leader Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh as soldiers on horse lined Genghis Khan Square in the capital.

On Monday evening, a small group of protesters gathered in the circle and chanted” Find War Criminal Putin out of here.”

Another opposition is planned for noon Tuesday at Ulaanbaatar’s Monument for the Politically Repressed, which commemorates those who suffered under Mongolia’s decades-long Soviet-backed socialist government.

Security forces prevented additional protestors from getting close to the Soviet leader upon his arrival.

Back of his attend, Ukraine had urged Mongolia to arrest Mr Putin.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated on Telegram that the country must comply with the global arrest permit and send Putin to the Hague International Criminal Court.

The jury alleged last year that the Russian leader was to blame for war crimes, with particular attention to the illegal imprisonment of kids from Ukraine to Russia.

It has also issued a warrant for the incarceration of Russia’s director for children’s right, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the same crimes.

It alleges the crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale conquest.

Moscow has recently refuted the claims and called the warrants “outrageous.”

Reuters An honour guard and fanfare met Mr Putin's arrival in Mongolia sReuters

If an imprisonment warrant has been issued, ICC people are expected to prosecute suspects, but there is no such system.

The Hague-based judge last month said people had” an commitment” to take action. Ukraine or the ICC’s contact have not been publicly addressed by Mongolia.

Since the Soviet Union’s fall in 1991, the former Soviet satellite state has helpful relations with Russia.

It has n’t voted against the conflict at the UN and has n’t condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The landlocked state, which likewise borders China, even relies on Russia for gas and electricity.

Russia has been in discussions for years about developing a pipeline to transport 50 billion cubic meters ( bcm ) of natural gas via Mongolia annually from its Yamal region to China.

The project, known as Power of Siberia 2, is part of a strategy to compensate for the drop in gas sales in Europe, following widespread boycott of Russian resources due to the invasion of Ukraine.