United States Environmental Protection AgencyRussian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Mongolia, his first visit to a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the body issued an arrest warrant for him last year.
He was welcomed by the Mongolian leader at a lavish ceremony in the Asian nation’s capital Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday.
Russian leader wanted by court for illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
Kremlin spokesman said they were not concerned that Mr Putin would be arrested during the visit.
Horse-mounted soldiers lined the capital’s Genghis Khan Square as a band played military music to welcome the Russian leader, who met with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
A small group of protesters gathered in the square on Monday afternoon, holding up signs demanding “Get war criminal Putin out of here.”
Another protest is planned for midday Tuesday at the Monument to the Politically Persecuted in Ulaanbaatar, which commemorates those who suffered under Mongolia’s decades-long Soviet-backed communist regime.
Other protesters were prevented by security forces from approaching the Russian president as he arrived.
Ahead of his visit, Ukraine urged Mongolia to arrest Mr Putin.
“We call on the Mongolian authorities to comply with the international arrest warrant and transfer Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Telegram.
Last year, the court found the Russian president guilty of war crimes, focusing on the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, on similar charges.
The report alleges that these crimes occurred in Ukraine from February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion.
Moscow has previously denied the allegations and said the arrest warrant was “absurd”.
ReutersICC members are required to arrest suspects if an arrest warrant has been issued, but there is no enforcement mechanism.
Last week, the Hague-based court said its members had a “duty” to act. Mongolia has not publicly responded to the call from Ukraine or the ICC.
This former Soviet satellite state has maintained friendly relations with Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
The country failed to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and refused to vote on the conflict at the United Nations.
The landlocked country, which borders China, also depends on Russia for gas and electricity.
Russia has been negotiating for years about building a pipeline to transport 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year from the Yamal region to China via Mongolia.
The project is called Power of Siberia 2is part of a strategy to offset a drop in gas sales in Europe, following a widespread boycott of Russian resources over the invasion of Ukraine.
