ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday (Sep 2), his first go to to a member of the Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC) for the reason that courtroom issued an arrest warrant for him final 12 months.
Russian state tv confirmed Putin’s aircraft touchdown within the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.
The Russian leader is wanted by the Hague-based court for the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian youngsters.
Kyiv has urged Mongolian authorities to execute the arrest warrant, whereas the ICC mentioned final week that every one members had an “obligation” to detain these sought by the courtroom.
In follow, there’s little that may be accomplished if Ulaanbaatar doesn’t comply, and the Kremlin mentioned final week it was not involved that Putin can be arrested whereas he was in Mongolia.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023, saying it had “affordable grounds to consider” that he “bears duty for the warfare crime of illegal deportation” of Ukrainian youngsters – residing in areas of the nation that Russian forces took management of – to Russia.
Kyiv says hundreds of Ukrainian youngsters had been forcibly deported from orphanages and different state establishments after Russian forces took management of swathes of the nation in its 2022 invasion.
Russia says it moved some youngsters for his or her safety.
It has dismissed the warrant as having no consequence, however this journey to Mongolia marks Putin’s first to an ICC member within the 18 months because it was issued.
After the Russian president touched down Monday night, Amnesty Worldwide warned {that a} failure to arrest him might additional embolden the ex-KGB spy, in energy for nearly 1 / 4 of a century.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Batdorj, govt director of Amnesty Worldwide Mongolia mentioned in an announcement.
“Any journey to an ICC member state that doesn’t finish in arrest will encourage President Putin’s present plan of action and have to be seen as a part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work.”