Putin to visit ICC member Mongolia next week
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Mongolia on Sept. 3, the Kremlin announced on Aug. 29.
Mongolia is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 for the forcible transfer of children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
The Kremlin's announcement claimed that Putin will visit Mongolia "at the invitation Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh." The leaders will celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Battles of Khalknin Gol, in which Soviet and Mongolian forces jointly defeated Japanese troops.
The visit will mark Putin's first trip to an ICC member country that has ratified the Rome Statute. The agreement calls on member nations to arrest Putin if he enters their territory.
Mongolia has refrained from actively supporting Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine but has not voted to condemn it at the UN. The country remains nearly completely dependent on Russian fuel.
Mongolia's economic dependence on Russia and China has prevented it from establishing closer ties to the West.
The ICC asserts that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that Putin holds direct accountability for supervising the illegal deportation of children and that he neglected to exert authority over Russian soldiers and civilians executing the crime across occupied Ukrainian regions from the onset of Russia's all-out war.
Nate Ostiller
