Russian President Vladimir Putin is on a visit to Mongolia. This trip to Mongolia marks Putin's first visit to an ICC member country since the issue of his arrest warrant for war crimes in Ukraine.
Putin has avoided international trips since the warrant was released. In 2023, Putin skipped the BRICS Summit in South Africa as authorities had been prepared and ordered to arrest the Russian leader and hand him over.
With Mongolia showing no signs of detaining Putin and handing him over to the International Criminal Court, the Kremlin stated that it is not worried about Putin's visit to the neighbouring country.
The top criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin on March 17, 2023, accusing him of unlawful deportation of children during the Russia-Ukraine war.
The ICC arrest warrant is also the first time a warrant has been issued against a leader of a permanent country of the United Nations Security Council.
Can Putin Be Arrested In Mongolia?
In theory, yes. The Russian President can be arrested by Mongolian authorities and handed over to the Hague. However, the chances of Putin being arrested are actually little to none.
Based on the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the International Criminal Court, all member states are obliged to "detain and transfer any of the indicted individuals if any of them set foot on their territory."
Mongolia signed the statute in December 2000 and has been part of the ICC since then.
Ahead of Putin's visit, the court reiterated last week that all its members have an "obligation" to detain those sought by the ICC. However, even if Mongolia does not comply with this order, the chances of action or sanctions against the Asian country remain low.
In view of Putin's visit, members of the international community, fellow ICC members and organisations such s Amnesty International have urged Ulaanbaatar to arrest the Russian leader.
"Any trip to an ICC member state that does not end in arrest will encourage President Putin’s current course of action and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work," said Altantuya Batdorj, the executive director of Amnesty International in Mongolia.
What Are The Charges Against Putin?
Vladimir Putin and many other Russian officials have been accused of committing and allowing war crimes in Ukraine since 2014.
Putin has been accused of violating articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute. The ICC identified that "at least hundreds of Ukrainian children taken from orphanages and children's care homes" by Russian forces during the war.
As per the world court, these deportations were done with intention to remove the children from their own country, which is also a violation of the Geneva Convention of 1948.
Apart from Putin, arrest warrants have been issued for senior military officials Viktor Sokolov and Sergey Kobylash, former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Russian army general Valery Gerasimov and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian commissioner for children's rights.
