Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia): Russian President Vladimir Putin was welcomed by honour guards and red carpets in the Mongolian capital on Tuesday on his first visit to an International Criminal Court (ICC) member since it issued a warrant for his arrest last year. Putin landed in Ulaanbaatar on Monday night at the start of a high-profile trip seen as a show of defiance against the court, Kyiv, the West and rights groups that have all called for him to be detained.
He met Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh on Tuesday at Ulaanbaatar's imposing Genghis Khan Square, also known as Sukhbaatar Square. A band blared out martial tunes and the Russian and Mongolian national anthems as the two leaders stood in the square near Mongolian soldiers in traditional costume, some of them on horseback.
Putin is wanted by the Hague-based ICC for the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children since his troops invaded the country in 2022. Ukraine has reacted furiously to the trip, accusing Mongolia of "sharing responsibility" for Putin's "war crimes" after authorities did not detain him at the airport.
Kyiv had urged Mongolia to execute the arrest warrant, while the ICC said last week all its members had an "obligation" to detain those sought by the court. In practice, there is little that can be done if Ulaanbaatar does not comply. A vibrant democracy situated between authoritarian giants Russia and China, Mongolia enjoys close cultural links to Moscow as well as a critical trading relationship with Beijing.
Mongolia was under Moscow's sway during the Soviet era but has sought to keep friendly relations with both the Kremlin and Beijing since the Soviet collapse in 1991. It has not condemned Russia's offensive in Ukraine and has abstained during votes on the conflict at the United Nations. The Kremlin said last week it was not concerned that Putin would be arrested during the visit.
"Obviously there was no chance of arresting Putin," Bayarlkhagva Munkhnaran, a political analyst and a former adviser on Mongolia's National Security Council, told AFP. "In Ulaanbaatar's view the current ICC warrant-related scandal is a passing matter compared to the need to maintain secure and predictable relations with the Kremlin," he said.
- 'Get Putin out of here' -
Genghis Khan Square was decked out with huge Mongolian and Russian flags for Putin's first visit to Mongolia in five years. A small protest had gathered there a day earlier, with a handful of demonstrators holding a sign demanding "Get war criminal Putin out of here". Tight security prevented another protest planned for Tuesday from getting near Putin.
The protesters instead gathered about a block from the Monument for the Politically Repressed, which honours those who suffered under Mongolia's decades-long Soviet-backed communist rule. Putin's visit is being held to mark the 85th anniversary of a decisive victory by Mongolian and Soviet forces over Imperial Japan.
Putin pointed to a number of "promising economic and industrial projects" between the two countries in an interview before the trip with Mongolian newspaper Unuudur, shared by the Kremlin. Those projects included the construction of the Trans-Mongolian gas pipeline linking China and Russia, he said.
Putin also said he was "interested in pursuing substantive work" towards a trilateral summit between himself, Mongolian and Chinese leaders.
- 'A fugitive from justice' -
Mongolia's government has not commented on the calls to arrest Putin. A spokesman for President Khurelsukh took to social media on Sunday to deny reports that the ICC had sent a letter asking Mongolia to execute the warrant during Putin's visit. Russia does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Amnesty International warned on Monday that Mongolia's failure to arrest Putin could further undermine the ICC's legitimacy, while emboldening the ex-KGB spy who has been in power for almost a quarter of a century. "President Putin is a fugitive from justice," Altantuya Batdorj, executive director of Amnesty International Mongolia, said in a statement.
