Russian President Vladimir V. Putin was warmly welcomed by Mongolia’s chief on Tuesday throughout his first state go to to a member of the Worldwide Legal Courtroom since he issued an arrest warrant for him final yr.
As a substitute of arresting Mr. Putin, because the ICC, Ukraine and human rights teams had referred to as for, Mongolia, which is closely depending on Russia for its power wants, gave the Russian chief a crimson carpet welcome within the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Mr Putin was greeted by a guard of honour, some on horseback, whose uniforms had been impressed by the Thirteenth-century Mongolian ruler Genghis Khan.
After the ceremonial welcome, Mr Putin and Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh held talks in a standard yurt at Ulaanbaatar’s State Palace.
“Relations between the Russian Federation and Mongolia are growing in all instructions,” Mr Putin mentioned throughout the public a part of the assembly, in line with RIA Novosti, Russia’s state information company.
Mr Putin’s go to is being described at dwelling as an indication that Western efforts to make him a world pariah for the reason that full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022 haven’t been efficient. The Kremlin seeks each to cut back the ethical and authorized authority of the court docket and to mission the message that Moscow’s authority and dominance of pure assets has extra affect – — a minimum of in its geographical neighborhood — than commitments to worldwide regulation.
Mr Hurelsukh expressed his gratitude to Mr Putin for his go to, the primary in 5 years.
“It’s gratifying to notice that relations between our nations and peoples are historically pleasant and have reached the extent of a complete strategic partnership,” he continued.
Mongolia, which depends on Russia for 95 % of its oil, has kept away from condemning Russia’s warfare in Ukraine and abstained throughout a UN vote on the battle. Mongolia was one of many high locations for Russians fleeing the nation in 2022 after the warfare started and the Kremlin introduced a mobilization marketing campaign.
Officers in Ukraine, which has come beneath intense missile and drone assaults over the previous week and a half, expressed outrage at Mr Putin’s go to.
“The Mongolian authorities’s failure to adjust to the ICC’s binding arrest warrant for Putin is a extreme blow to the Worldwide Legal Courtroom and the worldwide felony justice system,” Giorgi Tikhii, a spokesman for Ukraine’s overseas ministry. wrote of X.
“Mongolia allowed an accused felony to flee justice, thereby sharing duty for warfare crimes. We’ll work with companions to make sure that this has penalties for Ulaanbaatar.”
The Mongolian authorities has not commented on requires Putin’s arrest.
In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Putin, accusing him of committing warfare crimes by abducting and deporting Ukrainian youngsters. The court docket additionally issued an order towards the Russian Commissioner for Youngsters’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
Russia, just like the US, doesn’t acknowledge the jurisdiction of the court docket, which relies in The Hague within the Netherlands. Nevertheless, Mongolia is one in every of 124 nations that signed the Rome Statute, which governs membership of the worldwide court docket.
He introduced a big delegation to Ulaanbaatar, together with Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Protection Minister Alexei Fomin, in addition to senior officers within the ministries of power, overseas affairs, transport and others.
Executives from a number of main state-owned corporations had been additionally a part of his entourage, together with from the state-owned Rosatom Atomic Vitality Company and the Rosneft oil firm, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund. The heads of the Russian areas of Buryatia and Irkutsk, which border Mongolia, had been additionally current.
On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Vitality and the Ministry of Trade and Mineral Sources of Mongolia signed an settlement on the provision of petroleum merchandise, in addition to on the provision of aviation gas to Mongolia, the Russian Interfax information company reported.
“We invariably reply to the requests of Mongolian associates for assist in assembly the rising demand for fuels and lubricants, together with on preferential phrases,” Mr. Putin mentioned, in line with Interfax.
For the reason that March election, Mr. Putin has made seven journeys overseas, together with to China, North KoreaVietnam, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. All through 2023, Putin made six overseas journeys, together with to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. he refused to travel to South Africa for a summit assembly of the BRICS group of nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – final yr as a result of South Africa can also be a part of the ICC
A small group of protesters gathered on the eve of Mr. Putin’s go to to the central Genghis Khan Sq., some holding placards calling Mr. Putin a warfare felony, in line with Mongolian information shops. A heavy safety perimeter prevented protesters from approaching the sq. on Tuesday and 6 folks had been briefly detained.
Halliun Bayartzogt contributed reporting from Ulaanbaatar.
