Vladimir Putin to make first ICC member state visit since arrest warrant issued for alleged child abduction

The Kremlin has dismissed concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming trip to Mongolia, which will expose him to arrest under a criminal court warrant. 

“There are no worries, we have a great dialogue with our friends from Mongolia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, according to the Moscow Times. He added that “all aspects of the visit were carefully prepared.”

The attention to Putin’s latest trip derives from the fact that Mongolia is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which in March 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children. 

Putin has carefully avoided visiting countries that are signatories of the Rome Statute, thus making them subject to ICC jurisdiction. Russia – along with other major nations such as the U.S., China, India and Israel – are not signatories and thus do not answer to the ICC, but any visit to a Rome Statute signatory would subject Putin to arrest.

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The concern came to the fore during his planned trip to South Africa to attend a BRICS economic bloc conference: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tried to dodge the issue, reiterating Russia’s declaration that an arrest would be tantamount to “a declaration of war.” 

“It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia,” Ramaphosa said at the time. 

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Putin ultimately decided against attending the BRICS conference in person, instead sending his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to attend in his place. 

Now, Putin plans to visit Mongolia – a Rome Statute signatory – on Sept. 3 at the invitation of the Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, to celebrate the 85th anniversary of a joint military victory over the Japanese forces. 

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with fellow BRICS leaders President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping pose for a family photo with delegates, including six nations invited to join the BRICS group, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, during the closing day of the BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Center on August 24, 2023, in the Sandton district of Johannesburg, South Africa. (Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)

The two leaders will also hold talks about developing “comprehensive strategic partnerships” and sign “a number of bilateral documents,” according to a statement from the Kremlin. 

Ukraine responded to the news of Putin’s visit by calling on Mongolian officials to adhere to their ICC commitments and follow through on Putin’s arrest. 

In a statement, Ukraine referred to Putin as a war criminal and stressed that kidnapping children is just “one of the many crimes” that Putin has committed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. 

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“These individuals are guilty of an aggressive war against Ukraine, atrocities against the Ukrainian people,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on Telegram.  

“We call on the Mongolian authorities to execute the mandatory international arrest warrant and hand over Putin to the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” the ministry added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.