Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Mongolia for his first go to for the reason that Worldwide Prison Courtroom (ICC) issued an arrest warrant final 12 months.
He was welcomed by Mongolian leaders at a grand ceremony within the Asian nation’s capital Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday.
The Russian chief is needed by the courts for allegedly illegally deporting Ukrainian youngsters.
A Kremlin spokesman stated there was no concern that Putin can be arrested through the go to.
Troopers on horseback lined Genghis Khan Sq. within the capital and a stay band performed army songs to welcome the Russian chief to fulfill Mongolian President Khürelsukh.
On Monday afternoon, a small group of protesters gathered within the sq., holding indicators and demanding “get the warfare legal Putin out of right here.”
One other protest is scheduled for midday on Tuesday on the Monument to the Politically Oppressed in Ulaanbaatar, which commemorates those that suffered below the Soviet-backed communist regime in Mongolia for many years.
After the Russian president arrived, safety forces prevented different protesters from approaching him.
Earlier than the go to, Ukraine had urged Mongolia to arrest Putin.
“We name on the Mongolian authorities to adjust to the necessary worldwide arrest warrant and hand over Putin to the Worldwide Prison Courtroom in The Hague,” the Ukrainian International Ministry stated on Telegram.
The court docket final 12 months accused the Russian president of being liable for warfare crimes, specializing in the unlawful deportation of kids from Ukraine to Russia.
It additionally issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s youngsters’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for a similar crime.
The crimes had been allegedly dedicated in Ukraine beginning on February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion.
Moscow has beforehand denied the accusations and stated the arrest warrants had been “insupportable”.
If a warrant is issued, ICC members are anticipated to detain suspects, however there isn’t a enforcement mechanism.
The Hague-based court docket stated final week members had an “obligation” to take motion. Mongolia has not publicly responded to Ukraine or the ICC’s enchantment.
The previous Soviet satellite tv for pc state has maintained pleasant relations with Russia for the reason that collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
It stopped in need of condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and refused to carry a vote on the battle on the United Nations.
The landlocked nation, which borders China, additionally depends on Russian gasoline and electrical energy.
Russia has been negotiating for years to construct a pipeline that will carry 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of pure gasoline per 12 months from the Yamal area to China by way of Mongolia.
The undertaking known as The power of siberia 2a part of a method to compensate for falling gasoline gross sales in Europe amid a widespread boycott of Russian sources within the wake of the Ukrainian invasion.