President Vladimir Putin arrived on an official visit to Mongolia, the Kremlin announced Monday. This comes after an announcement made by the Kremlin last Thursday and marks Putin’s first journey to a member nation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the court issued a warrant for his arrest in March 2023 over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s official statement notes that Putin was invited by Mongolia’s President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to participate in ceremonies commemorating the 85th anniversary of the Soviet and Mongolian forces’ victory against Japanese troops at the Khalkhin Gol River. During his visit, Putin is also scheduled to engage in discussions with President Khurelsukh and other high-ranking Mongolian officials.
The Kremlin asserts that it does not recognise the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction and has not commented on the possibility of President Putin’s arrest in Mongolia. The Rome Statute, which establishes the ICC, outlines obligations for member states regarding the arrest and surrender of individuals wanted by the Court. Articles within the Statute require member states to arrest individuals based on ICC requests and cooperate fully in investigations and prosecutions. However, the ICC’s enforcement relies on the cooperation of states, as seen in 2015 when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was not arrested in South Africa despite an ICC warrant. The issue of whether Mongolia will arrest Putin remains uncertain due to political considerations between the nations.
According to an open letter sent to the President of Mongolia by the International Federation for Human Rights, urging the arrest of the President of Mongolia “The ICC Appeals Chamber has affirmed that immunities based on official capacity, including those of a head of state, do not exempt individuals from arrest and prosecution for such grave offenses, as stated in Article 27(2) of the Rome Statute.”
This comes as the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhii Tykhyi said on X that “The Mongolian government’s failure to carry out the binding ICC arrest warrant for Putin is a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the international criminal justice system”, and continuing, “Mongolia allowed the indicted criminal to escape justice, thereby sharing responsibility for his war crimes. We will work with partners to ensure that this has consequences for Ulaanbaatar.”
The Parliament of Mongolia on January 30, 2020, backed a bill ratifying the 2010 Amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adding a definition of the crimes of aggression and the conditions for which it would exercise jurisdiction over the crime.
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