Kremlin says it has ‘no worries’ about Putin visit to Mongolia despite an ICC warrant for his arrest

The Kremlin says it has “no worries” about President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Mongolia, a county that is a member of the International Criminal Court, which last year issued a warrant for his arrest.

The visit, scheduled for Sept. 3, will be Putin’s first trip to an ICC member state since the warrant was issued in March 2023 over suspected war crimes in Ukraine.

Under the court’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, ICC members are bound to detain suspects for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the court if they set foot on their soil.

But the court doesn’t have any enforcement mechanism. In a famous case, then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir wasn’t arrested in 2015 when he visited South Africa, which is a member of the court, sparking angry condemnation by rights activists and the country’s main opposition party.

Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who previously stressed that Russia doesn’t recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, told reporters during his daily conference call Friday that the Kremlin has “no worries” about the upcoming trip: “We have a wonderful dialogue with our friends from Mongolia,” he said.

According to a statement released by the Kremlin on Thursday, Putin will travel to Mongolia at the invitation of President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh “to participate in the ceremonial events dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the joint victory of the Soviet and Mongolian armed forces over the Japanese militarists on the Khalkhin Gol River.” Putin will also hold talks with Khurelsukh and other top Mongolian officials, the statement said.

The ICC has accused Putin of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine, where Moscow has fought a devastating war for the last 2½ years.

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