Putin arrived in Mongolia on Monday for talks prone to deal with a brand new fuel pipeline.
Ulaanbaatar:
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Mongolia for an official go to on Tuesday, his first to an Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC) member because it issued a warrant for his arrest final 12 months.
Putin was welcomed by an honour guard the night time earlier than as he landed in Ulaanbaatar to start the high-profile journey, seen as a present of defiance towards the court docket, Kyiv, the West and rights teams which have all known as for him to be detained.
The Russian chief is needed by the Hague-based court docket for the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian youngsters since his troops invaded the nation in 2022.
Ukraine has reacted to the journey with fury.
On Monday, it accused Mongolia of “sharing accountability” for Putin’s “conflict crimes” after authorities didn’t detain him on the airport.
Kyiv had urged Mongolia to execute the arrest warrant, whereas the ICC mentioned final week all its members had an “obligation” to detain these sought by the court docket.
In apply, there may be little that may be completed if Ulaanbaatar doesn’t comply.
A vibrant democracy located between authoritarian giants Russia and China, Mongolia enjoys shut cultural hyperlinks to Moscow in addition to a essential buying and selling relationship with Beijing.
It was beneath Moscow’s sway in the course of the Soviet period.
And for the reason that Soviet collapse in 1991, it has sought to maintain pleasant relations with each the Kremlin and Beijing.
The nation has not condemned Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and has abstained throughout votes on the battle on the United Nations.
The Kremlin mentioned final week it was not involved that Putin can be arrested in the course of the go to.
– ‘Get Putin out of right here’ –
The capital’s central Genghis Khan Sq., also referred to as Sukhbaatar Sq., was decked out Monday with enormous Mongolian and Russian flags for Putin’s first go to to the nation in 5 years.
A small protest gathered within the afternoon, with demonstrators holding an indication demanding “Get Struggle Legal Putin out of right here”.
One other protest is deliberate at noon Tuesday at Ulaanbaatar’s Monument for the Politically Repressed, which honours those that suffered beneath Mongolia’s decades-long Soviet-backed communist regime.
Mongolia’s authorities has not commented on the calls to arrest Putin.
However a spokesman for President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh took to social media on Sunday to disclaim experiences that the ICC had despatched a letter asking it to execute the warrant when he visits.
Russia doesn’t recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.
And Amnesty Worldwide warned Monday that Mongolia’s failure to arrest Putin may additional undermine the ICC’s legitimacy, whereas emboldening the ex-KGB spy, in energy for nearly 1 / 4 of a century.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Batdorj, govt director of Amnesty Worldwide Mongolia, mentioned in a press release.
“Any journey to an ICC member state that doesn’t finish in arrest will encourage President Putin’s present plan of action and should be seen as a part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work.”
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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