International Courant
Ulaanbaatar welcomes Russian chief, ignores arrest warrant over alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian youngsters.
Vladimir Putin has launched into an official go to to Mongolia undisturbed, whereas Ulaanbaatar ignored an arrest warrant for the Russian president.
An honor guard welcomed Putin to the Mongolian capital on Tuesday as he arrived to satisfy the nation’s chief, Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. Mongolia has ignored calls to arrest the Russian chief on a global warrant.
Mongolia is a member of the Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC), which final yr issued an arrest warrant for Putin over alleged struggle crimes in Ukraine, together with the deportation of kids to Russia.
Putin, nonetheless, acquired a heat welcome, with the capital’s central Genghis Khan Sq. embellished with big Mongolian and Russian flags for his first go to to the neighboring nation in 5 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks subsequent to Mongolian International Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg at Genghis Khan Airport in Ulaanbaatar (Natalia Gubernatorova, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Picture through AP)
A small protest had erupted the day earlier than when the Russian president arrived within the nation. A handful of demonstrators held up indicators demanding, “Let struggle legal Putin go.”
Ukraine has referred to as on Mongolia to arrest Putin and hand him over to the ICC in The Hague over the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian youngsters – a apply that has been extensively reported since Moscow invaded its neighbour in February 2022.
However motion all the time appeared unlikely. Mongolia has shunned condemning the Russian offensive and abstained from voting on the battle on the United Nations.
“President Putin is a fugitive from justice,” Altantuya Batdorj, government director of Amnesty Worldwide Mongolia, mentioned in a press release on Monday.
“Any journey to an ICC member state that doesn’t finish in an arrest will encourage President Putin’s present actions and should be seen as a part of a strategic effort to undermine the work of the ICC.”
Members of the worldwide court docket are required to arrest suspects if an arrest warrant is issued, however the court docket has no enforcement mechanism.
A spokesman for Putin mentioned final week that the Kremlin was not involved concerning the president being detained through the go to.
Trilateral Summit
Mongolia, a sparsely populated nation situated between Russia and China, is closely depending on Russia for gas and electrical energy, and on China for funding in mining.
It was below Moscow’s rule through the Soviet period. For the reason that fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, it has tried to keep up pleasant relations with each the Kremlin and Beijing.
Putin and Khurelsukh will attend a ceremony on Tuesday commemorating the 1939 victory of Soviet and Mongolian troops over the Japanese military, which had seized energy in Manchuria in northeastern China.
Earlier than the journey, Putin pointed to a lot of “promising financial and industrial initiatives” between the 2 nations in an interview with the Mongolian newspaper Unuudur, shared by the Kremlin.
A kind of initiatives was the development of the Trans-Mongolian gasoline pipeline connecting China and Russia, he mentioned.
The Russian president additionally mentioned he’s “concerned with persevering with substantial work” towards a trilateral summit between himself, Mongolian and Chinese language leaders.
Putin waves away ICC struggle crimes arrest request as he visits Mongolia | Russia-Ukraine struggle information
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