News - Ukraine threatens Mongolia with consequences for not arresting Putin

The Mongolian government’s failure to carry out the binding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin is a heavy blow to the ICC and the international criminal justice system. The spokesperson the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine, Heorhii Tykhyi, noted this on X—formerly Twitter "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," Tykhyi added. Putin arrived in Mongolia on a two-day official visit on Monday. Before Putin's visit, the MFA of Ukraine had called on Mongolia to carry out the mandatory international arrest and hand Putin over to the ICC in The Hague. Separately, Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of the Public Affairs Unit at the ICC, had stated that Mongolia has an obligation to cooperate with the court and the country must comply with its decisions. Mongolian authorities have given guarantees that Putin will not be arrested during his visit, Bloomberg reported. Mongolia ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC in 2002. Vladimir Putin's visit to Mongolia is the first to a country that must arrest him under the respective warrant issued against him by the ICC in 2023. Putin is accused of illegally deporting children to Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine.